the college transfer student in america: the forgotten student

THE COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENT IN

AMERICA: THE FORGOTTEN

STUDENT

Bonita C. Jacobs, Ph.D.President North Georgia College & State University

September 13, 2011

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DEFINING TRANSFER

• “Traditional” • 2-Year to 4-Year public• 2-year to 4-year private

• Other Patterns• 4-4• 4-2• 2-4-4• 2-2-4• Transfer Swirl

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MYTHS ABOUT TRANSFER STUDENTS

All transfers go to community colleges for two years and finish the last two years at a four-year school

Forget transfer orientation! They won’t come

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MYTHS ABOUT TRANSFER STUDENTS

Transfer students do not want to be involved on campus

Parents of transfer students are not interested in being involved with the campus

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MYTHS ABOUT TRANSFER STUDENTS

Transfer students do not live in residence halls

Transfer students are inferior students

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MYTHS ABOUT TRANSFER STUDENTS

Retention strategies are not needed for transfer students

Transfer students do not connect with the university

Transfer students will not donate to the University following graduation

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MYTHS ABOUT TRANSFER STUDENTS

Transfer students go to a two-year school from high school only because:• they are less mature• they don’t have the money for a four-

year school• they don’t have the grades to get into

a four-year school

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MYTHS ABOUT TRANSFER STUDENTS

Transfer students who go to a two-year school from high school do not have goals or aspirations

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MYTHS ABOUT TRANSFER STUDENTS

The majority of transfer students are non-traditional in age

International students do not transfer

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BOTTOM LINE:

Transfer Students Are

Diverse Within Themselves

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WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRANSFER

Nearly 60% of all students who graduate from a four-year institution entered college at a different institution

(NECS, 2007)

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WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRANSFER

11% were at some point co-enrolled in more than one college

(NECS, 2002)

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TRANSFER STUDENTS:

ETHNICALLY DIVERSE

Racial and ethnic minorities account for about 48% of the community college population (Phillippe & Patton for AACC, 1999)

“At the national level, community college students represent higher percentages of underrepresented, non-traditional, low-income, and lower performing students” (Falconetti & Jones, 2009)

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TRANSFER STUDENTS: ETHNICALLY DIVERSE

Among all undergraduates:57% of Native Americans are in community colleges

47% of Asian/Pacific Islanders are in community colleges

47% of Blacks are in community colleges

55% of Hispanics are in community colleges(NCES, 2007)

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TRANSFER & GRADUATION RATE

Transfers are less likely to graduate in four years

• 51 months - single institution average • 59 months - two-institutions average• 67 months - three or more institutions average

But just as likely to complete a

degree program (NCES, 2007)

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STUDENT ENGAGEMENT•NSSE and other research suggest that transfer students are less involved in clubs, service, research with faculty, etc.

•Intrinsic to student factors, such as more need to work, older and have families, etc.?

•But, we must be careful to not generalize transfer students.

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Do we exert same amount of energy on transfer success initiatives as on freshman success initiatives?

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A DECADE PAST:

The Policy Center on the First Year of College found that:

Only 1/3 of institutions offer special services for transfer students …

(Swing, R. L. 2000)

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… Those institutions that did not offer special services explained that:

Their transfer population was too small

Traditional programs care for transfer needs

(Swing, R. L. 2000)

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… Further, Swing found that• Of those who do offer special services they

are usually limited to:

• Transcript evaluation• Transfer-specific orientation

• Institutions assume that transfer students are “experienced” and do not need other services

Those days are gone…

Swing, R. L. (2000)

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TRANSFER ISSUES: STATE PRACTICES

Much variance from state to state

…but all weighing in!

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TRANSFER ISSUES: ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS

Depending on the campus, can be quite diverse• Institutional• Departmental

Those who implement the agreements should be involved in the formulation of the details

• Including faculty is vital

“Transfer” vs. applicability to a particular degree plan

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TRANSFER ISSUES: ORIENTATION

• Transfers are diverse! Thus, orientation must be diverse

• What about parents? Can they affect the NSSE data on

transfer engagement?

• What about engagement?

• Involvement from the top

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TRANSFER ISSUES: ADVISING

Developmental as well as prescriptive – including clarification of

goals and discussions regarding choices

Knowledge of articulation agreements, common course numbering, computer transfer systems is imperative!

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THE 3 STAGES OF TRANSFER

Stage One: What They Expect Before Transfer

60% expect to feel marginalized & worry about navigating the system

92% struggle with their need for guidance

93% are concerned with fitting into the university culture

“I am sure I’ll be lost”

eSource, Karen Owens, February 2009

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THE 3 STAGES OF TRANSFER

Stage Two: Student Perception at Mid-Semester

95% express a need for more “personal attention”

88% seek more “academic integration”

51% desire “more social interaction”

86% of students identified poor communication in and between institutions as a significant issue

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THE 3 STAGES OF TRANSFER

Stage Three: Recommendations for Success

49% recommend transfer advisors• “someone to call their own”

49% recommend a transfer-specific orientation

27% ask for a step-by-step transfer checklist

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A PERFECT STORMVoluntary System of Accountability and the College Portrait

• http://www.voluntarysystem.org/index.cfm

Legislative Pressures (Federal and State)

Statewide Agreements & Common Course Guidelines

Returning Veterans

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IPKITE D U C AT I O N. M I SS O U R I . E D U / O R G S / I P K I T / I N D E X

Institutional Audit of Policies, Practices, and Attitudes Affecting Transfer Students

• Version 1: For Community Colleges• Version 2: For Baccalaureate Degree Institutions

Conducting Focus Groups about Transfer

Constructing Surveys about Transfer

Coding Open-Ended Responses to Survey Questions

Data Sources for Information about Transfer and Degree Attainment

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FOEW W W. J N G I . O R G

John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education

Foundations of Excellence for Transfer

2-Year and 4-Year Versions

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WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE:

• Students Who Do Not Plan for Transfer

• Course Applicability Limitations

• Reverse and Swirling Transfer Issues

• Financial Aid Issues

• 2-year and 4-year Communication Issues

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Only 33.5% of students intending to transfer report that they received their transfer information from their college counselor or advisor

36.4% of students feel they do not have enough information to transfer successfully

Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

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INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

What data do you have on transfer students?

What data should you have?

The amount of information available about first-time students is far more complete than information about transfer students

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ASSESSMENT!• Of articulation agreements

• Of success rates from Campus A to Campus B

• Of transfer orientation

• Of transfer advisement

• Of transfer student engagement

• Of transfer student expectations

• Of transfer student satisfaction

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NATI ONAL I NSTI TUTE FO R THE ST UDY OF TRANSFER STUDENTS

Texas Transfer Success Conference

• May 22, 2009

10th Annual Conference• January 25-27, 2012, Fort Worth, Texas

http://transferinstitute.unt.edu