The National Institute for Transfer Student Success, a resource partnered with the University of North Georgia that prioritizes supportive investments for Transfer Students, ended October 31. This follows the University System of Georgia’s announcement of work on a standardized credit articulation tool and an AI based resource for transfer students.
The NISTS is responsible for empowering faculty and providing resources that institutions can implement to improve transfer student experiences. The NISTS has created events and opportunities, such as National Transfer Student Week and the Post-Master’s certificate program, that support transfer student success.
Stephanie Foot, a faculty member at Gardner Institute, said, “As a former transfer student, an identity that remains near and dear to me, I would never have imagined that one day I could help support other transfer students. Yet the work of the Institute and it’s amazing staff (Janet L. Marling, Judith Brauer, MS, Emily Kittrell, and Joe Risby) have inspired me to strive to become a champion for transfer students.”
The Transfer community celebrated their accomplishments and hard work on Friday, Oct. 24 during the NISTS Sunset Soiree, where faculty and staff that worked with the program could join and share how the knowledge and resources benefited their programs and their lives.
During the Soiree, a document was created where staff could share resources and places where researchers could still share their data with the transfer community. Faculty shared conferences, university programs and social media handles of transfer centered programs.
“I think it’s hard to know what to know until someone shows you. And so for me, NISTS was able to conduct me to a community that showed me what I needed to know and what I needed to read. And I think that’s a piece that I’m very sad the field will lose, because we can’t guarantee that even though people are going to other conferences… that they’re going to find the same pocket of transfer professionals who can wrap around them and really expose them to the literature that a transfer professional might really need to know about” – Emily Kittrell, M.S., Assistant Director of NISTS
When staff were asked about the future of transfer research, they shared that while the NISTS would be no more, programs such as the Post-Master’s certificate program and National Transfer Student Week will continue to live on within the transfer community.
Janet Marling, Ph.D, the executive director of NISTS, said, “We’ve made some really dedicated progress towards ensuring that pieces of NISTS live on, whether it’s National Transfer Student Week, whether it’s the annual conference, our resources, et cetera… we’re in the process of having conversations around that right now. So, we don’t have a “here it is” just yet, but I do feel very certain that in some way, shape or form that concepts and the basis of NISTS will continue.”
