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About Us
History of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students
The University of North Texas Division of Student Development, with support from the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA), initiated the Institute for the Study of Transfer Students in January 2003. UNT's strategic planning had indicated both an increasing number of transfer students entering the university and a need to better understand the factors affecting transfer student success during the transition process. Over 200 persons from 36 states and Canada met at the inaugural conference and underscored the fact that transfer issues are not unique to any one campus or type of campus.
The 2003 meeting also brought together individuals who realized the lack of professional literature specific to transfer concerns and they began efforts to produce a book that highlighted the varied issues surrounding transfer students. In 2004, under the direction of Bonita Jacobs and Barbara Lauren, The College Transfer Student in America: The Forgotten Student was published by AACRAO.
The Conference has continued to grow and in 2006, a Research Grant was awarded to assist in the development of the research base in transfer and articulation. Barbara K. Townsend, Professor of Higher Education and Continuing Education at University of Missouri - Columbia and Kristin Wilson, Associate Professor of English at Moberly Area Community College received the grant to study "University Actions and Dimensions Affecting Transfer Students' Academic and Social Integration" and presented their findings at the 2007 Conference.
At the 2007 Conference, Megan Ray and Allison Jedinak of Indiana University were awarded a grant from the Institute for the Study of Transfer Students for "Technology and Transitions: Academic Usage Among Traditional Age Transfer Students". A second grant was given to Rose Martinez of the University of Texas at Austin to support research into "The Effects of Internal and External Factors on Transfer Student Access to Elite Public Universities". Ray and Jedinak presented their findings at the 2008 Conference. Martinez will do so at the 2009 Conference.
The 2008 Conference saw a record number of participants and an emphasis on research into transfer student issues including a forum presented by Barbara Townsend. Two new grants were awarded. The first recipients were Scott Peska of Northern Illinois University and Debra Bragg of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign for "Timing is Everything: A Comparative Study of the Adjustment of Fall and Mid-year Community College Transfer Students as a Public Four-Year University". The second grant was awarded to Charlene Stinard and Bernadette Jungblut of the University of Central Florida for "University of Community College Collaboration in Pre-admission Advising: Improving Students' Transition to the University and Progress to Graduation." It is anticipated that presentations on both of these grants will be given at the 2009 Conference.