As fall term launches across the country, transfer students are once again navigating the complex journey from one institution to another. But what if our current approaches to supporting these transitions are too narrow?
In this timely episode, host Heather Adams sits down with Drs. Dallin George Young (University of Georgia) and Bryce D. Bunting (Brigham Young University), authors of Rethinking Student Transitions: How Community, Participation, and Becoming Can Help Higher Education Deliver on its Promise. Both transfer students themselves, these researchers challenge the traditional "adjustment" model that places the burden of transition squarely on students' shoulders.
Instead, they introduce a powerful new framework centered on three key concepts: Community, Participation, and Becoming. The approach offers both theoretical grounding and practical insights for reimagining how we design experiences, policies, and support systems that honor transfer students' complexity and potential.
The conversation spans everything from rethinking "checklist" engagement models to designing meaningful classroom experiences that draw on transfer students' rich backgrounds. Dallin and Bryce share thought-provoking perspectives on academic advising conversations, faculty development, and collaboration between sending and receiving institutions—all through the lens of seeing transitions as opportunities for growth rather than problems to be managed.
This episode offers fresh perspectives for anyone working with transfer students, challenging listeners to transform how they think about transitions from problems to be solved into opportunities for profound growth and becoming.
Perfect timing for the start of term, this conversation will reshape how you approach every transfer student walking through your doors this fall.
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Additional Links:
Buy the Rethinking Transitions book!
Watch Dallin and Bryce's Lunch & Learn webinar with the National Resource Center to learn more about community, participation, and becoming!
Show Credits
Host | Dr. Heather Adams
Producers | Rhian Waterberg, Emily Kittrell
Sound Editing | Abraham Urias
Keep talking with Transfer Nation
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Email: WeAreTransferNation@gmail.com
Talk soon!
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