Circumventing Transfer Shock!:

Using Schlossberg’s Transition Theory

to ease the Transition of Transfer Students

Craig M. McGill, M.M., M.S.

Outline:• Foreground ‘Transfer Culture’

– Types of Transfer Students– Challenges for students in S.T.E.M. areas

• Theoretical Base– Transition Theory– Counseling Model– Appreciative Advising

• Pedagogical Application– Process: combining frameworks & approaches– Tools: Transition theory and inventories– Evaluation and follow up

Transfer Culture• In 2006, students aged 25 and older made up

nearly 40% of the country’s overall college population  (U.S. Department of Education, 2009)

• Almost 60% of students have attended at least two institutions (Adelman, 2006)

So…

How can advisors better understand the Transition of Transfer Students?– No model in the literature that attempted to

explain the transition process of transfer students (Cameron, 2005).

Campus-specific Lingo:“UNL-isms”

Blackboard (My.UNL)TrueYou

FireflyMyRed (Peoplesoft)

DARSDN (Daily Nebraskan)

Tunnel WalkCollege acronyms (CASNR, ASC, CEHS)

Regionalisms:Runza

Emergency snow routeCoke/Soda/Pop

 

Types of Transfer Students and Experiences

Types of Transfer Students:1. 2-year to 4-year (2+2)2. 4-year to 4-year (Lateral)3. 4-year to 2-year (Reverse)4. Multiple institutions in career (Swirler)

Types of Transfer Experiences:1. Planned2. Unplanned

Challenges for Transfer Students• Lack of Articulation Agreements• Lost Costs

– $7 billion/yr in credits not helping students move toward degree requirements (Smith, 2010)

• Transfer Shock/Culture Shock• Lack of communication between institutions• Time Management/Balancing Work• Connecting to Faculty Members• Lack of Social Involvement• Reconfigure their identity

Complications in S.T.E.M. fields• Rigorous curriculums • Sequential curriculums• Lack of equivalent coursework

– Complications with accrediting bodies– Lacking laboratory experiences at prior

institution

Theoretical Underpinnings:

Transition Theory

Counseling Model

Appreciative Advising

Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (1984)

• First developed in the late 1970s• Been revised several times with input from

other contributors– Considered a strength of her model

• Psychosocial Theory• Counterpoint to age and stage perspectives• Involves three roughly defined stages:

Moving In, Moving Through, and Moving Out

Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (1984)

TRANSITION: “Any event, or non-event, that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions and roles” (Schlossberg, 1984)

Role of Perception: Key in the transition process; involves 2 levels of Appraisals:– Primary: How the individual feels about the

transition in general– Secondary: How individual feels about their

resources in dealing with the transition?

Types of Transitions:

1. Anticipated Transitions– Occur predictably (e.g. Planned Transfer)

2. Unanticipated Transitions – Not predictable (e.g. Un-planned Transfer)

3. “Non-Events” – A transition was expected, but did not occur– An ‘event’ must be likely to happen in order

to qualify as a ‘non-event’ when it fails to occur

Coping with Transition: 4 S’sA person’s ability to cope with a transition is

reliant on their resources in 4 areas:• Situation: ability to assess what has

happened• Self: personal/demographic/psychological

characteristics• Support: who is there to help• Strategies: how they handle it

4 S’s

-from Goodman et al, (2006) pg. 56

Cormier and Hackney’s Counseling Model (1993)

Relationship BuildingAssessmentGoal Setting

InterventionsTermination/Follow-up

Appreciative Advising• Approaches life as a series of opportunities,

rather than a series of problems • Social-constructivist• Reciprocal process• Rooted in Positive Psychology• Adapted from Appreciative Inquiry

(Cooperrider, Sorenson, Whitney, & Yeager, 2000)

Appreciative Advising Stages

DisarmDiscoverDreamDesignDeliver

Don’t Settle

Application:

1.) Process: Combining frameworks and approaches

2.) Tools: Schlossberg’s Theory and conducting inventories

Process: overlap of 2 models

relationship-building

assessment

goal-setting

interventions

termination/follow-up

DISARM

DISCOVER

DREAM

DESIGN

DELIVER

DON’T SETTLE

Combining 3 Models

DISARM

DISCOVER

DREAMDESIGN

DELIVER

DON’T SETTLE

-adapted from Goodman et al, (2006) pg. 184

DISARM:relationship-building

• Warm welcome• Safe and comfortable environment• Appropriate self-disclosure• Appropriate nonverbal behavior• Have a Personal Advising Philosophy

In relationship-building, advisors use basic listening skills to build rapport with students.

