IMPROVING TRANSFER STUDENT SATISFACTION
~ Creating a Transfer Student Services Center ~
AACRAO Transfer Conference
Tucson, Arizona
July 15, 2013
Maria Campanella, M.A., M.S.
Director, Transfer Student Services Center
Stephen E. Joyner, Ph.D.
Vice President for Enrollment Management
Brooklyn College – Fast Facts
• A senior college within the CUNY System
• Approximately 17,000 Students – 13,000 undergraduates
• Voted top 50 most diverse campuses in the United States
• One of the top 50 most affordable – Princeton Review
• Graduate more African-Americans than any other NY institution
• Centralized admissions process; transfer admits received via
monthly allocation
• Two-thirds of incoming class comprised of transfers
• Approximately 1600 enrolled Fall 2012; 1330 Spring 2013
• Admissions criteria - 2.3 transfer GPA; < 24 credits must also
meet high school criteria
• Mean transfer GPA = 3.1; mean transfer credits = 70
• Approximately 1800 transfers accepted during Spring 2013
• Transfer yield rate = 75%
Transfer Student Trends
3000
2500
2000
Spring
1500
Fall
1000
Total
500
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
0
Identifying Problems Within the Transfer Process
• Baccalaureate colleges differ in which courses they will accept for
transfer credit; College A = 32.5%, College B= 9.5% nontransferable
• Transfer staff housed in the Office of the Registrar
• No deadlines for completion of transfer evaluation; no clear guidance
on how to follow-up on unevaluated courses
• Serious delays in having transfer credits evaluated
• Transfer evaluation not entered in SIS until complete
• Repeated courses due to late evaluations seen as “mis-advisement
error” and resolved by making transfer course elective credit
• Faculty habitually “re-evaluated” courses without precedence
• Transfer staff prohibited from evaluating one-to-one matching, lowerlevel courses for faculty
• Campus culture unfriendly to transfers
Transfer Student Services Center - GOALS
• Create a centralized and separate office under EM for new
and continuing transfer students to resolve issues regarding
their transfer credit evaluation (decrease the “run-around”)
• Provide a seamless transition to BC by collaborating with
Admission, Advisement, The Registrar, Financial Aid, and
the Peer Mentoring program
• Service prospective transfer students regarding admission,
financial aid, and transfer credit information
• Streamline the credit evaluation process
• Improve communication with students, administrative
departments, and faculty
Transfer Student Services Center – The “Nuts & Bolts”
• Director was hired in January 2012; actual center was created
in mid June 2012
• Staff were originally members of the Office of the Registrar
• Complete transfer credit evaluations for all admitted
transfer students, including prior colleges, AP, IB, CLEP,
college courses in high school, yeshiva/seminaries, and
international credentials; complete evaluations for enrolled
freshmen (approx. 5,000 per year, not including freshmen)
• Service an average of 25 students “in person” per day (range
from 2 to 150 per day over a one year period)
• Receive approximately 34 calls per day (range from 2 to 84
calls per day over a one year period)
• Staff: One director, two full-time administrators, two fulltime office assistants, and three part-timers
Number of Students Visiting
the TSSC (2012)
800
700
600
500
400
Students
300
200
100
0
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Number of Students Visiting
the TSSC (2013)
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Students
Jan.
