Advising Transfer Students

This eTutorial focuses on the experience of transfer students and assists advisors in developing a toolkit of skills, specific to supporting the transfer students with whom they work.

[All content is self-contained within the eTutorial. No additional materials are required.]

What you’ll learn:

• Identify the challenges, both academic and psycho-social, faced by transfer students. 
• Describe and implement the ways in which advisors can support students in overcoming these barriers
• Become advocates for transfer students on their own campuses.

Who this is for:

• This tutorial is useful for those who currently work with transfer students or would like to expand their knowledge of this population.
• It is particularly valuable for those who have been involved on the "credit" side of transfer but would like to better understand the impact of transfer on the student.  

Description of eTutorial

Transfer students are a growing and essential part of the landscape of higher education.  Too often, though, they are seen as outside of the central work of advisors and other professionals -- not the "typical" students; transfer students may see themselves or be seen as imposters or visitors on their campuses.  This eTutorial aims to bring the experience of transfer students to the forefront for advisors and to assist advisors in developing a toolkit of skills, specific to supporting the transfer students with whom they work.  Transfer students are not a monolith; they have varied and numerous reasons both for their initial college choices and for their transfer.  As such, this eTutorial focuses on transfer broadly with an emphasis on student transfer rather than credit transfer, using a wide range of resources to discuss the topic.  These sources include those from within NACADA, but also from other perspectives, associations, and researchers, recognizing that transfer is a campus-wide experience through which advisors can be a student's strongest supporter and guide.