The College Transfer Student in America
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Transcript The College Transfer Student in America
THE COLLEGE TRANSFER
STUDENT IN AMERICA:
THE FORGOT TEN STUDENT
Bonita C. Jacobs, Ph.D.
President
North Georgia College & State University
September 13, 2011
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
3
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
4
MYTHS ABOUT
TRANSFER STUDENTS
Transfer students do not live in
residence halls
Transfer students are inferior
students
5
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
6
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
8
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
10
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)
12
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)
13
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.
16
Do we exert same amount of
energy on transfer success
initiatives as on freshman success
initiatives?
17
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 MidSemester
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 STORM
Voluntary 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
28
IPKIT
E D U C AT I O N. M I S S O U R I . E D U / O RG 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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FOE
W 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 32
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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NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR
THE STUDY OF TRANSFER
STUDENTS
Texas Transfer Success Conference
• May 22, 2009
10th Annual Conference
• January 25-27, 2012, Fort Worth, Texas
http://transferinstitute.unt.edu
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