UNM opens center to advise transfer students

For any transfer students at the University of New Mexico wondering if they are truly a Lobo, they might not need to look any further than the message “YOU BELONG HERE” painted on the wall outside the University Advisement and Enrichment Center.

“No matter where you’re coming from or where you’re headed, we’re excited to be part of your story,” reads the message, with UNM’s Mexican wolf mascot stenciled in white against the cherry red-painted wall.

Those welcoming words helped usher in The Transfer and Transition Student Center, meant to advise an “often-overlooked subset” of students, UNM stated in a news release on Monday. The launch of the center comes at the start of National Transfer Student Week, Oct. 21-25.

“We just realized there’s more of a need for having that human touch,” said Sarah Dominguez, transfer pathways officer and dual credit supervisor. “You can make the perfect website, you can make the perfect handout, but when it comes down to it, you need people there helping you.”

The center, located in Suite 170 of the University Communication & Marketing Building, has two employees who will help UNM’s transfer students not just through college graduation, but even when they’re thinking about transferring to UNM, according to Dominguez.

“We’re here to support them through the whole entire transfer journey,” Dominguez said.

Transfer students make up one-third of UNM’s undergraduate population, which is one of the reasons why a new center is needed, according to Dominguez.

“Although all advisers on campus do work with our transfer students, there are a lot of different nuances with transfer that we would be specialized in knowing and we would be able to take the time to walk students through some of the nuances,” she said. “I think there is a tendency (for transfer students) to feel a little out of place or not as much in the know about things as their counterparts who had started here as freshman.”

The university’s statistics on transfer students show that they make up 43% of all new students per year.

Around half of transfer students graduate from UNM in four years, the data said. However, over 14% of transfer students drop out of the university in their first semester. Dominguez noted these statistics in an interview on Monday.

“We’re putting a really big focus on their first semester to help reduce that,” she said, noting that the center plans to conduct qualitative research to figure out why some transfer students are dropping out. “We’ve got the numbers. Now we need to learn the ‘why?’ so we can properly address it to help students.”

The UNM data also says that transfer students who make it to their second semester are less likely to drop out.

Clayton Beard, a senior, transferred to UNM in August from Southern Arkansas University. Although his former school was cheaper to attend and had a “promising” engineering program, Beard ultimately left because “it wasn’t working out for me.” He moved to New Mexico, where his parents chose to retire.

UNM also appeals to Beard because it is where he plans to get a master’s degree, and he does not want to relocate to earn it.

“It’s just not me. I’m very much a family man,” Beard said.

Transferring from Southern Arkansas to UNM was easier than he expected, but he is not happy with the time it is taking for him to be considered an in-state resident by UNM. Beard said he moved to New Mexico in April. However, the university’s website says students must provide documentation of living in the state for 12 months in order to petition for in-state tuition.

“That’s upsetting for me because that would cut my costs down by two-thirds on tuition alone,” Beard said. “It’s a little bit too expensive here.”

Another transfer student, senior Faith Jaramillo, came to UNM from Central New Mexico Community College, where over 58% of in-state transfer students had enrolled previously. After earning her associate’s degree in general studies, Jaramillo knew she wanted to attend UNM, where she may want to pursue graduate school.

Jaramillo described her transition to UNM as smooth, but not without difficulty, since her parents did not go to college.

“A lot of it was new information for me,” Jaramillo said. “I was just learning as I was going.”

She did not know, for example, that she had to transfer the status of her financial aid and credits between institutions. However, Jaramillo was able to resolve both issues thanks to her advisers at CNM and UNM.

While she is a full-time student taking courses online, Jaramillo works full time as an administrative assistant in the UNM Office of Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.

“It can be overwhelming juggling the two, but since I am (taking) online (courses) that helps a ton,” Jaramillo said.

Jaramillo and Beard both said they were not aware of The Transfer and Transition Student Center, but thought it would be beneficial to them.

“I’m open to it,” Jaramillo said.

Beard said he “definitely would find time” to go to the center since out of state transferring “is hard.”

“Hopefully, they’re passionate,” Beard said, referring to staff members of the center.

On Monday, the center saw a steady stream of students — and coffee and pastries for those running on an empty stomach. Dominguez hopes the center fosters a sense of belonging.

“Students may not have another place on campus where they feel they have other students like them. In this center, they can have some of that comradery,” Dominguez said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the UNM mascot is a Mexican wolf.