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Circumventing Transfer Shock!NACADA Region 4 Miami 2012
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Circumventing Transfer Shock!:
Using Schlossberg’s Transition Theory
to ease the Transition of Transfer Students
Craig M. McGill, M.M., M.S.
Outline:• Foreground ‘Transfer Culture’
– Types of Transfer Students– Challenges for students in S.T.E.M. areas
• Theoretical Base– Transition Theory– Counseling Model– Appreciative Advising
• Pedagogical Application– Process: combining frameworks & approaches– Tools: Transition theory and inventories– Evaluation and follow up
Transfer Culture• In 2006, students aged 25 and older made up
nearly 40% of the country’s overall college population (U.S. Department of Education, 2009)
• Almost 60% of students have attended at least two institutions (Adelman, 2006)
So…
How can advisors better understand the Transition of Transfer Students?– No model in the literature that attempted to
explain the transition process of transfer students (Cameron, 2005).
Campus-specific Lingo:“UNL-isms”
Blackboard (My.UNL)TrueYou
FireflyMyRed (Peoplesoft)
DARSDN (Daily Nebraskan)
Tunnel WalkCollege acronyms (CASNR, ASC, CEHS)
Regionalisms:Runza
Emergency snow routeCoke/Soda/Pop
Types of Transfer Students and Experiences
Types of Transfer Students:1. 2-year to 4-year (2+2)2. 4-year to 4-year (Lateral)3. 4-year to 2-year (Reverse)4. Multiple institutions in career (Swirler)
Types of Transfer Experiences:1. Planned2. Unplanned
Challenges for Transfer Students• Lack of Articulation Agreements• Lost Costs
– $7 billion/yr in credits not helping students move toward degree requirements (Smith, 2010)
• Transfer Shock/Culture Shock• Lack of communication between institutions• Time Management/Balancing Work• Connecting to Faculty Members• Lack of Social Involvement• Reconfigure their identity
Complications in S.T.E.M. fields• Rigorous curriculums • Sequential curriculums• Lack of equivalent coursework
– Complications with accrediting bodies– Lacking laboratory experiences at prior
institution
Theoretical Underpinnings:
Transition Theory
Counseling Model
Appreciative Advising
Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (1984)
• First developed in the late 1970s• Been revised several times with input from
other contributors– Considered a strength of her model
• Psychosocial Theory• Counterpoint to age and stage perspectives• Involves three roughly defined stages:
Moving In, Moving Through, and Moving Out
Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (1984)
TRANSITION: “Any event, or non-event, that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions and roles” (Schlossberg, 1984)
Role of Perception: Key in the transition process; involves 2 levels of Appraisals:– Primary: How the individual feels about the
transition in general– Secondary: How individual feels about their
resources in dealing with the transition?
Types of Transitions:
1. Anticipated Transitions– Occur predictably (e.g. Planned Transfer)
2. Unanticipated Transitions – Not predictable (e.g. Un-planned Transfer)
3. “Non-Events” – A transition was expected, but did not occur– An ‘event’ must be likely to happen in order
to qualify as a ‘non-event’ when it fails to occur
Coping with Transition: 4 S’sA person’s ability to cope with a transition is
reliant on their resources in 4 areas:• Situation: ability to assess what has
happened• Self: personal/demographic/psychological
characteristics• Support: who is there to help• Strategies: how they handle it
4 S’s
-from Goodman et al, (2006) pg. 56
Cormier and Hackney’s Counseling Model (1993)
Relationship BuildingAssessmentGoal Setting
InterventionsTermination/Follow-up
Appreciative Advising• Approaches life as a series of opportunities,
rather than a series of problems • Social-constructivist• Reciprocal process• Rooted in Positive Psychology• Adapted from Appreciative Inquiry
(Cooperrider, Sorenson, Whitney, & Yeager, 2000)
Appreciative Advising Stages
DisarmDiscoverDreamDesignDeliver
Don’t Settle
Application:
1.) Process: Combining frameworks and approaches
2.) Tools: Schlossberg’s Theory and conducting inventories
Process: overlap of 2 models
relationship-building
assessment
goal-setting
interventions
termination/follow-up
DISARM
DISCOVER
DREAM
DESIGN
DELIVER
DON’T SETTLE
Combining 3 Models
DISARM
DISCOVER
DREAMDESIGN
DELIVER
DON’T SETTLE
-adapted from Goodman et al, (2006) pg. 184
DISARM:relationship-building
• Warm welcome• Safe and comfortable environment• Appropriate self-disclosure• Appropriate nonverbal behavior• Have a Personal Advising Philosophy
In relationship-building, advisors use basic listening skills to build rapport with students.
