For new students entering the University, the college experience may be overwhelming from the start. The University does an excellent job helping freshmen make the transition from high school to college life, but it does little to accommodate transfer and nontraditional students. Helping freshmen familiarize themselves with the campus is important, but the University annually neglects nontraditional students in its orientation efforts.
The fall Week of Welcome and other orientation activities are great for entering freshmen, but the University’s efforts at integrating transfer and returning students fall short. This is detrimental to the University, especially now that more nontraditional students are returning to school. Budget shortfalls and a national recession mean the University needs all the revenue it can generate.
The University would go a long way toward improving its relationship with transfer and returning students by realizing that many of these students are adults who have already attended college, and not treat them like 18-year-old freshmen.
For example, the University could make an effort to be sensitive to the needs of nontraditional students during orientation sessions such as the Week of Welcome, instead of aiming most of the events at freshmen. Parents who work during the day and are planning to attend classes at night are often hard-pressed to take time away from their day jobs to attend Week of Welcome events, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in participating in them.
The college could also make more of an effort to improve communication with Oregon community colleges, so the curriculum is equitable. Having to repeat courses at the University that have already been taken at the community college level is frustrating for everyone, and makes both schools appear as if they’re not operating in the best interests of the students.
The University needs to be clear when defining what credits can be transferred, as well as objective in waiving prerequisites for equivalent work done at community colleges. Advising that covers both University and community college requirements would be especially helpful for those frustrated by the transfer process.
Besides the hassles of transferring credits, these students often have difficulty finding University scholarships. The University’s Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), which pays 150 percent of resident tuition and fees for nonresidents from eligible western states, is only offered to entering freshmen. The opportunities for nontraditional students to gain University scholarships are slim, and more monetary options should be made available by the University.
Personal advising for nontraditional students during the first week is important for these students to make the transition to the University. Freshmen and international students receive their own University orientation, and the same courtesy should be afforded to transfer and returning students. With so many people expected to return to school in the near future, it is essential the University make the experience a pleasant one.