My Advising Philosophy:“My personal advising philosophy is one of pedagogy: as a

teacher guides a student through the content of a single course, the advisor’s role is to show how the students’ courses relate to their entire curriculum and life-plan. Advising is not merely ticking off requirements, but rather, an exploratory and comprehensive process of helping the student to discover their life goals, values, beliefs, passions and talents. I believe advising should be focused on strengths, since dwelling on a student’s weaknesses is like advising a student who is not there. Most importantly, I do not view education as a means to an end, but rather, as a lifetime process. If I can effectively communicate that attitude to the students with whom I work, I have done my job.”

DISCOVER:assessment

Through the use of inventories and discussion:• Effective open-ended questioning• Attending behavior and active listening:

– Visual-eye contact– Vocal qualities-tone and rate of speech– Verbal tracking—sticking to the subject– Body language—authenticity

• Strength-based story reconstruction

In assessment, advisors can assess the individual’s environment (situation), internal resources (self), external resources (support), and current coping skills (strategies).

DREAM:goal-setting

In working with students through their transition, help generate goals/dreams by:•Providing conducive environment for

dreaming•Making connections between the

Discover and Dream phases: Are dreams in line with pieces from the assessment?

In goal-setting, advisors help students to set

goals related to each of the 4 S’s.

DESIGN:(goal-setting)

In designing a plan of action: •Brainstorm options•Backward designing (start from the

goal)•Teach students how to make decisions•Provide positive feedback•Be aware of the curse of knowledge•Make effective referrals•Graphic organizers

DELIVER: interventions

In helping students to carry out their goals/plan, • Energizing students to be their best• Illustrate academic hope (more than one road)• End conversation/session well• Engage in Proactive Advising

• Keeping students connected (socially, culturally, institutionally): Transfer Fraternity, weekly email from Transfer Coordinator, etc.

In interventions, advisors can help students with reframing, changing the student’s perception of the transfer; conducting an assessment of the individual’s assets (self); referral to a support group (support); and generating problem-solving strategies (strategies).

DON’T SETTLE: termination and follow-up

For students to feel supported, it’s important to follow-up:

• Continue to challenge and support• Raise the bar• Virtuous/positive cycle• Encourage students to write letter to new

transfer student (in the guise of writing to themselves before they transitioned)

In termination and follow-up, advisor can aid the

transfer student in reviewing what has happened thus far and planning next steps.

Pedagogical Application• Schlossberg’s theory Answers:

– Why different people react differently to the same type of transition

– Why the same person reacts differently at different times

• Applying theory:– Helping students approach transitions requires

knowledge of the transition framework– Help students evaluate their resources in the 4 S’s– Help strengthen those assets

Situation

• Triggers• Control (planned or unplanned transfer?)• Role Change• Duration• Previous experiences with similar

transition• Concurrent Stress• Assessment

Self

Personal/Demographic Characteristics• Socioeconomic Status• Gender• Age/Stage of Life• State of health• Ethnicity/Culture

Psychosocial Resources• Ego Development• Outlook • Commitment and Values• Spirituality and Resiliency

Support

Strategies• What strategies is the student using that is

impacting the transition?• How effective are current strategies in helping

them cope with transition?– 3 ways of coping:

1) Modifying the situation (hope and optimism)

2) Controlling the meaning (reframing)3) Managing stress after transition (selective

denial)• Challenging the absolutes

– Victim/ Creator Language

Where now?

Inventories:• A.) Transfer Student Inventory • B.) Appreciative Advising Inventory

Future:• Continue to develop Transfer Inventory• Qualitative Research Study to see if Transfer

Students experience the transfer experience in this way

©2007 The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved.

Craig McGill, M.M., M.S.Academic Advisor

Forensic Science, BiochemistryUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln

cmcgill2@unl.edu

Tony Lazarowicz, M.A.Assistant Academic Program Coordinator-

William H. Thompson Learning Community/OASISPh.D. student in Higher Education Administration

tonylaz@huskers.unl.edu