by Brian Garsh on
A presenter speaking at the Transfer Success Summit.

On Friday, February 28, members of the Georgia Tech community gathered in the Bill Moore Student Success Center for the inaugural Transfer Success Summit. This symposium-style event brought together nearly 50 students, staff, faculty, and administrators to engage in conversations about transfer student support and initiatives at the Institute.

Transfer Student Panel
Students participate in the Transfer Student Panel, moderated by Andrew Solano, Transfer Student Association president. 

The event kicked off with welcome remarks by Dr. Catherine Thomas, Interim Director of Academic Transition and Learning Communities, and Brian Garsh, Transfer Student Success Manager. The first presentation of the day focused on transfer student data and enrollment trends to lay the framework for the remainder of the sessions. Next, attendees learned about the GT 2000 Transfer Student Seminar, including the positive outcomes for students who take the course. The following session provided an overview of some of the co-curricular initiatives that support transfer students, such as STEP (Student Transfer Enrichment Program) in the College of Sciences, pre-health advising, Transfer2Tech Peer Mentor Program, and the Transfer Year Experience Living-Learning Community. The final session before lunch was a Transfer Student Panel moderated by Andrew Solano, President of the Transfer Student Association.

Dr. Janet Marling presenting at the Transfer Success Summit.
Dr. Janet Marling presenting on An Ecosystem Approach to Transfer Student Success.

The keynote presentation during lunch was led by Dr. Janet Marling, Executive Director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students. Her talk focused on the ecosystem approach to supporting transfer students before, during, and after the transition to Georgia Tech. The final session of the day focused on best practices for academic advisors supporting transfer students and connecting them to vital information and resources. Dr. Chris Reaves, Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of Experiential and Engaged Learning, provided closing remarks to the audience.

Presenters:

  • Rick Clark, Executive Director of Strategic Student Access
  • Sudie Davis, Academic Advisor in Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • Adrienne Hillman, Academic Program Manager of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • Dr. Lacy Hodges, Director of Undergraduate Analytics and Planning
  • Dr. Anna Holcomb, Director of Retention and Completion initiatives
  • Chris Lundy, Academic Advising Manager in Aerospace Engineering
  • Dr. Lea Marzo, Programs Director in the College of Sciences
  • Dr. Josh McConnell Parsons, Assistant Director for Undergraduate Assessment
  • Brooke Sheetz, Academic Program Manager for Pre-Health Advising

Student Panelists:

  • Jeremiah Carlson, Computer Science

  • Lillian Weiss, Economics and International Affairs

  • Elizabeth Iaryguine, Mathematics
  • Saanjhh Varyani, Computational Media

To learn more about transfer student initiatives at Georgia Tech, contact transfersuccess@gatech.edu.

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