By Briana Garcia | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
The Transfer Year Experience program at Baylor University gives transfer students a chance to build connections with others and get involved with the school through many resources and organizations.
“I definitely think my college experience would be different if it wasn’t for the Transfer Year Experience,” Converse senior Skyler Rost said.
The TYE program is located at University Parks, where transfer students can live together and be in an environment that helps them support one another. The program supports transfer students in their transition to Baylor and the Waco community.
“I got to be surrounded by people who were experiencing the same thing I was experiencing,” Rost said.
Rost explained that many of the transfer students would often have the same questions and concerns. They were able to have access to resources, including mentors, and they got to connect with different student organizations.
“I think if I didn’t have the transfer year experience, I would have been overwhelmed and lost transferring to a big campus,” Rost said.
Austin Morell — Transfer Student Success program director — said the TYE council’s student leadership team helps guide the community and provides support and programming for transfer students.
“This peer support helps students get connected, and programming such as guest speakers from around campus helps students get involved,” Morell said.
Rost was a part of the TYE council and said it helped her make connections with other clubs, advisers and professors because they would bring people in for talks.
“The TYE council was interesting and helped me build relationships with other transfer students,” Rost said.
The TYE program also offers a class that transfer students can take. Transferring Your Success (STL 1104) is designed to assist the transition of transfer students to Baylor and the Waco community; it provides information about support services, academic success strategies and tools to help navigate time management in a college environment.
“This is done through a peer mentoring program, a New Student Experience course specifically for transfer students and one-on-one meetings with a staff member to answer questions and identify needs,” Rost said.
The TYE program is supported not only by transfer students but also by Baylor as a whole. Campus Living and Learning is a partner, as it helps transfer students find on-campus housing. Admissions is another partner, and it organizes recruitment events, helps students get enrolled and answers questions about transfer credits.
“To support transfer students well, it takes a full campus effort,” Morell said. “We work with New Student Programs on events like Welcome Week and Transfer Mixer to help students have an opportunity to connect right at the beginning of the semester.”
