Challenges Faced by Transfer Students
Am the dean in cost of students' affairs in one of the American colleges that has a capacity of almost 5 hundred thousand students and it is highly recognized for the incredible academic achievement. The school admits every semester at least seven hundred college students transferring from other higher learning establishments for various reasons of which we carefully scrutinize earlier than registering them. In the past years, the new students went through challenges to adapt to the new environment, which occasionally became unbearable for them. Therefore as dean, I took the responsibility to provoke programs that enabled the new students to adjust to the machine and find the school a comfortable region to pursue their studies.
Importance of Addressing the Issues
Dealing with the affairs of students from different backgrounds as a leader of an academic institution is always not an easy task, especially those shifting from other schools. My work as the dean is mainly to manage the conducts and progress of every student in the school. The school admits new students every semester and among them are transfer students who have been in a different familial, cultural and social life. The change in environment has a traumatic effect on the transfer students, which eventually triggers their studies and influences others drop out of school. Most of the parents raise complains about their children' drastic globule in academic performance immediately after the transition.
Identifying the Challenges of Transfer Students
I enquired to find out the reasons behind the poor performances for the transfer students that had become a critical problem in my institution. In my investigations, I was able to identify some of the factors and challenges that bullied the new students. The hostility by continuing students to the transfer was the most tormenting issue that needed an urgent address before getting out of hand. The new students had a hard time to find friends from the native students because of the attitude towards them that depicted a cold welcome. The staff members and the faculties concerned did not pay any caring attention to the suffering students; they underestimated their significance in the school. Professors never gave them room to adjust to the new setting of teaching and assignments instead most of them ignored and assumed that they could just catch up in the process. It came to my knowledge that the entire school had neglected the existence of transfer students resulting to their lonely life. The university had no specific body that gave the transfer students room to express their grievances or address them. They kept suffering tremendously while the administration of the school played blind on the issue.
Addressing the Negligence
As the master of students' affairs in the entire university, felt that it was the responsibility of my office to act upon the issue of negligence to the transfer students in the school. I realized many of them end up getting undesirable grades that affected the general performance and reputation of the institution. There were critics that most of the students were not doing well in their original schools and that would not change in the transition. I never allowed the notion to bar my efforts to find the solutions that would curb the challenges that the transfer students go through. Keeping in mind that the problem was not limited to my school but a national menace, where most of American colleges and universities previously neglected transfer students. Some of the higher learning institutions in the United States of America undervalued their significance and sources depicts that only a small number of the transfer population graduated.
Forming Programs and Policies
I allied with the admiration and other concerned bodies within the school to form programs and policies that enabled transfer students to feel part of the transition institution. The campaign was not only to benefit my school but with the hope, that other American academic institutions would follow suit and protect the significance of the transfer students' population in America. Therefore, with the team, I managed to form a students' body that focused on the affairs of transfer students in the school. The student's body talked to the native student warmly welcome transfer students, treat them like one of their own and always be there for them whenever they needed help. It encouraged friend relationships between the two parties; share their experiences instead of ignoring each other. I made my office free for any transfer student with pressing issues and needed them addressed to come forward. The school distributed suggestion boxes at the door sides of every department for various faculties for transfer students to drop their grievances.
Fostering Cohesion between Transfer Students and Lecturers
I held several meetings with the lecturers, professors and other staff members of various schools within the university to come with strategies that would foster cohesion between transfer student and the transition lecturers. The bond allowed lecturers transfer students to sit down with the students struggling to cop up with the new setting of teaching and culture. It also influenced the open mindset of transfer students; they could approach the lecturer in case the needed any assistance. It changed the attitude of lectures towards transfer students that encouraged good school ethics and respect between teachers and students. I also scheduled a program where guest speakers came to share with the students their life experiences, encourage positive attitude among students and call upon those with students with difficulties in school to persevere and share with others their problems.
Positive Outcomes
In summary, the efforts to fight against the challenges experienced by transfer students eventually did bear fruits. The performance of transfer of students started gradually and currently, the recognition of their population in my school and all other academic institutions in the states of America went up. The transfer student are now valued like the native students in the United States.
