Programs available to ease transition for transfers

By Lisa Xia

“We’re going to have a very exciting year,” said Bryan Vuong, senior in Business, to an audience of eight as he commenced the kick-off meeting of Transfers United, a Registered Student Organization aiming to ease the assimilation of transfer students into the University.

In the corner, eight boxes of Papa Del’s pizza laid cooling, largely untouched.

Vuong had expected more people that night.

“More people wanted to come, but there were midterms tonight and this week,” Vuong, president of the organization, said once the hour-long meeting outlining the group’s initiatives for volunteer work and social events ended.

The low turn-out for the first Transfers United meeting is not an isolated event. Silvia Garcia, president of Tau Sigma, an honors society that is open to transfers who obtain at least a 3.5/4.0 GPA after their first semester, said student turn-out in her meetings are also low.

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It is a problem which indicates to her that many transfer students are uninformed about student-run programs made to help ease the transition.

In 2004, the University accepted 952 transfers, a number slightly lower than recent years, with the majority from Illinois community colleges, according to data from the University Office for Planning and Budgeting. The admissions standards are based on the amount of pre-requisite coursework completed, the number of transferable credit hours (usually over 60) and the transfer GPA (minimum of 2.5/4.0). Most transfer students are, by policy, juniors.

The problem, said Vuong, is that while these students are technically upperclassmen, they are essentially mature freshmen and should be treated as such. They often have a more difficult time than first-year students, who are better guided by the University on its ins-and-outs, he said, because they are thrown in and expected to function at full-capacity without having adequate time to prepare.

Vuong added that for the many transfer students coming from two-year schools and from living at home, everything is a completely new process.

“They get thrown in the mix quickly,” Vuong said.

Unlike freshmen who complete a two-day orientation and have time to learn things, like securing an apartment during their obligatory first year in University-approved housing, many transfers find themselves using part of their one-day June orientation trying to find last-minute homes for the following August.

For that reason, Vuong found himself living in a “shady” Urbana basement his first semester.

“The University basically throws new students into a working machine,” said Allison Getty, president of Transfer Mentors, a program launched in fall 2006 in which “old” transfers serve as guides for new ones.

Concerning the availability of University housing, Getty, senior in LAS, said, “At the moment, there is only one dorm floor reserved for transfers and it is impossible to get in.”

According to Getty, the major issues facing transfers, in addition to housing and apartment-hunting, include getting financial aid, registering for classes, getting around campus and making friends. Transfer Mentors aims to assist in dealing with these difficulties.

“Transferring is hard,” Getty said. “The mentor’s job is to help make the ‘mentee’s’ transition to the University as smooth as possible. … (They) give tours, encourage (new transfers) to get involved by accompanying them to the first meeting of an RSO and provide whatever other resources the new students need.”

The two other organizations – Transfers United and Tau Sigma – state similar goals and aim to develop a support system for members. These groups were inaugurated in large part, Getty said, because “the University has done nothing to help transfer students.”

Sarah Holub, advisor to Tau Sigma and visiting assistant to the dean of students – the administration responsible for Transfer Orientation and Transfer Welcome – said the University is trying. She said that in the following week, a survey would be sent to all new transfers in order to get an idea of what their needs are and how the University can help.

“We’re working on improving,” Holub said. “We’re looking at how we can better help.”

Holub, who was once a transfer student herself, said that she understands the difficulty and overwhelming feeling of switching to a big university. However, both Getty and Vuong agree that the University could do more to assist in the transition process.

They suggested helping transfers get into more University housing or promoting their organizations at summer orientation. Currently, only Tau Sigma is presented.

The problem with the low meeting turn-outs, said Garcia, senior in LAS, is that most students aren’t aware that there are groups organized specifically for transfer students.

“(They) offer a great chance to be involved but not enough people know about them, especially since they’re all fairly new,” she said.

Holub pointed out, however, that the small number of current transfer organizations may be because there is no longer a need for them after a certain point.

“There used to be transfer student organizations,” she said. “But after second semester, you find your niche; you’ve found your friends.”

However, Vuong said she believes that there can be longevity for these groups if a large membership foundation is built and the University gives them more exposure.

“We feel if we work more with the University to facilitate events, then the turnout would be better,” Vuong said. “The University must broadcast these events and make it almost mandatory for them (transfers) to come.”