Rethinking the Other First Year: The Transfer Experience

1. Rethinking the Other First Year: The Transfer Experience John N. Gardner Betsy O. Barefoot THECB Transfer Success Conference May 22, 2009

3. Future Texas Transfer Students? Wesley and Jack Barefoot

4. And coming soon to a campus near you… Jon David Gardner A Transfer Golf Team Student?

5. The Nation’s Most Famous Transfer Student

6. That all students would start and finish at a single four-year institution • Historic notions of college do not include transfer. Our Old Assumptions

7. Who are they? • Traditional 18 year olds • Dual enrollment students • Transfer students • Today, over 60% of college students transfer at least once. • Transfer is normative, not the exception Expanding our view of new students

8. Transfer is uniquely American!

9. The role of “crisis” • Retention – the catalyst for attention to first-year students • State economic concerns – the catalyst for attention to transfers • Empty classroom seats – Why private institutions are courting transfers Lessons Learned

10. The importance of good data/information • What do you know about your transfers? • How do they compare to native students? • Moving beyond myths and stereotypes Lessons Learned

11. The importance of interacting with students • When is the last time you talked with a transfer student? • How do you structure interaction • With other students? • With faculty/staff? Lessons Learned

12. The need for common experiences • What do all transfers need, no matter what academic department they call home? • Who advocates for all transfers? Lessons Learned

13. The importance of partnerships • Between units on a single campus • Between counterparts at sending and receiving institutions • Between families and campuses Lessons Learned

14. Similar concerns • First-year • SOCIAL • Academic • Financial Lessons Learned

15. Transfer Concerns • Primarily academic • (Also financial) Lessons Learned

16. The importance of advising • While advising is important in the first year . . . • There is special urgency for transfers Lessons Learned

17. Value of special programs and services • Pre-term orientation • First-year and transfer seminars (TRIGs) • Peer leaders/mentors • Academic support • Career planning • Residential living • Targeted financial aid Lessons Learned

18. The desire for invisibility Why? • Fear of bias? • Not wanting to feel like a “second-class” student? Counter invisibility: Celebrate and honor transfer student accomplishments. Lessons Learned

19. The importance of rewards • Credit to institutions? • Rewards to faculty? Lessons Learned

20. Myths and half-truths • First-year • The first six weeks are the danger period. • Only the worst students drop out. • Work is bad for college students. • Transfer • Transfer students are not as “good” as native students. • Instruction in two-year colleges is inferior. • Transfers students don’t need support. Lessons Learned

21. Justice • For freshmen • For transfers Lessons Learned

22. While policy matters, faculty and staff on the front line have to take responsibility for transfer success. • Demographic, economic, and public policy trends suggest we will have more, not fewer, transfer students. • Texas is, and must continue to be, a leading advocate for the successful integration of transfer students. Concluding Thoughts

23. Invite your campus CEO and CAO to drive the transfer issue. • Embed your transfer student commitment into your institution’s strategic plan. • Collaborate with institutions in your region to support student transfer (e.g., UTEP & EPCC). • Organize your campus to support transfers (e.g., “transfer centers”). • Establish a standing committee to oversee the transfer experience. • Make orientation a requirement for both first-year and transfer students. • Examine campus financial aid policies to determine their fairness to transfers. Final Recommendations

24. Develop a transfer student “bill of rights and responsibilities.” • Create regional, discipline-based faculty collaboratives to bring together two- and four-year faculty. • Use reaffirmation of accreditation as an opportunity to focus on transfers (SACS QEP). • Participate in national professional organizations whose work relates to student transfer (NODA, NACADA, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition). Final Recommendations

25. Share and celebrate best practices in the State of Texas. • Conduct an institutional self-study of the transfer experience (e.g., Foundations of Excellence®). Final Recommendations

26. Contact Information John N. Gardner gardner@fyfoundations.org; 828-966-5309 Betsy O. Barefoot barefoot@fyfoundations.org; 828-966-5310 Policy Center on the First Year of College