Transfer Turmoil Takes Toll

By Isabelle Veloz

Students and administrators at the transfer student Town Hall on April 3 at The Stood. (Photo by Kyle Cioffi)

During course registration, incoming freshmen and transfer students turn to academic advising as a guiding resource for students as they plan their coursework for the upcoming semester. Many of these students, however, have expressed concerns regarding their advising and credit transfer experiences.

Communications major Nathaniel Evans is a current senior at Purchase and transferred from SUNY Fredonia, and has expressed similar concerns regarding his transfer student experience. He stated, “It was frustrating when it came to certain classes not transferring over into credits here when it was basically the same class. I have to graduate a semester late because of this.”

Evans continued, “I was given an academic advisor who was starting to be an advisor the same semester I started here. He was also just a random professor and had no experience in advising… He is really good for people who know what they want and what they’re doing, who have been here all four years, and know how things work here. But as a transfer student, that wasn’t the case for me, and I felt like I was in the dark with him.” 

Despite asking to change advisors for three semesters, Evans says the request was never fulfilled.

“Purchase was really adamant that they value transfer students and want to give you the best of the best, including housing. But then they put me on the top floor of Central,” he added. “It’s extremely frustrating when you’ve planned things out and a wrench is thrown in because the college just wants your money. I’ve had the same major at both schools—there really wasn’t a reason all my credits shouldn’t have transferred.”

Some advisors assigned to students are not full-time professors and have demonstrated their inaccessibility despite advising and registration week occurring

A political science freshman, who chose not to identify herself, shared her experience, “Last semester I had difficulty getting in touch with them, and as a freshman, it was really hard; all of my professors were talking about advising week and I had no outreach from [my advisor] so I had no idea what to do.”

She notes that she's contacted her advisor three times and has not heard anything back from them.

She added, “Today [the week of April 14 to April 18] was registration and I was eligible to register for classes but unable to because my advisor did not give me my pin… during one of their classes my advisor said that they aren't a good advisor and they are ‘not trained to be an advisor and don't know how to be an advisor’ which is certainly interesting. I feel the real fault was a lack of advising training from Purchase, which I'm sure is stressful for them, but I would also like to take the classes that I need.”

Ryan Hobson, an English and global literature freshman, experienced a similar lack of communication from his advisor and states, “This semester, he still hasn't responded to my email about a meeting, so I showed up to his office hours to not find him there. I had to call the registrar's office to get my pin. It's very unprofessional.”

Jennifer Shingelo, the director of the advising center, notes that the purpose of advisors is to interpret and translate policies into language that's easier to understand for students. She notes that credits are transferred through the office of the registrar, and advisors work with the Degree Progress Report (DPR) that is in place. 

Shingelo stated, “Some faculty are more focused on their teaching, which is really what they are here for… Some of them are a little unclear on how to read DPR, so we try to help train them at different points throughout the semester.”

She continued, “If we have students coming in and they're like ‘I can't get a hold of my faculty advisor, we will see them and give them their pin. I do think it's awkward. I've worked at places where it's just been professional advisors and faculty don't do any academic advising, and I think that's a better system, but that is not the tradition here.”

Christopher Raetz spoke at the Town Hall, sharing his experience as a transfer student. (Photo by Kyle Cioffi)

A transfer student Town Hall was held on April 3 and consisted of various transfer students sharing their credit transfer experience. Christopher Raetz, a senior in graphic design who transferred from a SUNY community college, ignited a movement that brings awareness to the difficulties transfer students face when seeking credit transfers.

Raetz stated, “As a transfer student, I was misclassified as a sophomore despite having an associate's degree from a SUNY community college, which would have forced me to take an extra year of unnecessary courses.”

Raetz noted how the lack of transparency and support leads to feelings of anger and disillusionment, as students struggle to navigate a system that he claims “doesn’t seem to value or acknowledge their previous academic achievements.”