My Advising Philosophy:“My personal advising philosophy is one of pedagogy: as a
teacher guides a student through the content of a single course, the advisor’s role is to show how the students’ courses relate to their entire curriculum and life-plan. Advising is not merely ticking off requirements, but rather, an exploratory and comprehensive process of helping the student to discover their life goals, values, beliefs, passions and talents. I believe advising should be focused on strengths, since dwelling on a student’s weaknesses is like advising a student who is not there. Most importantly, I do not view education as a means to an end, but rather, as a lifetime process. If I can effectively communicate that attitude to the students with whom I work, I have done my job.”
DISCOVER:assessment
Through the use of inventories and discussion:• Effective open-ended questioning• Attending behavior and active listening:
– Visual-eye contact– Vocal qualities-tone and rate of speech– Verbal tracking—sticking to the subject– Body language—authenticity
• Strength-based story reconstruction
In assessment, advisors can assess the individual’s environment (situation), internal resources (self), external resources (support), and current coping skills (strategies).
DREAM:goal-setting
In working with students through their transition, help generate goals/dreams by:•Providing conducive environment for
dreaming•Making connections between the
Discover and Dream phases: Are dreams in line with pieces from the assessment?
In goal-setting, advisors help students to set
goals related to each of the 4 S’s.
DESIGN:(goal-setting)
In designing a plan of action: •Brainstorm options•Backward designing (start from the
goal)•Teach students how to make decisions•Provide positive feedback•Be aware of the curse of knowledge•Make effective referrals•Graphic organizers
DELIVER: interventions
In helping students to carry out their goals/plan, • Energizing students to be their best• Illustrate academic hope (more than one road)• End conversation/session well• Engage in Proactive Advising
• Keeping students connected (socially, culturally, institutionally): Transfer Fraternity, weekly email from Transfer Coordinator, etc.
In interventions, advisors can help students with reframing, changing the student’s perception of the transfer; conducting an assessment of the individual’s assets (self); referral to a support group (support); and generating problem-solving strategies (strategies).
DON’T SETTLE: termination and follow-up
For students to feel supported, it’s important to follow-up:
• Continue to challenge and support• Raise the bar• Virtuous/positive cycle• Encourage students to write letter to new
transfer student (in the guise of writing to themselves before they transitioned)
In termination and follow-up, advisor can aid the
transfer student in reviewing what has happened thus far and planning next steps.
Pedagogical Application• Schlossberg’s theory Answers:
– Why different people react differently to the same type of transition
– Why the same person reacts differently at different times
• Applying theory:– Helping students approach transitions requires
knowledge of the transition framework– Help students evaluate their resources in the 4 S’s– Help strengthen those assets
Situation
• Triggers• Control (planned or unplanned transfer?)• Role Change• Duration• Previous experiences with similar
transition• Concurrent Stress• Assessment
Self
Personal/Demographic Characteristics• Socioeconomic Status• Gender• Age/Stage of Life• State of health• Ethnicity/Culture
Psychosocial Resources• Ego Development• Outlook • Commitment and Values• Spirituality and Resiliency
Support
Strategies• What strategies is the student using that is
impacting the transition?• How effective are current strategies in helping
them cope with transition?– 3 ways of coping:
1) Modifying the situation (hope and optimism)
2) Controlling the meaning (reframing)3) Managing stress after transition (selective
denial)• Challenging the absolutes
– Victim/ Creator Language
Where now?
Inventories:• A.) Transfer Student Inventory • B.) Appreciative Advising Inventory
Future:• Continue to develop Transfer Inventory• Qualitative Research Study to see if Transfer
Students experience the transfer experience in this way
©2007 The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved.
Craig McGill, M.M., M.S.Academic Advisor
Forensic Science, BiochemistryUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
cmcgill2@unl.edu
Tony Lazarowicz, M.A.Assistant Academic Program Coordinator-
William H. Thompson Learning Community/OASISPh.D. student in Higher Education Administration
tonylaz@huskers.unl.edu
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