Recently, the Transfer Center hosted Transfer Awareness Month, a time when a host of workshops and events are available to students interested in learning more about transferring and what it would take to get the process started.
We kicked off the month with a very well attended CSU Drop-In Application Assistance Workshop. More than 30 students visited the Transfer Center during the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm for assistance with their online application and many students were able to successfully submit their applications to their preferred colleges and universities. And for those students who missed the workshop, the Transfer Center also hosted an informational CSU Application Workshop. This workshop offered students information about the process and how to start the application, where to go for information, and what type of information they would need to complete the workshop. With at more than 18 students attending, this was also a very well attended workshop, which students found to be very informative and helpful to them starting the process to transfer.
Along with workshops, the Transfer Center worked hard to provide Skyline College students access to college representatives from UC Davis, SFSU, UC Santa Barbara and Columbia University. At least 40 or more students met with these representatives, which gave them an opportunity to meet one-on-one regarding questions about applying and information about various programs and majors. For students interested in attending San Francisco State University, college representative Paul Mendez and Doris Fendt were on hand! They met with over 20 students during their various college visits answering questions about transferring to SFSU and discussing with students the Transfer Articulation Bridge Program. The TAB program offers Skyline College students an opportunity to enroll in one course at SFSU while still earning units at Skyline College. The course prepares students by giving them an overview of the various resources available to students at SFSU and how to make sure they are transfer ready! Both Paul and Doris expressed how impressed they were with Skyline College’s students; they illustrated strong interest in transferring and were asking many critical questions.
Finally, in addition to college representative one-on-one conferencing, the Transfer Center and Skyline College hosted our annual Transfer Day on Monday, October 21. Over 40 college and university representatives were in attendance for this event! Representatives met with Skyline College students and assisted them by providing access to important information regarding transfer to the colleges or universities of their choice. Many representatives, similar to Doris and Paul, also expressed how impressed they were by our students’ excitement and critical thinking skills. With over 200 students in attendance for the event, many asked very good questions that showed their earnest interest in moving forward with their academic goals.
And finally, the Transfer Center ended Transfer Awareness Month by meeting with the Transfer Initiative Advisory Committee. This committee is setting the groundwork to make the Transfer Center a constant part of Skyline College Community. During the meeting the committee revisited the group’s discussion from the previous meeting and narrowed its focus by spending more time defining Transfer Culture and by conducting a group activity designed to prioritize tasks and goals for the following meeting.
Overall, Transfer Awareness Month was very successful. Many dialogues regarding transfer were robust and all of our activities and events were overwhelmingly attended. We look forward to the coming months as planning months for the rest of the semester as we continue to host college representatives and workshops or events geared toward making transfer happen for our awesome Skyline College student community.
Article by Michele Haggar, Program Services Coordinator, Photos by Michelle Haggar and Raul Guerra.