Washington State University’s Transfer Clearinghouse has scheduled helpful workshops to benefit students and academic advisors during National Transfer Student Week, Oct. 19-23, said Waylon Safranski, program director. “The purpose of the week’s events at WSU is to raise the profile of transfer students, offer them support, and acknowledge what they bring to WSU. We are working to build a culture of ‘transfer champions’ across the WSU system.”

Students transferring to or from Washington State University who have completed their lower-division general education courses will have a more seamless transition, thanks to a new partnership with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). WICHE’s Interstate Passport program provides that students who have attained agreed-upon learning outcomes from those courses can enroll at other member schools with confidence that many general education requirements have been met. “Lower-division general education courses coming in as a block from member schools will make transferring more seamless,” said Waylon Safranski, director of the WSU Transfer Clearinghouse that works with students who have earned credits at a different institution.

Students with college credits earned outside Washington State University have a new place to find information on WSU’s Pullman campus. The WSU Transfer Clearinghouse has now opened the Transfer Resource Center (TRC), located mid-campus in room 403 of the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE). “Beyond the many services we provide, I want the students to view the Transfer Resource Center as the place for students to come, get answers, and get involved,” said Susan Poch, assistant vice provost and center director. “Recent data shows that nearly 80 percent of WSU students, by the time they graduate, earned some type of transfer credit. That percentage represents a significant population of our students who have unique course credit and college transition needs for us to fill.”

In addition to resources and services provided by Admission Counselors, WSU has recently created the Transfer Clearinghouse unit to provide transfer students with an additional point of contact throughout their transfer transition. The Clearinghouse staff consists of Susan Poch, director and assistant vice provost, Waylon Safranski, assistant director, and Erica Stubbs, graduate assistant. Collectively they are committed to collaborating with the many transfer stakeholders to ensure transfer student success continues at WSU. “The ultimate goal is to boost the number of transfer students at WSU and improve their retention and graduation rates,” Poch said. “Transfer students bring diversity and unique experiences, and there will be more intentional focus on transfers in the years to come.”

Although some of our best, brightest Cougars come from community colleges or other schools, we have seen that they often encounter a number of barriers when making the transition to WSU. WSU’s new Transfer Clearinghouse now is in place to provide transfer students with a clear, clean path to WSU. “The ultimate goal is to boost the number, and retention rates, of transfer students,” said Susan Poch, director of the Transfer Clearinghouse. “In the past, you’ve had to hunt for information about transferring to WSU. We’re working to make the process smoother and hopefully the Transfer Clearinghouse will serve as a main point of contact for all of our resources.”