SOURCE
Vol. 16
FOR COLLEGE TRANSITIONS
No. 3 July 2019
A publication from the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition
CONTENTS
1
Supporting Transfer Student Success Through a Faculty Mentor Program Appalachian State University recruits faculty and staff specifically to provide support and resources to transfer students, with the aim of forming impactful academic relationships.
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A UCF Knights Tale: Intentional Efforts to Achieve Student Success An initiative at the University of Central Florida aims to raise graduation and retention rates while developing methods to restructure support services.
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Supporting Transfer Student Success Through a Faculty Mentor Program Transfer students account for one third of the Kim Morton Associate Director, Office of incoming class at Appalachian State University, a Transfer Services campus of 17,000 total undergraduates, and the Appalachian State University institution puts a high priority on helping this population transition. The eight-person Office of Transfer Services uses many intentional efforts to boost integration and success, resulting in new transfer students either returning for their second year or graduating for a strong retention rate of 86%.
Academic Recovery: The First-Year Seminar for Students on Probation The University of South Carolina aims to support students at a potential crisis point in an effort to help them adopt the skills and mindsets needed for college success.
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Maintaining Motivation and Preventing First-Semester Burnout Middle Tennessee State University creates a curricular intervention for first-semester students to normalize conversation around common obstacles while facilitating dialogue about effective strategies.
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Self-Directed Learning to Support Part-Time FYS Instructors: A Proposed Model An instructor at Kennesaw State University designs a model for teaching with an eye toward developing self-directed learning practices.
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Resource Spotlight: The State of First-Year Program Assessment: Recent Evidence from the 2017 NSFYE Assessment of first-year programs is happening more frequently, using a wider variety of formats. What does this mean for individual offices at an institution?
Appalachian State uses many intentional efforts to boost integration and success for incoming transfer students, which number 1,700 annually. Photo courtesy of the Office of Transfer Services.
With 1,700 new transfer students a year at Appalachian, creating a true mentor–mentee program in which each student is assigned a specific mentor would be impossible. Instead, that one-on-one relationship happens with an academic advisor throughout students’ degree progression. Thus, the Faculty Transfer Mentor program, which involves more than 100 trained faculty and staff who volunteer their time to develop supportive academic relationships with transfer students, serves as a vital additional resource. Originally designed to help prospective transfers connect directly with faculty regarding their college requirements, this academic integration-focused program has evolved as the Office of Transfer Services has expanded its reach. Mentors make themselves available for transfers, answering questions, providing support and referrals, and advocating for students within their academic department and elsewhere. Many faculty in the program were either transfer students themselves as undergraduates or have seen transfers struggle in their transition and want to help. These faculty mem-
