Scott Spitze (SS): How much do you track students once they have transferred here? Is it the same as other students, or do you pay closer attention to them? Are you quicker to intervene if transfer students seem to be struggling?
Joe Waranyuwat (JW):
Post-transfer:
We track the transfer students once they have transferred here, but no more than what we do with the other students. Because transfer students do just as well (as measured by GPA) as the non-transfer students, we decided not to provide more support or resources for the transfer students than we do for the non-transfer students and to put our resources elsewhere (pre-transfer).
Pre-transfer:
I should mention that we have two groups of transfers: Pathways and non-Pathways. We do not provide resources for the non-Pathways prospective transfer students beyond what you’d typically see in a college office: advising and admissions counseling. Most of our resources are put into the Engineering Pathways program: http://pathways.engineering.
SS: What does the University do to help transfer students adjust socially, or is that something you have to let happen naturally? For the students who struggle here, do problems seem to be more social or more academic?
JW: The problems seem to be more social. We have social events spread across the first semester. The first semester is usually the hardest so we try to get them connected then. After that first semester, most of them are OK. We also have an orientation course that really helps them make the transition. Topics include: study skills, expectations, time and stress management, campus resources, etc.
SS: I do not know how much you take high school performance into account, but if you do, about what percentage of students could have been accepted to the University if they had applied as freshman, and what percent probably would not have been accepted, but their college career makes them qualified?
JW: I have not measured this so I cannot say conclusively. But my hunch tells me that most of them would not have been admitted as a freshmen. For the majority of them, their college career makes them qualified.
Here’s my personal opinion with the caveat that I do know much about this area so I’m commenting purely out of observation:
To be admitted as a freshmen, you have to be really good at taking standardized tests since most of our admitted students fall in the top 1% of the country in terms of test scores. These tests have merit but major flaws too. They measure processing speed (how fast you can crunch out those math problems, and it’s not about whether you have the capability to think abstractly which is what is often required for advanced undergraduate study), knowledge base (the better the high school you go to, the better your knowledge base), and income level (if you’re really low income, you can’t afford to take these tests). So the students that miss out on admission might be slower thinkers (and thus can’t score in the top 1%) but has an ability to do complex mathematics and reasoning, or students who have potential to learn but didn’t attend the most resourced high schools, and those who simply cannot afford the exams.
We see many transfer students who fall into these categories.
I first want to tie what is said here to things that have been discussed earlier.
ReplyDeletePathways as described above is part of a 2+2 program - the student goes to Community College for 2 years knowing that upon graduation they will attend the university. Engineering itself has a high dropout rate (unless the world has changed dramatically since I was in the know about these things.) Certain courses, like freshmen physics, are used to weed out the students who probably shouldn't be there. One would like to know how well Pathways does for Engineering students, and if it too has a weed out process.
Put a different way, because the Pathways trajectory is less expensive tuition-wise, one might ask whether those who would be admitted to the U of I anyway, might follow the Pathways alternative. Or, focusing on the Pathways students themselves, one would like to know if the first two years serve as a screening mechanism that works in the same way as the first two years at the U of I.
The other thing to mention is on the issue of whether Engineering is different or not. I'd be curious if GPA of transfer students to LAS is the same as those who started at the U of I, or not.
ReplyDeleteAlso, note that there may be something of a apples to oranges comparison on the following point. Grades may be higher in the 3rd and 4th years than they are in the first two years. GPA for the ones who start at the U of I counts all the years. GPA for the transfers does not.