CSUB opens Transfer Resource Center

Center helps transfer students transition to campus, removes barriers to success

By California State University, Bakersfield

September 23^rd, 2021

Transfer students who are struggling with their transition to California State University, Bakersfield now have a new place where they can receive support.

CSUB opened a Transfer Resource Center this semester, which is located in room 128 in the Student Services building. The center — which serves currently enrolled transfer students as well as prospective students — includes a study area, printer access and other resources.

Transfer Student Success Coordinator and Senior Admissions Officer Natasha Harris said the center aims to strengthen the connection between students and the university.

“We want transfer students to know that they belong here at the university,” she said. “We want to be able to give the students visibility here on campus by giving them their own space.”

Five peer mentors are available at the center to help transfer students transition to CSUB and connect them with any services or resources they may need.

“They’re helping students get acclimated to the campus and sharing their own transfer stories with students,” Harris said.

The Transfer Resource Center also helps students who are thinking about transferring to CSUB by providing advice, assistance with admissions applications and other services.

The center marks a new milestone in the university’s commitment to helping transfer students hit the ground running when they arrive at CSUB. While the university has provided resources and services to transfer students in the past, this is the first time the university has had a physical space dedicated to them.

Having a Transfer Resource Center on campus has been a goal over the past few years amid enrollment growth in transfer students, Harris said. CSUB had nearly 1,300 transfer students last fall.

“This has been a dream come true,” she said. “It’s exciting. I love the center, I love the space. We’ve got a great team in here.”

While Harris said the center is a place where students can come in and relax if they need a break, it is primarily intended to serve as a success zone.

“Our transfer students have a lot of barriers that the freshmen don’t,” she said. “Part of our goal is to remove some of those barriers and fight battles for them that they can’t fight.”

Harris said there is a common assumption that transfer students know what to expect when they come to CSUB because they’ve already had a college experience. However, she said they are often just as confused as freshmen when they first arrive at the university.

“This is a whole new campus, whole new policies, whole new procedures,” she said. “When they have those hurdles, they can come in and see us so we can walk them through the process and help alleviate any stress that they have.”

Elizabeth Callahan, one of the Transfer Resource Center’s peer mentors, experienced some of these challenges herself when came to CSUB last fall to pursue a master’s degree after graduating from University of California, Merced.

“When I first came here, I was kind of lost, so when I had the opportunity to be a peer mentor and help students with their transitions, I wanted to do it,” she said. “I wanted to be able to bridge that gap for students when they come here, because it’s a lot to take in, it’s a lot to learn. The more you know and the more people can help guide you, the easier the process is.”

Callahan said working with current and prospective transfer students through the center has been a great experience so far.

“With every student I interact with, I learn so much about them and what they want to do,” she said. “I feel a lot of satisfaction knowing someone is coming to me for help and I’m able to provide a service back.”

The Transfer Resource Center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays. The center is currently only offering virtual appointments, events and workshops due to COVID-19.