Panelist and Presenters

2025 Panelists and Presenters: In order to make the Transfer Summit as accessible as possible to student leaders, staff, and faculty from around the country, the Spring 2025 series will continue with its virtual format. Each 90-minute session will focus on a transfer student topic and include both a moderated panel with national transfer experts and a presentation from transfer student leaders.

  • Wednesday, April 2nd, 1:00 - 2:30pm CDT: Transfer Trends and Issues
  • Thursday, April 3rd, 1:00 - 2:30pm CDT: Transfer Connections 

Webinar One: Transfer Trends and Issues

Headshot of Tatiana Velasco

Tatiana Velasco, Ph.D.

Senior Research Associate and Program Lead, Community College Research Center

Velasco is a senior research associate at CCRC and an applied microeconomist specializing in the economics of education and labor economics. Velasco examines how students’ transitions into and through postsecondary education affect student outcomes and materialize in advancement in the labor market. At CCRC, Dr. Velasco currently leads the quantitative and economic research in dual enrollment pathways, using national and state administrative data to examine the determinants of student outcomes through and out of college, with an emphasis on understanding the drivers of inequities and the promising areas for policy intervention.  

Headshot of Bernard Huggins

Bernard Huggins, MS

Program Manager, Aspen Institute College Excellence Program

Bernard Huggins is a Program Manager with the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program where he supports cross-institutional partnerships designed to improve transfer student success. Via programs such as the Maryland Transfer Student Succes Intensive and the ASPEN-AASCU Transfer Intensive, Bernard works with higher education practitioners, university presidents, and other systems representatives – at a local and state-wide level – to guide the development of new pathways for community college students to successfully obtain bachelor’s degrees. 
 
Before joining CEP, Bernard served in various student-facing roles at Valencia College, the Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Central Florida. Most notably serving as the inaugural associate director for the Transfer Center at the University of Central Florida providing leadership to various student success initiatives and a team of professional and student peer coaches. He is a proud community college transfer student. 
 

Webinar Two: Transfer Connections 

Headshot of Shelby Burroughs Pryzgoda

Shelby Burroughs Pryzgoda, MA

Director, Upward Bound, Colorado Mesa University 

Shelby Burroughs Pryzgoda serves as the Director of Upward Bound at Colorado Mesa University, where she is dedicated to supporting low-income, first-generation high school students in their pursuit of higher education. Hailing from a rural farming community in Eastern Wyoming, Shelby began her academic journey at her local community college before transferring to the state’s lone 4-year institution. She received her Master of Arts in Education from Colorado Mesa University, where her research focused on transfer and first-generation student success through strategic institutional partnerships. Shelby's personal experience as a transfer student fuels her passion for facilitating seamless transitions for others. Before her current role, she worked in college admissions and transfer services, honing her skills in guiding students and families through the complexities of higher education.

Headshot of Nick Turinsky

Nick Turinsky, M.Ed.

Program Manager, Transfer Bridges to the Humanities, University of Michigan

Nick Turinsky currently serves as the Project Manager for the Transfer Bridges to the Humanities (TB2H) program at the University of Michigan. TB2H is a grant funded initiative through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that promotes humanistic and social science experiences to community college students while providing individualized support to transfer to the University of Michigan. Nick received his Master of Education in College Student Affairs Leadership from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, where he focused his research on transfer student populations and LGBTQ+ issues in higher education. Nick has been working with transfer student for over seven years and is planning to continue doing so for the rest of his professional career.