ESS 503: Transfer Link

Laura Vogt:
Hello. My name is Laura Vogt. I’m the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications in the College of Engineering and your host of the Not So Secret Guide to being a Berkeley Engineer. Today’s podcast is geared for our transfer students and our guests are Tiffany Reardon and Nicole McIntyre from Engineering Student Services. Welcome, thank you both for joining us today.

Tiffany Reardon:
Thank you.

Nicole McIntyre:
Thank you for having us.

Laura Vogt:
Today, we’re talking about Transfer Link. It’s a one unit course for community college transfer students that Nicole and Tiffany teach. So Tiffany, you’ve been teaching this class the longest. Can you give me an overview of what it is?

Tiffany Reardon:
Absolutely. So I started Transfer Link three years ago, and this was a course specifically for community college transfer students in the College of Engineering. As you know, we have a summer program, which is T-Prep, and not every student is able to do T-Prep or has other commitments. And so we decided that this would be an opportunity for students that didn’t do T-Prep to learn about Berkeley and those students that did do T-Prep to be able to kind of continue that experience and form community.

Laura Vogt:
And was there one specific thing that you saw the transfers, community college transfer students, needed that made you think that this course was the answer?

Tiffany Reardon:
Absolutely. I don’t think it’s intentional, but I think that a lot of the programming that is developed throughout the campus, not just in engineering, tends to be targeted towards students that enter it as frosh. And so because community college students have kind of a different experience … I mean, yes, you are transitioning to college somewhat, but kind of the first few years, your study techniques and kind of being independent and things like that, transfer students don’t typically have those issues. Transfer students have also less time. And so we wanted it to be specific to the needs of transfer students, and this course was developed with that in mind. So I vetted a lot of these ideas by previous transfer students to get input from them. And we’re also always changing the course to tailor what the current needs are. Last year, for example, the course was virtual, right? So we had to do things like prepare for virtual career fairs, which was unique to the pandemic.

Laura Vogt:
What is your goal in offering this to transfer students? What do you want them to get out of it?

Tiffany Reardon:
Well, I think that what we’re looking for them to get out of it is for them to, number one, to understand the resources that are available to them as incoming transfer students. Two, to know that we’re here to support them. So Nicole and I are here teaching this course. We’re here to support them not just during the semester that they’re taking the course, but throughout their time at Berkeley. We’re here to support them. We’re here to work with them. And really for them to connect with each other, because as transfer students, they have this shared experience. And I think that a lot of students, maybe if they’ve never met each other, they have that transfer student experience and they can easily bond over that shared experience.

Laura Vogt:
Nicole, do you think you could tell us a little bit more about what that adjustment is like from community college to Berkeley engineering?

Nicole McIntyre:
Absolutely. So our transfer students come in really well-prepared, they’ve spent a number of years really excelling at their community colleges, but those campuses are much smaller and more centralized than Berkeley. Typically they have smaller class sizes. Faculty might be more available for office hours and to offer a mentorship and support because there are less competing priorities, like research. So the adjustment from community college to Berkeley includes learning about important resources that are going to make the campus feel a little bit smaller, learning how to approach a faculty member when you’re in a 200, 500, 1200 person class and learning about the study skills required that are specific to our campus and our college. As well as, like Tiffany said, building community.

Nicole McIntyre:
For our students that come in as freshmen, everyone comes in new, lost, confused, and they have this week-long orientation and they build their community. But transfer students are often coming in two years into the process, right? So a lot of the freshmen know each other. They’ve been working together for two years. So the adjustment from community college to Berkeley includes figuring out how do you build community in a larger community that’s already established? And a class like Transfer Link that introduces these transfer students to each other, so that then when they’re in their EE61A class, they can look across the room and see four people they know, that they know are friendly, that might have more similar life experiences is a really positive thing.

Nicole McIntyre:
And our transfer students are more likely, like Tiffany said, to have less time and more obligations. Transfer Link is a really great way to meet other transfer students that are parents or that have a 15-year professional career behind them, just because they are coming in with a greater wealth and diversity of experience before transfer.

Laura Vogt:
Tiffany, can you tell us a little bit more about exactly who you want to take this course? Who should try to make the time in their schedule for it?

Tiffany Reardon:
Absolutely. So we’d love to have as many incoming transfer students as possible. So if you are starting Berkeley as a transfer student this fall, we would love to see you in the class. We have had some friends of engineering, specifically chemical engineers and letters in science intendeds that have taken the class. I even had an econ student that took the class. He said he got a lot out of it. So we do encourage all students. We’re looking to get a bigger room, so as many students that are in engineering will have a spot in the class. It should be first-year students though.

Laura Vogt:
And Nicole, is there a way for the transfer students that want to continue learning and creating these connections to do it in the second year that they’re here?

Nicole McIntyre:
Absolutely. So for the first time this year, we’re launching Transfer Link 2.0, which is going to be a really exciting option for second year transfer students. Both of those that took Transfer Link in their first year and those that didn’t have the opportunity to take the class. And this course, which has also an engineering 198 class, will help students continue to build community. If you think about it, last year’s first year students weren’t on campus. They built community remotely, but they haven’t actually seen each other. So this class will be a really great opportunity for us all to transition back to campus together, to get to know each other face to face, and to prepare for the next step in their career, which is internships, finding research, and making decisions about what they’re going to do first after graduation.