Feb. March April
May
June
Reviewed Transfer Credit Policies and Improved the
Efficiency of the Process
• Double monitors were added to ease the posting of credits
• Procedures were clearly written out and given to the staff
• Divided admitted students by alpha after each allocation so
each staff member “owned” their group - created “teams”
among the staff
• Instituted a schedule for due dates of credit evaluations
after each allocation of admitted students
• Trained staff on international credit evaluations
• Created a letter for international students who needed to
provide an evaluation of their credits from a member of NACES
Reviewed Transfer Credit Policies and Improved the
Efficiency of the Process – Continued
• Instituted a Transfer Credit Deadline
• Included the Transfer Credit Report (TCR) in the acceptance
packet
• Created a general cover letter for the Transfer Credit Report
to address issues (See HANDOUT)
• Revised the Transfer Credit Report itself that is mailed to
students (See HANDOUT)
• Entered partial evaluations to a student’s record to aid in
the advisement process
Clarified Processes with the Admission Office and
Information Technology Services
• Added a next step to our online admission checklist called
“Review Your Credit Evaluation”
• Created a process by which TSSC staff enter a comment in
the recruitment database, which generates the admission
letter. The TCR cover letter and TCRs are sent to Admission
to be included in the acceptance packet
• Adjusted Direct Admission (similar to “one-stop” events):
Issue : Students making registration appointments without a
credit evaluation
Solution: Names are emailed daily from Admission for those
students who have been admitted through Direct
Admission – They are completed in within 48 hours
Added / Revised Transfer Specific Events
• Added a Transfer Workshop at Fall Open House
• Added speakers from the TSSC, Advisement, and the Career
Center at New Student Receptions – yield events
• Created information tables at New Student Receptions
• Revised Transfer Evaluation Day (TED) – Created a smoother
event with “check-in”, “check-out”, clear signage, and specific
assignments for staff members
• Invited the Office of the Registrar and the Peer Mentoring
program to host information tables at Transfer Evaluation Day
Collaborated with Peer Mentoring and Orientation Programs
• Met with TransferNation - Peer Mentoring group for transfers – to
discuss transfer specific events for continuing students based on
major
• Presented at TransferNation events about the new TSSC
and important procedures for students
• Included a TransferNation information table at Transfer
Evaluation Day
• Conducted a workshop at Transfer Orientation about the new
TSSC
Created a TSSC Website and
Helpful Forms for Students and for the Center
• Transfer Credit Information Request Form
• Evaluate Your Transfer Courses – for courses listed as TBD on
the Transfer Credit Report
• Submitting Official Transcripts
• Forfeiting AP Credit
• AP Equivalencies
• IB Equivalencies
• Re-Evaluation Form - for students to have a transfer course
re-evaluated from the original equivalent
*All are available on our website, except for the
Re-Evaluation Form*
Improved Communication
• Created a Transfer Services Committee:
Mission:
To ensure that students have a seamless transition to Brooklyn
College from recruitment, to evaluation of transfer credits, to
advisement and registration, to commencement. The
committee will open lines of communication between
departments to discuss transfer policies, procedures,
admission events, issues of concern, and other matters. All
members of the committee will be aware of each other’s
role in working with transfer students and then distribute the
information to the rest of their department
• Members consist of staff from: The TSSC, the Office of the
Registrar, Admission, Advisement, the Peer Mentoring
Program, the Honors Program, and the Associate
Provost’s Office. Guest speakers also attend
Improved Communication - Continued
• Goals were created during the first TS Committee meeting
• Each department presented to the rest of the Transfer Services
Committee about their role on campus and their impact on
transfer students
• Created a Bulletin Board for students with important
transfer credit information
• Created a TSSC website, including Important Forms:
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/administration/enroll
ment/transferservices.php
Getting “Buy-In” – Internal & External Community
• Recruited with the Admission Office at Community Colleges –
Created a TSSC flyer for prospective students and BC students
• Conducted information sessions at Community Colleges with the
Admission Office
• Presented at the President’s Council which included faculty from
various departments on campus, including the VP’s and Provost
• Collaborated with the Peer Mentoring Program (TransferNation) and
conducted workshops for new and continuing transfer students
• Hosted a Transfer Student Services Center Open House for BC faculty,
staff, and students (with snacks and refreshments). Five faculty
members and seventy-four students attended.
Future Goals
• Meet with prospective students to complete an unofficial
preliminary credit evaluation on a daily basis
• Host a Transfer Open House for prospective students,
including a credit evaluation and advisement component. This
would include presentations from Admission, Advisement,
Financial Aid, and the TSSC. Faculty members from our top
majors would be available to answer questions and a
campus tour would be available
• Organize Faculty / Staff workshops to review policies and
procedures of the TSSC and to stress the importance of
transfers to the college
• Work with faculty to create an international student policy
for an exemption of the core requirements (based on
countries with a known liberal arts curriculum)
Future Goals - Continued
• Create a “Bill of Rights and Responsibilities” (suggested by
John Gardner from the JNGI Institute for Excellence in
Undergraduate Education)
• Conduct online chats with students to answer questions
regarding their transfer credits
• Highlight transfer student success stories or “Transfer
Testimonials” on our website
• Create a Facebook page
• Create a TSSC brochure
Future Goals - Continued
• Create a “team” of enrollment management professionals
to assist new transfer students, including a representative
from Admission, Advisement, TSSC, and Financial Aid
• Create a special Phi Theta Kappa scholarship for transfers
• Increase full-time staff from 4 to 5, not including the Director
• Conduct assessments to determine how effective the
changes were to the transfer credit process. Utilize
focus groups and student/faculty surveys
QUESTIONS?
Maria Campanella, M.A., M.S.
Director, Transfer Student Services Center
718-951-5263
mcampanella@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Stephen E. Joyner, Ph.D.
Vice President for Enrollment Management
718-951-5114
sjoyner@brooklyn.cuny.edu