I remember sitting in my resident hall room in Tom Brown/Pete Wright after unloading all of my possessions. Through my bedroom window I could see my parents driving away after they finished helping me move in. I realized at that moment that I was alone. I didn’t know where anything was. I didn’t know who anyone was. As a junior in college, you would think that I’d already have the “college thing” down and be settled into the routine of going to class and seeing friends and people I knew everywhere I went, especially since TCU is such a small school. The only problem is that I was a transfer student.
It is hard enough starting college but when you are thrown into a new place where it seems like everyone else already knows each other, you have just found out that 36 of your credit hours didn’t transfer, and you feel older than all of the other new students, it is suddenly even harder to adjust. Attending more than one college is increasingly common, and transfer students tend to be disconnected from and overlooked on their new campuses. The National Survey of Student Engagement states that transfer students reported less interaction with faculty, a less-supportive campus environment, less “active and collaborative learning” and fewer “enriching educational experiences.”
To start building that supportive environment, most TCU freshmen attend Frog Camp the summer prior to starting college, but transfers are never really encouraged to do so. It’s not that transfer students are discouraged to attend, but no one specified that the camp was open to more than freshman. I remember throwing away the information about Frog Camp that was sent to my house because I knew that I would be the oldest student there and that I would feel out of place.
Another great program that TCU has for incoming students is a class called Connections. Connections is actually a required class for freshman but most transfer students either know nothing about it because it wasn’t offered to them at Orientation or they thought that the information would not be relevant to them since they had already spent time in college. Connections is a once a week class that helps new students get their feet on the ground and to be successful in and out of the classroom. The classes are taught by specifically selected experienced students and faculty members who want to help new students learn about on campus resources and to help them develop skills and explore values.
Hannah Thorpe, a middle school education major, transfer student, and Transfer Student Advisory Board Chair had a similar experience to mine. “When I came in as a transfer student I felt lost, feeling like I hadn’t gotten enough information about being a new student at TCU. I did not get the information that freshman get, which is what I really needed (although catered to older students).” It took Hannah her entire first semester at TCU to figure out how to get involved and to get oriented with classes and outside activities.
In the Spring of 2008, a group of current transfer students formed an organization known as the Transfer Student Advisory Board (TSAB) whose main purpose is to make the transition for incoming transfer students go more smoothly. The TSAB works closely with Student Affairs, the Dean of Transfer Students, Kay Higgins, and the Transfer Admissions Office. Each of the students on the TSAB struggled with starting at a new college as a junior. There is no one better to help you through a tough situation than someone who has experienced it for themselves. The TSAB started out with a group of 11 who each had their own area of expertise such as dealing with transferring from out of state or being a non-traditional student (over age 25). Today’s TSAB is comprised of 16 members who come from different backgrounds, have different majors, and have different ways of contributing to making the transfer process better. Some members are in charge of helping students who transferred from a 2-year college, others help students who transferred from a 4-year college, and others help international transfer students and so on. These members work hard to make sure that everyone is taken care of by answering their questions and helping with almost anything they need while they are at TCU.
Other positions include the TSAB Chair who organizes meetings, Vice-Chair who keeps track of meeting and event attendance, Assistant to the Board who helps out with all events and small details that others need assistance with, Community College Rep who is in contact with those who transferred from a community college, Program Planning and Assessment Chair who plans events for transfer students as well as surveys students throughout the year to find what needs to be improved for the upcoming year, Membership Development and Communications Chair who plans socials for the TSAB, and On-Campus and Off-Campus Chairs who stay in contact with their groups of students. The TSAB also has a website connected to the TCU Student Affairs website with a calendar of upcoming events and the member contact information so that they may be contacted with questions.
The TSAB Admissions Chair is responsible for organizing parts of Transfer Day and Transfer Orientation. This member is also in charge of the Calling Campaign that takes place in the summer and in December. This is when TSAB members call students who have applied to TCU and answer any questions that they or their parents have. Members also try to calm any nerves and address their fears about transferring to a new school. “We contact them over the summer and throughout their first semester so that they at least have a contact at TCU to get started. Our hope is that they will then be able to get involved right away, which is the most important thing in order to be successful as a student”, says Thorpe.
"Once students are admitted, members of the transfer student advisory board call them, answer questions and encourage them to attend orientation and all beginning connection options," Kay Higgins, Dean of Transfer Students, said. The beginning connections that Higgins is talking about include Transfer Day, Transfer Orientation, and T-Connections.
Transfer Day is an information day that gives both prospective and admitted transfer students an inside look at campus life, academics, financial aid, scholarships, and the Honors Program. They take a tour of the campus, hear from current transfer students (usually a panel of TSAB members), listen to a professor, meet current students and learn more about TCU.
T-Connections is the transfer student version of Connections. Connections is the once-a-week class that helps students get on their feet and encourages them to be successful students. This class is specifically geared toward transfer students and helps them get acquainted with the University, answer any questions they have about student life, and to give them the opportunity to meet other transfer students. One thing that makes this program special is that the class mentors are current transfer students and members of the TSAB. There would be no T-Connections without the TSAB. Sam Pauling, a current transfer student and new TSAB member, likes that the group offers a unique service at TCU for students transferring in from other universities. Pauling plans to use his experience as a transfer student to help others. “I am going to open student’s eyes to events around campus and the Fort Worth community that they might not be familiar with. Being on the Board gives me a chance to give back to a group that made me more comfortable transferring into a new school in a new city.”
“Our goal is to help transfer students get better acquainted with the university and to get [them] involved, making sure they are aware of TCU’s resources and opportunities”, Thorpe said. “As chair, I wanted to make sure that continued to happen and we had events for transfer students so that they could get involved. I also wanted to make sure that the TSAB could make a difference with the transfer student population, catering to what they needed in order to be successful.”
Some events that the TSAB have hosted include going to Movie Tavern, dinner at Chili’s, and a Dive-In at the Rec Center. The Dive-In was originally planned to take place at the pool area with a movie playing on a large inflated screen, but due to rain the event was moved inside to the TV lounge. Transfer students came and got to meet other transfers while eating pizza, watching movies, playing games, and winning door prizes. Over 50 transfer students attended and the TSAB plan to make this an annual event.
The TSAB plans to have at least one social for transfer students every month. Upcoming events include having a transfer team at LEAPS, TCU’s community service day, a transfer tailgate at the Pink Out game on November 24th, and an end of semester social that includes making gingerbread houses and smores at the Tom Brown Pete Wright common’s fireplace.
I have had the pleasure of being the Admissions Chair for the TSAB since day one. Many hours, days, and sleep deprived nights go into planning socials and events for transfer students. All members of the TSAB will agree that every minute of work is completely worth it when you see the impact we have on students. We each know the difficulty of transferring to a new school and do everything that we can to make sure that we can minimize these issues for new transfers. I knew I was making a difference when I saw three of my T-Connections students hanging out together outside of school and off campus. I ran into them at a Wal-Mart across town. Normally, seeing a few people you know at Wal-Mart wouldn’t be a huge deal, but these were three of my T-Connections students who had met in my class just weeks prior. Making friends with other transfer students is our main goal and when we see our goals accomplished we know that our time and effort is worth each second.
