College Board report recognizes UCF’s transfer program

To prepare for President Barack Obama's initiative to successfully integrate 8 million new college graduates in the United States by 2020, the transfer process has taken on an increasingly vital role, and UCF's several transfer programs have been stepping up.

The College Board, a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity, recently came out with an Improving Student Transfer from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions Report, which cited UCF for its expertise and commitment to transfer students.

With a staggering 10,000 new transfer students each academic year and more than 30 percent of the state's associate's degree-earning students who plan on transferring to a state university choosing UCF, UCF's Transfer and Transition Services strives to make the transferring process as smooth as possible.

"This institution has a history of commitment to access for transfer students. We have made the commitment to provide services to students even before they come here, so that they are successful when they get here," said Charlene A. Stinard, director of transfer and transition services.

Transfer and Transition Services operates with three stages of the transferring process in mind: preparation, transition and progression. Within these three stages, Transfer and Transition Services helps transfer students with everything from pre-admission advising at community colleges; transition and transfer advising on campus; coordination of articulation agreements with community colleges, universities and school partners; and transferring of all credits.

"Our mission at Transfer and Transition Services is to try to ensure that every transfer student's experiences with us is seamless and smooth," Stinard said.

Andrea Rodriguez, a health science major on the pre-clinical track, transferred to UCF this fall from Seminole State College and was impressed with her experience with Transfer and Transition Services.

"At first I was not sure what to expect, but so far transfer services has been really helpful. Everyone takes care of what needs to get done, and my transition here really has been smooth," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez always had the intention of transferring to a four-year university after she earned her associate degree at SSC, but was not sure of which university to choose from until she found out about UCF's medical program.

"I like the curriculum my major offers, and it is a brand new facility," Rodriguez said.

In addition to Transfer and Transition Services, UCF offers two programs that guarantee students admission from select Florida public community colleges to a four-year institution, which are DirectConnect to UCF and the 2+2 Pathways to Success program.

The DirectConnect to UCF program guarantees students who complete an associate degree from Brevard Community College, Lake-Sumter Community College, Valencia Community College or Seminole State College admission to UCF. When a student DirectConnects to UCF, UCF and the student's community college work together to start preparing the student to complete a bachelor's degree at UCF.

Academic advisers reach out to students before they transfer to UCF and help them plan for their majors, complete general education requirements and strengthen their writing and math skills. Many UCF advisers have offices on area community and state college campuses and spend most of their time there.

Claudia Balarin, a public relations and advertising major who transferred to UCF from Valencia Community College last fall through DirectConnect, found the program exceedingly helpful.

"The transfer process was really easy through DirectConnect," Balarin said. "They handled all of the work. If it wasn't for that program, I would not have continued my education at a four-year college right away."

Balarin is extremely happy she transferred to UCF because she has grown as a student and also as a person. Balarin hopes to graduate from UCF this spring with a degree in public relations and advertising and, through an internship, dive into a public relations firm.

The 2+2 Pathways to Success program is a legislative passed law guarantying a student who earned an associate degree from any Florida public community college admission to one of Florida's 11 state universities, but not necessarily the one of their choice.