Transfer students make up a significant proportion of UT's student body. As advisors, we are aware that transfer students encounter some unique challenges as compared to freshmen. To help transfer students adjust to UT, efforts have been made by individual advisors and advising offices. The Argosy would like to recognize the following two transfer student initiatives.
ACC/UT Networking Forum
In late September, ACC's Eastview campus hosted the third annual ACC to UT networking forum. The event has been coordinated by staff from both ACC and UT. Sue Holzaephel, an advisor in the College of Education, has been the primary leader from UT. As in previous years, advisors and staff from other areas of student services got together to discuss current issues concerning students transferring from ACC to UT. The event has traditionally consisted of a presentation from UT's Office of Admissions, a roundtable discussion, and a marketplace that features tables of information from various UT majors/colleges and student service offices. In the past, the marketplace was only open to ACC and UT staff, however, this year ACC students from all campuses were invited to attend. Over 100 ACC students attended and those helping to coordinate the event agreed that the marketplace was a huge success. The ACC/UT networking forum has traditionally only been held once per year. Based on the success of this semester's marketplace, the event coordinators have decided to host another event in the spring semester. The spring event will only consist of the marketplace although both staff and students will be invited to attend. Stay tuned to the ACA listserve for more detailed information on the date for the spring marketplace event.
New Transfer Student Initiatives Committee
Although it is not an official ACA committee, this fall Sue Holzaephel launched the UT Transfer Initiatives Committee which has set out to address the needs of transfer students. The committee has already met a handful of times during the fall semester and plans to continue meeting during the spring. These initial meetings primarily consisted of brainstorming sessions where the committee discussed current resources available to transfer students and initiatives that could be developed to better the overall experience of current and future transfer students.
As noted by Sue, one of the first tasks at hand is to define exactly who makes up this transfer student population and identify the issues and problems faced by this group of students. As such, the committee has decided to form a transfer student panel which will consist of transfer students from all over the university. It is hoped that this transfer student panel will meet with the committee during one of the first spring meetings.
If you would like to join this committee or have some ideas on how to address the needs of transfer students, contact Sue Holzaephel (sgamel@mail.utexas.edu).
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