We often hear about the difficulties of transferring to a new school when a person is in elementary, middle, or high school. Making new friends, adjusting to new teachers, and other obstacles are faced by a majority of children, however, we rarely focus on the difficulties of transferring between colleges. Ben Terris state that a recent study, dubbed “Nessie”, shows a majority of transfer college students do not participate in major campus activities which are offered for the benefit of the student body. Comparatively, a majority of the “native” students do participate in these types of activities, such as internships and study abroad opportunities.
Over the years colleges have settled into a routine which they find is beneficial to their statistics and rankings but fail to see the harm it has on other students. “[C]olleges tend to put more effort into first-year enhancement, as a means of improving their retention rates, than into programming for older students.” Colleges should welcome transfer students just as warmly as they do freshman students so that opportunities for personal and academic achievement are not missed. If an effort was put in to “do more to engage all… students” then transfer students would feel more welcome and integrated into their new community. Without the information and guidance provided by the college itself a transfer student may be simply unaware of the opportunities provided for students. Many of these opportunities build valuable personal, academic, and business skills that can only be accessed through experience. Most colleges provide wonderful opportunities which can be hard to find by yourself, therefore, they have the responsibility of communicating to all students.
No comments:
Post a Comment