Why Community College Students Make Successful Transfer Students

Journal of College Admission, Winter 2007 by Urso, David, Sygielski, John J "Ski"

Students transferring in from the community college system will not by any means have an easy path at the four-year university they move to next. They will find their share of struggles along the way. These may include things like adjusting to a significantly larger campus, finding success in classes that are markedly larger than the community college courses, and adapting to a new and different social scene. Transfer counselors at the four-year schools must integrate into their mindset the responsibility of both getting these students in the door through streamlined application processes and strengthened articulation agreements and helping them find success during their early time at their school. One effective technique to aid with the transition into the new institution would be the establishment of a transfer student organization on campus, specific residence halls, or specific programming tracks designed with this group in mind. In addition to being valuable in helping these students get the information they need to have in order to be successful, it also sends the message that they are an important and irreplaceable component of the campus community.

Final Thought

Today's community college participants-the administration, faculty, staff, and the student population-are charged with raising the bar. For some students, this involves changing the expectation that the curriculum at the community college does not parallel the education available at the four-year schools. For the majority of students, this challenge also involves improving the expectations that the students have of themselves. The community college family works hard to help all of these students overcome low expectations and find success. In so doing, they establish habits for success in hundreds of thousands of students. These students, with new, higher expectations in tow, head off to four-year schools with the mindset that they have every tool they need to start changing the world.

For the past two years, DAVID URSO has been a counselor and coordinator of student life at Lord Fairfax Community College (VA). He has been responsible for designing a new approach to on-campus student orientation that emphasizes the student as the owner of the educational process. A native of Pennsylvania, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees from James Madison University (VA).

For the past three years. JOHN J. "SKI" SYGIELSKt has been president of Lord Fairfax Community College. A strong supporter of student life at the college, he works closely with Mr, Urso and his peers supporting their efforts in many traditional and non-traditional ways and consistently challenging the student population to succeed in their academic pursuits. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, a first-generation college student himself, he earned degrees from several higher educational institutions in the Midwest.