Transfer Student Retention

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Transfer Student Retention Strategies for
Success

• Christopher Hockey
• Transfer Services Coordinator

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Without properly defining YOUR transfer student,
you cannot effectively create a strategy to
retain them.--Unknown
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Goal and Objective

• Transfer Student retention should be no less than
  our first year students.
• SUNY Oswego should aim for a transfer student
  retention rate of 80 to be achieved over the
  next 5 years.

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Prefaces

• I am not a statistician
• Some statistically insignificant errors have been
  found in data

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Todays Situation

• Current overall transfer student retention rate
  has been 65 for the last 7 years.
• Retention rate of transfer student sub-groups has
  been constant.

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Our Typical Transfer Student

• 20 year old female from Cayuga Community College.
• Majoring in Business Administration with a
  transfer GPA of 2.8.
• Parents never attended college and after the
  first year has a CUM GPA of 2.34.

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Our Typical Disqualified Transfer Student

• 20 year old male from Cayuga Community College.
• Entering with a transfer GPA of 2.53.
• Parents never attended college and after the
  first year has a CUM GPA of 1.08.

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Our Typical Non-Registered Transfer Student

• 20 year old female from Onondaga Community
  College.
• Entering with a transfer GPA of 2.81.
• Parents never attended college and after the
  first year has a CUM GPA of 1.30.

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Housing and Residence

• 58 of transfers live off-campus.
• 41 of students who DQ or dont return lived
  off-campus their first year.
• 76 of transfers living on campus either
  graduated or continued to the next year.

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Transfer Hours

• 39 of transfers who DQ or dont return had less
  than 30 credits.
• 41 of students who DQ or dont return lived
  off-campus their first year.
• 76 of transfers living on campus either
  graduated or continued to the next year.

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Attrition by School

• 37 - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
• 35 - School of Communication, Media and the
  Arts.
• 34 - School of Business.
• 33 - School of Education.

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Majors with Highest Attrition (50 or higher)

• 50 - Biochemistry
• 89 - Biology (Pre-Med)
• 50 - Cognitive Science
• 52 - Economics
• 56 - Geology
• 50 - Math
• 50 - Physics
• 50 - 7-12 Biology
• 80 - 7-12 Physics

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Majors with Lowest Attrition (30 or lower)

• 22 - Chemistry
• 0 - French
• 15 - Graphic Design
• 17 - Spanish
• 0 - Womens Studies
• 15 - BFA Studio
• 13 - Childhood Ed Social Studies
• 16 - Childhood Ed - Science
• 16 - Childhood Ed - English

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CCs with Highest Attrition (50 or higher)

• 54 - Adirondack
• 53 - Clinton
• 86 - Kingsborough
• 51 - Nassau
• 57 - North Country
• 78 - Queensborough
• 53 - Sullivan

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Attrition By Ethnicity

• 29 - White
• 35 - Black
• 36 - Unknown
• 37 - Other
• 41 - Hispanic
• 27 - American Indian
• 37 - Asian

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7 Year Retention Rate
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DQ NR Students
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How Did We Get Here?

• Focused energies on first-year students from all
  parts of campus.
• Lack of cohesive support system provided to
  transfers.
• Assumptions made regarding needs of transfer
  students.
• Lack of knowledge regarding our transfers and how
  to serve them.

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Current Strategies

• MOST Mentoring Program
• TransferEdge Program
• Increased number of program articulations
• TRANSFERmation
• Tau Sigma
• The Laker

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Other Recommendations

• Change in transfer advisement structure
• Development of transfer learning communities
• Transfer 301
• Further needs assessment
• Further education of campus
• More developmental advising