“There have been professors who have made comments like, ‘Your work is reviewed by professionals’ while pointing to himself and ‘you’re put where you belong,’ which isn’t accurate. These kinds of statements undermine the validity of transfer credits. Advisors have been particularly challenging because they are supposed to be the ones we trust to guide us through the transfer process, but instead, they often dismiss students’ concerns and reinforce the idea that the misclassification is somehow justified.”

Raetz later founded the transfer toolkit, which is a resource created using links to official SUNY policies, the transfer policy, and SUNY Transfer Paths, along with an explanation of how to request a transfer credit evaluation to help students receive the credits they’ve earned.

Raetz claims, “It has been effective in helping students advocate for themselves and reclaim credits for community college courses that were initially denied during the transfer process.” He continues, “Many feel powerless to do anything about it, as advisors and professors often tell them that they’re ‘where they belong,’ despite having already completed significant coursework at their previous institutions. This lack of transparency and support leads to feelings of anger and disillusionment, as students struggle to navigate a system that doesn’t seem to value or acknowledge their previous academic achievements.”

Harley Colleti, a senior whose major is Global Studies, transferred from a SUNY community college and expresses concerns regarding the transfer process students are experiencing, and shows support for the transfer toolkit. 

“The transfer toolkit is 100% accurate. It's taken from SUNY policies that are in place to protect us from people like [administrators] who try and get around this stuff to get more money by making you stay another year. We've presented this to the admin, and so has the transfer student, Christiphor Raetz. Every time we bring it to the admin, they say it's inaccurate but they will never explain what is inaccurate in the toolkit,” said Colleti.

Colleti explained that people have experienced getting their associate's degree and spend an additional three years at Purchase. That's five years total that she does not have time or money for.

“I genuinely had no advising that helped me during the transfer process, it was like I was thrown into it and had to figure it out, which I don't think is fair…” Colleti added. “Some have said, ‘I think I've met my advisor once,’ while others have been like ‘I don't even know who my advisor is.' I didn't know what was going on most of the time unless I advocated for myself.”

“People need to get involved in the student government, and people should start caring… I hope students will carry this out since most of us are leaving and graduating, we can't let this fall under the radar. The best thing you can do as a student is to get involved… I hope that next year, some senators' initiatives are the transfer student movement and following that out,” she continued.

Shingelo went on to explain, “Each department is in charge of their own curriculum, and those directors and chairs have the leeway if they want to waive something or substitute something, they can do that, but we can't.” She continues, “If a student is frustrated that they aren't getting transfer credits that they think they should have, that would be a discussion with their department, and if not there, then they'd go to the provost's office.”

Shingelo went on to say that she plans to instill a flagging system that messages students and their academic advisors when students aren't on track to graduate in order to avoid delaying graduation. She states, “There are a lot of staff who really care for students, some students might feel that some offices feel transactional, and that might be because we’re short-staffed… We do want to help them, and we want to see them graduate.”

Provost Earnest Lamb (right) and Vice President of Student Affairs Patty Bice (left) at the Town Hall. (Photo by Kyle Cioffi)

Following the transfer student Town Hall, Dean of Enrollment Management Caitlin Read sent an email to all students stating, “Transfer students should also pay close attention and review transfer credits awarded to ensure they receive all credits and courses applicable to their Purchase degree. It is critical that students communicate any questions or concerns as early as possible. Reviewing your DPR often is important to understanding how transfer credits apply to your degree and will help you and your advisor make registration decisions.”

Read later discloses that the registrar's policy is to accept coursework most completed with a grade of 2.0 (C) or higher from regionally accredited institutions, and the office of registrar strives to apply as much credit as possible toward a student’s degree. 

“There are times when certain credits may not transfer, and this can happen if the course content doesn’t align with a purchase degree requirement or if it’s a non-transferable course [such as developmental or remedial classes]. It is often more challenging when a student changes majors after completing one or two years of coursework,” Read continued. However, if a student feels that a course was incorrectly evaluated or omitted, they have the right to appeal their transfer credit evaluation.”