Creating an AS Atmospheric Sciences Curriculum for Student Success and Seamless 2YC to 4YC Transfer

Clear pathways for 2YC (two year college) to 4YC (four year college) transfer are critical for 2YC student recruitment, retention, degree completion, and transfer. Associate degree pathways in meteorology and atmospheric sciences are rare, due to this field being smaller than some popular STEM fields, and a limited number of meteorology and atmospheric sciences experts employed in full-time faculty positions at 2YCs. Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) Geosciences Department and the University of Utah (UU) Atmospheric Sciences Department have succeeded in creating a 100%+ pathway between the institutions leading to successful student transfer and bachelor’s degree completion. Factors that have led to this success include faculty relationships between the two institutions, previously articulated statewide Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) courses in math, physics, and chemistry, previously articulated statewide USHE general education requirements, and development of several new atmospheric sciences courses at Salt Lake Community College to articulate to lower-division requirements at the University of Utah. While this program has been a success in developing clear articulations and student transfer and success, there have been several challenges, some still ongoing. Student completions of an Associate of Science degree at Salt Lake Community College have been low, as the course articulations hold whether students complete their AS or not, so numerous cases students will transfer prior to completing their AS coursework, but still successfully complete a BS. This is sometimes in the student’s best interest, but is a challenge for SLCC as we do not get program credit for these completions. Sufficient enrollment for majors level classes has been difficult at times, particularly during the COVID19 pandemic, when courses were only online, and this has led to some class cancellations. Further, while SLCC administration was initially supportive of an AS Atmospheric Sciences program, there has been an institution-wide initiative from top levels to reduce the number of programs offered. Therefore, while program articulations will still be maintained, the SLCC Geosciences department is in the process of combining several distinct programs into a single omnibus environmental science-related AS program that will serve the need for transfer to several programs (including atmospheric sciences) and several transfer institutions (including the University of Utah). While the time for the AS Atmospheric Sciences program may be short, the relationships and articulations created will be long-lived, and will create opportunities for the 2YC students at SLCC that would otherwise not be possible.