Transfer Symposium 2014: A Campus Conversation about Transfer Student Success
Transfer Symposium:
A Campus Conversation about Transfer Student Success
October 24, 2014: 1 PM to 4 PM
Academic Affairs is hosting a Transfer Symposium on Friday, October 24, 2014, from 1pm to 4pm. The aim of the Symposium is to raise awareness about transfer students and the issues they face, so that faculty and staff can better understand the students with whom they work.
Goals and Objectives
- To continue the campus conversation about creating an institution-wide vision for transfer students.
- To learn about special populations of students: military, adult/non-traditional, and early college students, and how we can best serve them in and out of the classroom.
- To showcase the outcomes of the Transfer Symposium 2013 and how these have contributed to transfer student success.
Why attend?
- To continue the campus conversation about transfer students and delve a little deeper into these very important special populations..
- To hear directly from transfer students as they tell their stories.
- To be eligible to request funding for projects to enhance learning, services, or programming for transfer students or to conduct research regarding transfer students. Awarded departments/offices would be expected to present findings/results at the Transfer Symposium 2015.
- To be eligible to request funding to attend a national conference that focuses upon transfer students. Funding for conference travel will be offered as a match to your department’s contribution.
Who should attend?
Faculty, staff and students on campus should attend with the goals of learning more about transfer students and sharing that information with their department/unit prior to the end of fall semester.
Which departments should attend?
- Academic departments which offer majors listed in the “top 10” for transfer students over the past three years.
- Academic departments which would like to attract more transfer students
- Student development departments that deliver programming or student services.
- Academic services departments that interact with transfer students.
- Student organizations that want to join this campus conversation.
Departmental teams are encouraged.
Transfer Symposium:
A Campus Conversation about Transfer Student Success
October 24, 2014: 1 PM to 4 PM
Parkway Ballroom, Plemmons Student Union
12:30pm | Registration opens Parkway Ballroom |
12:30pm~1:30pm | Poster Presentations - Research Put into Action |
1:30pm | Opening Comments Dr. Martin Lancaster, Member, Appalachian State University Board of Trustees; Former President, North Carolina Community College System Parkway Ballroom |
2:00pm~2:40pm | Breakout Sessions - Digging Deeper into the Transfer Experience
Choose one track:
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2:45pm~3:25pm | Student Panels - Learn from those "In the Know" Choose one track.
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3:30pm~4:00pm | Closing Session - Wrap Up and Next Steps A chance to reflect on the day's sessions and to find out about funding opportunities for transfer-student related research and professional development. Parkway Ballroom |
Programs Funded through the Transfer Symposium 2014-15
Teams who attended Appalachian State University’s Transfer Symposium on October 24, 2014 were eligible to respond to the following requests for proposals:
- Request for projects to enhance learning services or programming for transfers.
- Request for funding to conduct research on aspects of the transfer student experience.
- Request for matching funds to attend a national conference that focuses upon transfer students.
The Transfer Advisory Board received seven proposals totaling $11,704. The following requests were funded and will be presented at the Transfer Symposium 2015:
Programming
1. Transfer Connect
Unit: Counseling and Psychological Services
Personnel: Stephanie Langston, Denise Loven, Melissa Baab, Ally Matt, Elisabeth Cavallaro
Programming:
- Workshops specifically tailored to transfer student needs
- Informational programming at the beginning of the semester
- Time and space for transfer students to interact socially
2. Hosting the 2015 Writing Across the Curriculum Conference
Unit: Writing Across the Curriculum
Personnel: CC Hendricks
Programming:
- Hosting of the seventh annual Writing Across Institutions conference at Appalachian on March 27th, 2015
Research
1. Developing faculty communication strategies
Unit: Department of Communication
Personnel: Lynn Gregory
Goals:
- To identify best practices in Veteran student support that relate to student/faculty communication
- To identify and qualify current Veteran student perceptions of student/faculty communication
- To use the results of the study to make recommendations for improving student/faculty interaction in both practice and perception
2. The Role of Writing Centers in the Transfer Student Experience
Unit: University Writing Center
Personnel: Julie Karaus
Goals:
- To investigate the relationship between transfer students’ use of the writing center and their confidence in writing
- To investigate the relationship between confidence in writing with retention and persistence
- To better understand the perceptions transfer students bring to four-year institutions in terms of the support writing centers provide and whom they are meant to serve
Conference Attendance
1. National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students
Unit: Belk Library and Information Commons
Personnel: Kelly McCallister, Kelly McBride
Goals:
- For library faculty to improve or provide new and innovative library services for Appalachian State University transfer students
2. Student Veterans Association National Conference
Unit: Academic Advising and Orientation
Personnel: Bob Gibbard
Goals:
- To investigate best practices for supporting Veteran transfer students at Appalachian State University