Transfer Success with
Peer Mentors
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
Overview
 Purpose
• UCF model
• Establishing purpose, aligning with division and
university goals
 Common goals
• Assist transfer students
• Insure smooth transition and progress to
graduation
• Improve retention
Overview (continued)
 Costs and funding
• Budget
• Paid or unpaid, academic credit
• Partnerships: creative funding
 Planning
• Long-/short-range purposes
- 3-year strategic plan
• Intentional, focused outcomes
- Annual department/program assessments
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 institutions – 4 primary feeder
schools
UCF Model
Transfer and
Transition Services
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Vision
UCF Model
Transfer and Transition Services
3 Functional Areas
Preparation
• Advise students before they transfer
Transition
• Work with transfers during their first semester
Progression
• Provide a solid foundation for retention and graduation
Serving Transfer Students
 2012-13 academic year: UCF enrollment 59,800+
• TTS assisted more than 40,000 constituents in person, by
phone, by e-mail
• TTS staff and Peer Mentors: 24,000+ student advising
contacts
 Award winning website http://transfer.sdes.ucf.edu
• 180,000+ website hits annually
• Student web developer
 Participated in 20 transfer orientations
Program Goals
 Create new roles for students in student learning
(division strategic goal)
 Expand opportunities for experience-based learning
(division strategic goal)
 Provide quality services for increasing numbers of
students (university goal)
 Assist transfer students in connecting to the campus
community
 Inculcate the values of the institution
TTS Org Chart
Resources
 University commitment
of critical resources:
space, funding
 To pay or not to pay
 Partnering
 Organizational
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
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Preparing students academically for transfer
Assuring a smooth transfer transition
Connecting to the campus community
Providing support for progress to graduation
Supports student leadership development
Provides important professional development
Helps to manage heavy advising loads
Promotes retention
Ingredients for Peer
Program Success
 Recruitment and
selection
 Training
 Supervision
 Committed students
 University support
Recruiting Peers
 Recommendations from community college
advisors
 E-mails to currently enrolled transfers
 Announcements at orientations
 Consider your institution’s transfer student
demographics
 Annual process
Variety is the spice…
 Reflect your student body
 International students, students with
disabilities
 Different majors
 Transfers from public, private, 2-year and 4year
 Transfers from your feeder schools
Interviews
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Selecting a search committee
Individual interviews: presenting yourself well
Group interviews: elements of team work
Interview with current Peer Mentors
Valuing student perceptions
Training Philosophy
 Articulating institutional values
• Inculcating the CREED
• A commitment to shared values Peer Mentors: UCF Creed
 Advocating tolerance
• Diversity initiatives
 Encouraging engagement
• Building a sense of community, responsibility
“… provide a more positive ethical framework for college student conduct …
and encourage …active student affirmation and commitment to campus
moral norms.”
Training Basics
 Aligned with SDES Strategic Goals
 Creating responsible employees, citizens of the campus
community
 Providing learning-based experience
 Relating students’ choices and exploration 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
 Initial 6 week training program
 Online learning modules, weekly professional
development meetings
 Office practices, procedures; university
policies
 Academic information
 Campus resources
Benefits of Training
Confident, resourceful Peers
Accurate information
Antidote to
“My friend
says…”
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Peer Mentor Roles
Preparation
Pre-admission academic advising
• Appointments, e-mails, phone calls
• General education program, common program
prerequisites
Outreach programs: workshops, panels,
surveys, focus groups
Students helping students
Orientation
Transition
20 transfer orientations, 550 to 750 transfers
attend 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
Retention
Progress to graduation
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 organizations – introducing
transfer to the campus community
Engagement:
Transfer Knights
Scholarship
 Tau Sigma National Honor Society
 3.5 GPA in first full-time semester
Peers as Advocates
 Peers Mentors
• Knowledgeable, confident, resourceful,
professional
• Connected to the campus
 Students listen to students
• Importance of the transfer student “voice” on
campus
Assessment
 Meeting division goals
• Measuring Student Learning Outcomes
 Measuring what the Peers learn
• Advising rubric
• Videos
• Performance evaluations
 Evaluating the program
Program Assessment
 Annual Institutional Effective Plans
• Alignment with division and university goals
 Measuring the effectiveness of Peer
presentations, 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?
• Considerations: institutional context, level of
support, resources
• Likely partners
• Peer mentors’ roles
• Assessing your program and performance
QUESTIONS
AND
COMMENTS
Contact Information
Charlene A. Stinard, Director
Transfer and Transition Services
[email protected]
407.823.2231
Student Development and Enrollment Services
University of Central Florida