Laura Vogt:
We didn’t talk about this earlier, but when is the class offered? What do we need to try to work into our schedule?

Tiffany Reardon:
So 1.0 will be Wednesdays at 10:00 AM.

Nicole McIntyre:
And 2.0 will be Tuesdays at 10:00 AM.

Laura Vogt:
And what’s the time commitment for students.?We know that it’s going to be an hour-long class once a week, but is there more outside of the classroom that they need to worry about?

Tiffany Reardon:
So it is just an hour in person. We also have some prompts that the students will need to complete. But to be honest, these are things that … There’s also a project, but these are things that students will do anyways. So it’s almost like getting credit for things you’ll be doing. And I believe the same is true for Transfer Link. I mean, Nicole and I, we know how busy transfer students are, and so we’re not looking to like pile on unnecessary work just because. Students will say, “Oh, I’m really glad I took this class because I was going to do this anyways.”

Laura Vogt:
One of those things that they do anyways is creating a resume or something along those lines. Right?

Tiffany Reardon:
Exactly. Creating a resume, looking into degrees they might be interested in, if they’re interested in grad school, if they’re interested in startups, if they’re interested in going straight to industry, creating a bio, things that they already would do and should do.

Laura Vogt:
So this seems like it’d be a really great option for students that are in maybe one of the smaller majors to definitely start meeting people not necessarily in their major, but across the whole spectrum of engineering majors.

Tiffany Reardon:
Absolutely. So some of the smaller majors, the nuclear, the MSEs, the environmental engineering sciences. I think we have one energy engineering, I think. Right? I think so. But some of those smaller majors, and fun fact, sometimes when we’ve had those one majors, those are our standout students. I have to tell you. And the reason why is because they’ve gone out of their way to talk to other people. I’m actually just setting up an alumni panel, and the first person I thought of was somebody from a very small major. So if you’re listening and you’re from a small major, we’re going to be probably calling on you.

Laura Vogt:
And are there any materials that the students need for the course?

Tiffany Reardon:
Nope. Just an open mind and enthusiasm.

Laura Vogt:
And what’s your favorite part of teaching it?

Tiffany Reardon:
I think my favorite part of teaching it is I love when the previous students come back and do panels, because I feel so privileged because I’ve seen the growth, right? I’ve seen like, hey, this person was taking this class last year, and now they’re coming back and they’re talking to the next class. Maybe they did an REU in the summer. Maybe they just applied to grad school. Maybe they’ve had some experience that they really want to share. And I love that. I love seeing that. Just as a whole, I think that one of the things that I like about transfer students is that the willingness to share their experience, I see that a lot. And so if you take this class, you’re going to meet not only the students that are coming in with you, but you’re going to meet students from previous years as well.

Nicole McIntyre:
So I’ve only taught the class once because I’ve been with the team less than a year, but last year in our remote format, my favorite thing about the class was reading everyone’s discussion posts and their self-reflection, but more specifically, seeing the comments on each post and seeing these new students who had never met each other face to face really support each other and cheer each other on and find their similarities and their shared experiences and offer their own experience or connections as resources to other students. And I’m really excited for those students to all meet each other on campus, maybe in the context of Transfer Link 2.0, to continue to support each other.

Laura Vogt:
And are there any other resources that you want to share with the transfer students that they can start exploring?

Nicole McIntyre:
So many. So many I just sent out in email. For our incoming transfer students, some of the resources that I’m really excited about are the transfer mentor program and the opportunity to be mentored by a continuing transfer student. The Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology courses, which are really putting a focus on recruiting and enrolling transfer students and helping transfer students leverage their experience in entrepreneurship. The Fung Fellowship, which is also prioritizing new transfer students this year.

Tiffany Reardon:
Aside from those, also just kind of a sneak preview, the College of Engineering has a National Science Foundation scholarship that students can apply to. And so we have that as a resource, and the only people that are eligible are new engineering transfer students. So if you take the class, you’ll hear about that. But also if you don’t take the class, you’ll still hear about that. But we would like to see you in the class. But as Nicole mentioned, there are an enormous amount of opportunities. And I think that one of the things that we can support you in is not being overwhelmed, because at some point, you’re going to think, “Oh my gosh, I can’t do everything. I need to focus on my studies, but I want to choose wisely on what to focus on.” And we can help you with that.

Laura Vogt:
So are there any last thoughts or things that you want to add about Transfer Link that we haven’t talked about yet?

Tiffany Reardon:
We just kind of put the class, the Wednesday class, from 10 to 11, but if a lot of students are like, “This doesn’t work for me,” please let us know. We can’t make any promises, but we really want to have as many students in the class as possible. So if there’s some major class that is a time conflict, just please let us know. But we’d like to see as many students as possible. And we are excited because we haven’t been on campus in a year either, so this’ll be fun.

Laura Vogt:
Well, thank you both, Tiffany and Nicole, for coming in and joining us today.

Tiffany Reardon:
Thank you.

Nicole McIntyre:
Thank you. You got me excited for the fall now.

Laura Vogt:
I know. It seems weird that it’s still a couple months away. But I’m glad we talked about this today ,because as the students are planning their courses and getting ready to register in July, this is one of the things that we kind of want them to think about as they’re making that schedule to add this course to this schedule. And we’ll have the links for the classes.berkeley.edu is on our podcast page. So that’s coesandbox.berkeley.edu/esspodcast. And thank you for everyone for tuning in. I look forward to podcasting with you again next week.