Save the date! Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. OTC will be hosting the Transfer Technology: Explore Web Tools to Help Engage and Recruit Transfer Students Webinar. 

Join our guest presenters as they demonstrate and share their experience with web tools to engage transfer students! We'll explore Franklin University's Pathway Portal and Kent State University's use of EAB's Flash Credit Estimator. 

We hope you'll make plans to join us November 17th!

OTC Events and Professional Development Committee

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81053646267?pwd=ekxBcUlqRVdrNGN6RlBRUTVlQXJLdz09
Meeting ID: 810 5364 6267
Passcode: 941755

Hello OTC Colleagues,

You may have been wondering how OTC would manage to pivot from our annual in-person conference to a virtual event that included a required business meeting.  Well, to be honest with you, the Exec Board has been pondering that, too. We considered a plethora of options, much in the same way our various institutions are figuring out how to handle the fall semester. How will we do the things that must be done for OTC while also serving our members and their institutions? 

As previously announced, our recently re-imagined event will be held on the original conference date of June 5, 2020. We are scheduling the virtual meeting from noon until 1:30 and envision a brown bag “Lunch and Learn” event. There will be a brief annual meeting followed by a panel discussion on Transforming Transfer in the Age of COVID-19.   A Zoom meeting invitation will be sent out via email towards the end of May.  In the meanwhile, please make sure you reserve the day and time on your calendars. 

We are also planning future virtual “Lunch and Learn” events throughout the coming year.  May we all develop new skills, be open to new ways of doing business (whether we like it or not), make new connections, and serve one another. In the interest of serving others, we encourage you to invite any of your colleagues you feel may be interested in our Lunch and Learn professional development discussions.

Please email us at our email address is you have any questions. Have a great Wednesday.

-OTC Executive Board

Hello OTC Colleague,

We hope you are all well and have been able to take some time away from your temporary offices to rest and refresh yourselves.  Perhaps you celebrated Passover or Easter.  Perhaps you are preparing for Ramadan.  Whatever your faith tradition, including none at all, we trust you’ve found time to process the liminal space in which we find ourselves.

This is certainly a spring unlike any we’ve experienced in higher education.  All of our institutions have responded to the COVID-19 crisis by changing the way we do things.  It seems that one transition has led to another as we plan for short- and longer-term challenges.  It has been no different at the Ohio Transfer Council (OTC).  We value the work of OTC even as we acknowledge that we must accomplish that good work in different ways from those we have used before.

Last month the OTC Executive Board made the difficult but necessary decision to not offer an in-person version of our annual conference.  We promised we’d research alternative options and get back to you with more information.  After much discussion, we made a few decisions, some easier than others.  Let’s start with the easy decision.  In recognition of the financial challenges that our institutions are concerned with and acknowledging that OTC is only as strong as its membership, we will extend everyone’s membership by one year at no charge.  Whether you attended the 2019 Conference (which included a one-year membership) or paid separately for a one-year membership, that membership will now extend through June 30, 2021.   We’ve set up a link where we ask that you confirm your one-year extension and, if necessary, update your contact information.  Please confirm your membership extension no later than June 30, 2020 so that our roster is accurate.

We realize that some individuals who were not members for the 2019-2020 year might want to join OTC now, and we welcome them.  We are offering those individuals a free one-year individual membership that will allow access to our upcoming professional development sessions.  Their institutions will not automatically receive institutional membership nor will their students be eligible for the 2020 David Gall Memorial Scholarship.  Additionally, our traditional one-year membership will still be available for $25.00.  That will include institutional membership and the opportunity for their students to be considered for the 2020 David Gall Memorial Scholarship.

The annual conference has always been OTC’s primary event with members gathering from across the state to network, to learn, and to grow.  Our By-Laws require annual meetings which were a part of the annual conferences.   It was a difficult decision to make but, after much research, discussion, and deliberation, the executive board decided to completely cancel this year’s annual conference.  There simply isn’t enough time to change gears and offer a fully-online version of our conference at the level of quality we insist upon.  Instead, we will combine our annual meeting with a brief professional development opportunity.  All members are encouraged to attend this free event. The annual meeting will be held online on Friday, June 5, the same day we had planned for the conference (in the hope that you have already reserved this date on your calendars).  Additionally, we are planning to offer a robust schedule of online professional development sessions throughout the 2020-2021 academic year.  It is our hope that gathering online throughout the year will help us all to adapt to the changes and challenges coming our way due to the COVID-19 crisis.  Even as we are all coping with a higher than normal amount of uncertainty, the executive committee remains confident that the annual conference will be back next year, stronger and more vibrant than ever. 

One last thing - - elections are coming up for the 2020-2021 academic year.  More details on that will be coming soon, but please consider running for office or getting involved with a committee.  We need you.

Stay safe, and stay healthy,

OTC Executive Board

Dear OTC Colleagues,

The OTC Executive Board typically meets a few times each semester to conduct business and to plan for the annual conference.  Due to travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we met virtually yesterday through the gift of technology.

As you might imagine, our primary discussion was the feasibility of hosting the annual conference in light of COVID-19 concerns.  In addition to being an opportunity for OTC members to learn and network, the conference also serves as our annual meeting.  The conference is important to OTC but concern for the health and safety of our members far outweighs the importance of holding an in-person, face-to-face conference.  Out of an abundance of caution and knowing that many of our institutions have travel restrictions in place, we decided that OTC will not host an in-person conference at Ohio Wesleyan University as originally planned. 

Deb Hysell, Conference Chair, Hideo Tsuchida, Conference Co-Chair, and indeed the rest of the Exec Board are exploring new formats and innovative ways to connect. We are confident that this challenge will turn out to be an opportunity to expand the way that OTC members interact with each other.  We hope to meet with all of you in some type of virtual format but the timing, the details and even the feasibility are still being discussed.  We will have more information for you in mid-April.  For now, we ask for your patience as we navigate the challenges of doing something new within a relatively short time-frame.

Please take care of yourselves and stay healthy.

OTC Executive Board

With many colleges and universities across the state adapting to the challenges of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we would like to update you on the upcoming OTC Annual Conference.  For the moment, we continue to plan for an enjoyable and enlightening event on Friday, June 5. 

We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation carefully and are also considering appropriate contingency plans.    

We are mindful that many of our institutions have travel restrictions in place that will impact registering for the conference.  We’re looking into ways that we can respond with increased flexibility to this and other challenges.  Stay tuned for more updates through the website and our social media accounts.

Please know that the well-being of our colleagues in higher education, our families, the students we serve, and the community at-large take precedence in our decisions.  We’re gathering our health and safety recommendations from reputable sources, such as the State of Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization to ensure that our decisions are properly informed.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at OhioTransferCouncil@gmail.com.