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 CenterAshlea.Coulter@unt.edu

Melissa McGuire,Assistant Vice President of Student AffairsMelissa.Mcguire@unt.edu

Orientation and Transition Programs,University of North Texas