serving your transfers outside of a specialized orientation ashlea coulter, melissa mcguire,...
TRANSCRIPT
Serving Your Transfers Outside of a Specialized
Orientation Ashlea Coulter, Melissa
McGuire, Coordinator Assistance Vice
President
of Student Affairs
Orientation and Transition ProgramsUniversity of North Texas
UNT AT A GLANCE
• Leading public research institution in the Dallas/Fort Worth area
• Emerging National Research University in TX• Four Bold Goals
– Goal 1: Provide the best undergraduate education experience in Texas.
• Strong support systems to ensure that more students stay in school, engage in service and campus life, and graduate on time
UNT Transfer Students
3rd largest transfer population in Texas
Who we’re losing:
• Black Males (61.5%) and Black Females (67.97%)• Those who transfer with 31-45 hours (71.1%)• Those who come from a 4-year institution
(74.15%)• Those who wait until summer to apply
Tot. Enroll. New Transfers
Percent Growth
Retention Rate
2012 35,836 3,827 +4.8% N/A
2011 35,754 3,650 -5.9% 74.53%
2010 36,118 3,879 75.32%
RETENTION GOALS
Current 2016 2019 202274.53% 78% 80% 82%
USING PROGRAMMING TO IMPACT RETENTION
• Studies on transfer students found that variables associated with social and academic integration played a role in the persistence of transfer students at four-year colleges and universities (Pascarella, Smart, and Ethington 1986)
• To encourage a higher completion rates among transfer students, UNT has implemented concentrated programming specifically for transfer students since Fall 2009 with our Transfer Center
THE TRANSFER STUDENT EXPERIENCE
• Negative feelings associated with not being a “native student”
• Welcomed the label of transfer student when an incentive was involved
• Main struggles include building social connections, navigating campus, and understanding financial aid
MEETING THEM WHERE
THEY ARE
• Transfer Orientation
• Commuter Parking Lots
• Academic Buildings
• University Union
IMPROVING THE TRANSFER EXPERIENCE
• Transfer Talkbackso Round table
oOnline
o Incentive
oQuestions catered toward 2 and 4 year students
TIE INTO STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
• Existing Events on Campus
• Tau Sigma National Honor Society
• Student Government Association
• Commuter Student Boards
EMBRACING THEIR NEW IDENTITY
• The Eagle Has Landedo Transfer T-shirt Trade
• Homecoming Participation
• “Teams” for school traditionso Dance Marathon
o Alternative Spring Breako Relay for Life
• Tailgate and Cheer Sections at
Sporting Events
TRANSFER REAL COMMUNITY
• Upperclassmen Residence Hall
• RA who was a transfer student
• 3.05 GPA for Transfer REAL
Community participants
o 2.82 average GPA for larger REAL
Community population
RECRUITING
• Collaborate with Admissions recruiters
• Imperative for students to get an honest perspective from a current student
• Increase participation and visibility on campuses where your large transfer numbers come from
• Preview Days
SOCIAL EVENTS
• Kickoff
• Socials
• Recreation Nights
• Winter Welcome
• Appreciation Days
ACADEMIC RESOURCES
• Transfer Tips
• Get The Scoop On….
• Finals/Midterms Study Sessions
• Career focused events
MENTORING
• Transfer Ambassadors
• Paired with a upperclassmen student
• “Wingman”
OUR EVENT ATTENDEES• Gender: Twice as many females than males• Classification: Largest group is Juniors followed by
Sophomores• Age Range: 20-23 is median age of attendees
• Satisfaction surveys: No student in Fall 2012 has marked below a neutral
UPCOMING INITIATIVES
•Transfer-Specifico Requiring an extended orientation program for all
new transfers (First Flight)oMandatory advising for all new transfers in first year
•All Studentso Supplemental Instructor and Peer Mentor in all
course sections with a DFWI rate above 35%
DISCUSSION
• What are successful programs/practices on your campus to engage transfers in
the college experience?
• Do you consider the difference in needs of 2-year versus 4-year institution
transfers when designing programs?
THANK YOU!
Ashlea CoulterCoordinator, Transfer [email protected]
Melissa McGuire,Assistant Vice President of Student [email protected]
Orientation and Transition Programs,University of North Texas