Transfer Success with Peer Mentors Charlene A. Stinard Director - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Charlene A. Stinard

Director Transfer and Transition Services Student Development & Enrollment Services

University of Central Florida

20th National Conference on Students in Transition October 2013

Transfer Success with Peer Mentors

Overview

• Purpose
• UCF model
• Establishing purpose, aligning with division and

university goals

• Common goals
• Assist transfer students
• Insure smooth transitjon and progress to

graduatjon

• Improve retentjon

Overview (contjnued)

• Costs and funding
• Budget
• Paid or unpaid, academic credit
• Partnerships: creatjve funding
• Planning
• Long-/short-range purposes
• 3-year strategic plan
• Intentjonal, focused outcomes
• Annual department/program assessments

Large Public University Large Public University

• 2nd largest US university
• 2013-14 enrollment = 60,000+
• Transfer enrollment 2012-13
• 11,014 new transfer students enrolled (annual)
• 6,700 new freshmen enrolled (annual)
• Partnership instjtutjons – 4 primary feeder

schools

UCF Model

Transfer and

• Transition Services
• Vision

UCF Model

Transfer and Transitj tjon Services 3 Functj tjonal Areas

• Preparatj

tjon

• Advise students before they transfer
• Transitj

tjon

• Work with transfers during their fjrst semester
• Progression
• Provide a solid foundatjon for retentjon and graduatjon

Serving Transfer Students

• 2012-13 academic year: UCF enrollment 59,800+
• TTS assisted more than 40,000 constjtuents in person, by

phone, by e-mail

• TTS stafg and Peer Mentors: 24,000+ student advising

contacts

• Award winning website htup://transfer.sdes.ucf.edu
• 180,000+ website hits annually
• Student web developer
• Partjcipated in 20 transfer orientatjons

Program Goals

• Create new roles for students in student learning

(division strategic goal)

• Expand opportunitjes for experience-based learning

(division strategic goal)

• Provide quality services for increasing numbers of

students (university goal)

• Assist transfer students in connectjng to the campus

community

• Inculcate the values of the instjtutjon

TTS Org Chart

Resources

• University commitment
• f critjcal resources:

space, funding

• To pay or not to pay
• Partnering
• Organizatjonal

structure

• Assessment and

improvement

Transfer Shock Survivors

… a temporary dip in GPA during the first or second semester at the new institution…

John Hills, University of Georgia, 1965

TTS Peer Mentor Program

• A successful model for
• Preparing students academically for transfer
• Assuring a smooth transfer transitjon
• Connectjng to the campus community
• Providing support for progress to graduatjon
• Supports student leadership development
• Provides important professional development
• Helps to manage heavy advising loads
• Promotes retentjon

Ingredients for Peer Program Success

• Recruitment and

selectjon

• Training
• Supervision
• Commitued students
• University support

Recruitj tjng Peers

• Recommendatjons from community college

advisors

• E-mails to currently enrolled transfers
• Announcements at orientatjons
• Consider your instjtutjon’s transfer student

demographics

• Annual process

Variety is the spice…

• Refmect your student body
• Internatjonal students, students with

disabilitjes

• Difgerent majors
• Transfers from public, private, 2-year and 4-

year

• Transfers from your feeder schools

Interviews

• Selectjng a search commituee
• Individual interviews: presentjng yourself well
• Group interviews: elements of team work
• Interview with current Peer Mentors
• Valuing student perceptjons

Training Philosophy

• Artjculatjng instjtutjonal values
• Inculcatjng the CREED
• A commitment to shared values Peer Mentors: UCF Creed
• Advocatjng tolerance
• Diversity initjatjves
• Encouraging engagement
• Building a sense of community, responsibility

“… provide a more positjve ethical framework for college student conduct … and encourage …actjve student affjrmatjon and commitment to campus moral norms.”

Training Basics

• Aligned with SDES Strategic Goals
• Creatjng responsible employees, citjzens of the campus

community

• Providing learning-based experience
• Relatjng students’ choices and exploratjon of their

values to who they are, who they want to be

• Exploring what they stand for, what they value
• Learning from each other

Training

• Initjal 6 week training program
• Online learning modules, weekly professional

development meetjngs

• Offjce practjces, procedures; university

policies

• Academic informatjon
• Campus resources

Benefj fjts of Training

• Confjdent, resourceful Peers
• Accurate informatjon
• Antjdote to
• “My friend

says…”

Peer Mentor Roles

Preparatj tjon

• Pre-admission academic advising
• Appointments, e-mails, phone calls
• General educatjon program, common program

prerequisites

• Outreach programs: workshops, panels,

surveys, focus groups

• Students helping students

Orientatj tjon

Transitj tjon

• 20 transfer orientatjons, 550 to 750 transfers

atuend each session

• Transfer Success Program – describing The UCF

Experience

• What to expect, what is expected
• Introducing the CREED and campus resources
• Welcome events: promote engagement

Retentj tjon

Progress to graduatj tjon

• Are You on the Knight Track? transfer seminar

– Peer Mentor panel discuss their experiences

• Transfer Success Workshop series – planned

and executed by Peer Mentors

• Campus clubs and organizatjons – introducing

transfer to the campus community

Engagement: Transfer Knights

Scholarship

• Tau Sigma Natjonal Honor Society
• 3.5 GPA in fjrst full-tjme semester

Peers as Advocates

• Peers Mentors
• Knowledgeable, confjdent, resourceful,

professional

• Connected to the campus
• Students listen to students
• Importance of the transfer student “voice” on

campus

Assessment

• Meetjng division goals
• Measuring Student Learning Outcomes
• Measuring what the Peers learn
• Advising rubric
• Videos
• Performance evaluatjons
• Evaluatjng the program

Program Assessment

• Annual Instjtutjonal Efgectjve Plans
• Alignment with division and university goals
• Measuring the efgectjveness of Peer

presentatjons, programs, workshops

• Measuring student learning
• Pre-/post-tests
• Survey responses
• Focus groups

Planning Guide

• Needs assessment: What do you want/need in

a peer mentor program?

• Consideratjons: instjtutjonal context, level of

support, resources

• Likely partners
• Peer mentors’ roles
• Assessing your program and performance

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

Contact Informatj tjon Contact Informatj tjon

Charlene A. Stj tjnard, Director Transfer and Transitj tjon Services Charlene.Stjnard@ucf.edu 407.823.2231

Student Development and Enrollment Services University of Central Florida