Transfer students met with open arms at GCSU

As the Fall semester finally winds down, the hustle and bustle of incoming and outgoing transfer students is just beginning in the admissions office. 
“We’re not sure exactly how many people are leaving yet,” said Director of Admissions Mike Augustine.  “But we’ve already got 128 new students, 23 of which are freshman.”
Incoming transfers at GCSU now have an advantage over those at other schools due to a new program called TSA, short for the Transfer Student Association.  The program, headed by Transfer Articulation Specialist Stacy Milner, should be in full swing for next semester. 
“We do a lot for our transfers,” Milner said.  “When they come to GCSU, we help them with their schedules, provide them with tours of campus and living quarters, and don’t make them sit through a painstaking freshman orientation.  We also pair them up with a buddy through TSA who shows them around town and helps make their transition as smooth as possible.”
“I transferred to Georgia Southern from GCSU and they did absolutely nothing to help me,” said former student Andrew Blankenship.  “I had to sit through a four-hour freshman orientation, and when I left I still didn’t know where my classes were or what people did for fun in Statesboro.”
Over the last few years, GCSU has experienced slight changes in demographics between Fall and Spring semesters due to transfers, and it seems like certain trends are becoming more and more evident.
“Every year people move around but we’ve seen a steady increase in retention rate,” Augustine said.  “We are becoming a first-choice school for students now, instead of a backup.”
Another trend that GCSU is working to counteract is the issue of ethnic diversity, or rather, the lack thereof.  According to statistics posted on the University System of Georgia’s website, GCSU is more than 86 percent white, a figure which ranks second highest in the state only to Dalton College, with 87 percent.  Right now our black students make up 9 percent of the student body while Asians and Hispanics combined form a meager 3.4 percent.
The total population of GCSU has increased gradually by 4 -5 percent per year and in the past the university seemed to have lost more students between Fall and Spring then we have gained, due largely to graduating seniors that were a semester behind.
“It’s really important to us that we start to attract a wider range of students,” Augustine said.  “We have a lot of athletes that come from out of state as well as other countries and that is something we want to encourage within the regular student body as well.”
According to the university admissions office, GCSU has formed a special diversity task force to fully address the issue. For more statistics and figures, check the University System of Georgia website at www.USG.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Dec 1 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry