Hello, my name is Cora Brown and I’m the writer of this blog post. I’ve been here at NAU since fall of 2020 and go to school for Business Economics and a minor in Political Science. I was born and raised in Reno Nevada and have transfer credits from Truckee Meadow Community College (TMCC). Although I have been here for three years, I’m graduating this fall 2023. Also, I am a senior Transfer Jacks peer mentor. I have been working with the Transfer and Online Connections since fall 2022. I love being a mentor for incoming transfer students! Coming to a new campus and college is a big step that can be really hard on transfer students. We as transfer peer mentors want to make the transition easy by giving resources and checking in on our transfer students to answer any questions they have, and to be a good friend to them too. This blog post is to show what we as the department/mentors do for our transfer students, talk about most frequent questions, and to show our future incoming transfer students that we have your back!
What is the definition of a transfer student?
When it comes to being a transfer student there is some misinformation about what is a transfer student. A transfer student is typically coming directly from a 2-year or 4-year college/university or took time off from college before returning to a classroom setting. NAU considers a transfer student to be a person who completed 12 credit hours or more at a college/university after the completion of high school. When I first came to NAU I thought I was a transfer student due to dual enrollment in high school, but that is not the case. Even though I transferred my credits to NAU, I am not an actual transfer student because I completed that credit while in high school. The transfer student experience is appropriately different from the first-year experience of those who are coming directly to NAU from high school. This different experience is one of the reasons why our program exists, as we do understand the many challenges our transfer students experience. Not only do we want to help our transfer students get accustomed to all that is new, we also want to share transfer students’ experiences with non-transfer students too.
How do we share transfer student stories?
During the first week of the Fall 2023 semester, the NAU Flagstaff-Mountain campus will welcome close to 700 new transfer students. One of the ways that we’re able to share the transfer student experience is by our “Transfer Talks Podcast”. With our podcast, we interview transfer students and talk about their experiences coming to NAU, their biggest challenges they faced, and some advice for incoming transfer students. Our podcast is currently available on Spotify, RSS, and soon YouTube. Follow this link to find out more: https://nau.edu/transfer-online-connections/transfer-talks-podcast/
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Transfer Lounge?
The Transfer Lounge is in the University Union Fieldhouse (Building 30) – 2nd Floor – Room 235.
The Transfer Lounge is a place designed purposely for our transfer students and friends to hang out, study, eat, meet with their mentors, and to play games. Our lounge has a refrigerator, microwave, day lockers, TV, Nintendo Switch, four computers with a printer to use with your JacksCard, a charging station, and board and card games too. Our transfer lounge is open from 8am to 5pm. Most of our mentors are at the front desk to help with questions, or any issues that may come up.
What events is the Transfer Jacks Mentoring Program hosting?
The Transfer Jacks mentoring program hosts many events throughout fall and spring semester. Most of our events for the Fall 2023 semester are already shared on True Blue Connects at https://nau.edu/tbc. When it comes to our events, there is so much to join, like free meals, painting nights, hybrid bingo, Bonfire S’mores and Stories, Tailgating, Pizza, Planning and Prizes, game nights, field trips and so much. Our most attended event will be our first event that we do in the beginning of the semester, which is the new Transfer Student Picnic. Last year, we had close to150 transfer students attend our picnic where transfer students played many lawn games, ate delicious food, and met other new transfer students, as well as the mentors on the team too! Events are open to any NAU Flagstaff-Mountain new transfer student and all transfer students at NAU. When it comes to being a mentor and being at all these events, it’s always so exciting to see transfer students make new friends and good memories. One of my favorite events that I love to attend is the field trip to the Grand Canyon, which we do every semester! If you are new transfer student this fall and want to join on field trips, please RSVP on True Blue Connects to secure your spot because seating is limited.
September events:
September 5: Pizza, Planning and Prizes.
September 8: T-Shirt Tie Dye
September 11: Ice Cream Social with College Advisers
September 13: Painting in the Pines
September 16: NAU Football Tailgate
September 19: Nerf Gun, Dodgeball, Kickball Games
September 23: Grand Canyon field trip
How do I get in contact with a Transfer Jacks mentor?
When it comes to incoming transfer students once the semester starts a Transfer Jacks peer mentor will first give you a phone call to book a meeting, following up with an email and text message too. You can also see who your Transfer Jacks peer mentor is in LOUIE, and can schedule an appointment in the Appointment Planner, under mentoring program: appointments.nau.edu.
Returning transfer students who have been at NAU longer than a semester are not automatically paired with a Transfer Jacks mentor unless requested to. Sometimes transfer students might not have met with us during their first semester but we are still available if you want to connect with a person from our team. So if you are interested in having a mentor meet with you again, or for the first time this semester, reach out to us at transferconnections@nau.edu.
What advice do you have for transfer students during the first month of classes?
When it comes to transfer students and their 1st month of classes, it is quite hard to get accustomed to new schedules, new areas, bus routes etc. One good piece of advice that we have for transfer students is if you have any questions or concerns, meet with your Transfer Jacks peer mentor to get informed. We as mentors are a resource. We know quite a lot when it comes to classes, events on campus, and how to get involved. Getting involved is a really good way to meet new people, and our mentor can offer advice on an involvement plan.
When are you giving away more free stuff?
Our Pizza, Planning, and Prizes event on September 5th in our lounge will include free advice, pizza, planners, and raffle prizes. This event will help you with planning out your academics, and involvement on the NAU campus, as well as getting a chance to win a frisbee, stuffed animal, or NAU apparel, to name just a few items.
Save the Date! National Transfer Student Week is October 16-20, 2023, so we plan to give out t-shirts, stuffed animals, stickers, and many more to the transfer students who attend our events on a first-come, first-serve basis. We also give out Transfer Jacks flags during national transfer student week too.
Are you on any social media?
We do have a few platforms when it comes to social media, including Instagram where we post our upcoming events and helpful information. We also have a TikTok where our mentors make fun videos about our events, and entrance moments.
Instagram: @nautransferjacks
TikTok: @nautransferjacks
Written by Cora Brown, Senior Transfer Jacks Peer Mentor