Transfer students have trouble adjusting to life at new campuses, according to an annual survey done by the National Survey of Student Engagement. Syracuse University was one of the schools studied in the survey published in early November.

The survey painted this picture of transfer students’ life: Students participate in fewer high-impact activities, such as studying abroad, taking part in faculty research and finding internships; they interact less with faculty; and rate their campus relationships lower than non-transfer students.

Universities tend to favor first-year students over transfer students and gear the traditional college experience toward those students, said Alexander McCormick, director of the National Survey of Student Engagement. Transfer students are not always made aware of their on-campus resources, he said.

‘I think a lot of this can be resolved,’ McCormick said. ‘Things like studying abroad take a lot of planning, which often starts in student’s freshman year. But there are many things that can be done to lessen the disadvantage that transfer students have.’

The National Survey of Student Engagement conducts an annual study, with one of the topics being transfer students’ ability to assimilate into their new universities.

The survey studied transfer students from both community colleges and four-year institutions.

The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment at SU, which collects the university’s information for the national survey, declined to release any information about the SU results.

SU has programs designed to get transfer students involved on campus, said Laura Crandall, program coordinator for the Office of First-Year and Transfer Programs.

‘I think that we are definitely working on engaging transfer students in the SU community,’ Crandall said. ‘In previous years, no, it wasn’t an easy transition for those students. But this year we are starting a lot of new initiatives, and we are continuing to grow on those.’

Having transfer students living on campus together, rather than off campus, has helped them to engage in activities together and bond, said Kerry Fiesinger, program coordinator for the Office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services. This year, more than 60 transfer students are living in Skyhall I on South Campus.

Shannon Phillips, a junior biology major who is a resident advisor on the third floor of Skyhall I where the majority of the transfer students in the building live, said she has seen her residents form bonds this past semester.

‘They’re planning on going home with each other for holidays. They’ve definitely become a tight knit family,’ Phillips said. ‘We even have a floor volleyball team that competes in intramural games in Archbold (Gymnasium).’

Last semester, a transfer-peer mentor program started allowing transfer students to have a mentor to talk to about their adjustment on campus. The mentors help their peers with concerns they may have. Some mentors even invite their peers over for dinner.

When Margrette Robinson transferred to SU as a sophomore in fall 2008, she was looking forward to dorm life and meeting other transfer students at SU.

She found out just two weeks before arriving at school that she could not live in a dorm, and she would be living off campus in an apartment with three other transfer students she had never met.

Robinson, now a junior in the S.I. Newhouse of Public Communications, said it was very hard to make friends, and she wasn’t sure how to go about getting involved on campus. In her second semester, she joined a sorority and credits that to how she adjusted to life on campus.

Some transfer students said they eventually got involved with campus groups and activities, which eased their transition.

Hilary Levin, a junior broadcast journalism major, said she made an effort to get involved in different activities after she transferred to the university.

Her first night on campus, she went to Home to the Dome, a first-year student orientation event. Now, she has gotten an internship and is also involved with Hillel and Student Association, activities that Levin said made the difference in her transition to SU.

‘By taking advantage of them, it makes the transition so much easier,’ Levin said.

rltoback@syr.edu

Published on December 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm