For transfer students at UW, getting the courses completed at a previous school to count toward a bachelor’s degree here can be confusing, but a new plan, discussed at this week’s board of trustees meeting, is trying to fix that.
New four-year and “two plus two” plans collected by Alyson Hagy, UW’s interim associate vice president for student affairs, and Patrice Noel, UW’s director of transfer relations, aim to provide high school and community college students with concrete information on what courses to take before coming to UW.
“They’re making decisions about their future without the information they need,” Hagy said before the Board of Trustees on Thursday. “We needed to make sure that two years of studying English or civil engineering at Northwest or Western or Eastern would prepare a student to arrive here essentially as a junior with four semesters—or two more years—of study.”
The problem seems real, especially after examining the number of credit hours transfers end up taking. While “native” students, who start at UW as freshmen, average 136 credit hours by the time they earn a degree, transfer students average 154 credit hours.
“What you’re hearing may sound to some to be eternally boring and getting into administrative minutia but it is absolutely not,” UW President Richard McGinity said. “It is a problem that has existed between the university and community colleges for decades.”
When courses completed at a previous school cannot be applied toward a degree program at UW, transfer students often have to stay at UW longer than they intended.
Darby Clark, a graphic design major, transferred to UW from Northwest College with an associate’s degree. Upon arriving in Laramie, she found she needed to catch up on lower level prerequisites before she could be considered a junior.
“It’s really confusing,” Clark said. “There’s a lot of things they just don’t tell you. There’s no reason for there to be so much unknown.”
Clark will not be able to graduate on time, despite the fact she never switched her major. Clark has at least one additional semester at UW after her four years are up before graduation.
Hagy and Noel’s efforts have significantly increased the number of four-year plans from last year. The previous 29 degree programs with four-year plans has grown to 69.
These four-year plans will be online so that any high school or community college student, adviser or parent can access them.
“Two plus two” plans are designed specifically for transfer students and is another facet of community college collaboration. Of the 17 largest degree programs at UW, which account for roughly 50 percent of the student population, seven now have completed or are finalizing “two plus two” plans with every Wyoming community college where the degree is applicable. UW’s nursing program already has an equivalent plan in place.
Of the remaining nine degree programs, eight are far along the path to completion.
