The National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students declared the third week of October National Transfer Student week in order to “to challenge assumptions, build empathy and instill transfer pride” on college campuses.
"It’s a little-known fact that transfer students represent 20-25% of new student enrollment at CMU each academic year,” said Associate Director of Transfer & Adult Student Admissions Lara Swanson. “All members of the Transfer Services team in the Admissions Office have firsthand experience with transferring to another college, thus, we strive to make the transfer process to CMU as seamless as possible. Additionally, CMU has transfer champions throughout the administrative and academic departments who can assist transfer students to acclimate and locate any necessary resources here at CMU."
Grand Valley native Ukhari Bradfield transferred to CMU at the beginning of her sophomore year for several reasons. CMU made more financial sense for her with lower tuition and no travel cost to be home for holidays with her mom. Her previous university did not offer work study jobs for freshmen and she did not have a car. Finding a job close to campus with the flexibility to accommodate her class schedule was impossible.
“I also just didn’t feel like I could get a grasp on lifesaving techniques in big groups watching other students do most of the labs or having to wait 2.5 to 3 hours for 45 minutes with a tutor,” Bradfield said. “Here at CMU though everything is more inclusive. They really want you to be involved in what’s going on. There are much smaller classes, more hands-on learning and Colorado requires more clinical hours for nursing.”
Within her first two weeks at CMU, Bradfield secured two work study jobs and because of the peers she connected with at work she joined club soccer and the Black Student Alliance, which inspired to her to find a career that includes diversity and inclusion work through nursing.
Brafield works in CMU’s Admissions Office as a transfer and non-traditional student ambassador. She assists active and prospective transfer students throughout the process, answering questions via phone calls and texts and leading campus tours specifically designed for transfer students who miss things like freshman orientation. This week, she and her colleagues have been handing out “Transfer Champion” t-shirts and swag. On October 21, they will be hosting a drive where students can trade in swag from their old school for CMU gear 9am to 2pm in the UC.
“We’re doing this because we recognize that our transfer students are important and crucial to our campus and they are key to making our school better. They’ve had experiences at other schools and they can tell us what worked well there and what didn’t. They can tell us why they left and why they wanted to be here instead,” Bradfield said. “I’m definitely much happier here!”