Supporting nontraditional students focus of TU’s January Teaching Conference
Faculty and librarians learn skills to support students who transferred at annual professional development conference
By Rebecca Kirkman on January 11, 2019
On January 9, about 180 faculty and librarians attended Towson University’s annual January Teaching Conference: “New Beginnings: Ensuring the Academic Success of Transfer Students.”
Held by the Office of the Provost to encourage professional development and align with the university’s major initiatives, this year’s theme explored the issues, obstacles and opportunities surrounding the success of students transferring into TU.
“The specific purpose based on the year’s theme was for us to reflect on the needs of transfer students and evaluate what we might be able to do to better facilitate their success,” says Vice Provost Maggie Reitz. Reitz says the topic was chosen more than a year ago based on higher education themes and the TU student population.
In fact, 55 percent of students entering TU arrived here from another institution.
President Kim Schatzel has outlined TIGER Way—Transfer, International, Graduate Enrollment Resource Initiative—as one of her presidential priorities.
In August, The Residences at 10 West Burke Avenue—TU’s first residence complex designated solely for students coming to the university from another institution—opened in the former Marriott space.
Supporting success of all students
Students who transferred make up a large part of the TU community, said Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Student Affairs David Vanko in his opening remarks.
“How do we make sure that a transfer student immediately identifies as a Towson student, and has support systems and experiences that lead to high success rates and closing equity gaps?” Vanko asked.
Keynote speaker Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, suggested the answer begins with embracing what she calls the “post-traditional student.”
In her remarks, Wheelan stressed the differences between college students of the past and today’s student population, which increasingly includes transfers, working adults, and other people finding their way to a four-year institution later in life.
With that in mind, Wheelan said, universities and faculties should adjust their approach to best reach these nontraditional students, ensuring that they remain supported and motivated throughout their collegiate careers.
Breakout sessions covered topics such as community engagement, setting transfer students up for success, career readiness skills, fostering a sense of belonging, and creating a level playing field in the research process.
Overcoming challenges, finding opportunities
“A challenge that sort of sums up being a transfer student is that this is a new beginning, but you’re not starting at the beginning,” said Madeline Gorman ’19, a dance and mass communication dual major who enrolled at TU in spring 2016, during the conference’s student panel discussion.
Gorman found the support she needed from her professors. “The faculty was integral to helping me navigate as a transfer student,” she said. “Everyone was so willing to help, helping me think about different pathways to graduation and my career goals.”
Sasha Grant ’19, an exercise science major that transferred from Frostburg State University in fall 2017, shared the sentiment. “Towson became the land of opportunity for me,” she said. “We’d get emails every week about job opportunities and internships. Now I have a job at a physical therapy clinic, and that would not have happened at my prior institution.”
Honoring TU faculty members
A ceremony during the conference honored five winning proposals for the Innovation in Teaching Award, presented by the Office of Academic Innovation:
- “Acting the Part: Psychiatric Nursing Simulation” by Mary Sharon Curran, Tara Ryan and Briana Snyder (nursing)
- “Evidenced-Based Thinking in Towson Seminar” by Rebecca Shargel and Lisa Twiss (educational technology and literacy)
- “Open Educational Resources, Active Learning, and Gamified Simulations in an Online Course” by Yongchen Zhao (economics)
- “Technology-Delivered Instructions in Teaching Human Resource Management” by Nhung Hendy (management)
- “Towson University Students in the Upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s” by Christian Koot (history) and Ashley Todd-Diaz (special collections and university archives).
The 10 TU finalists for the University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ Faculty Awards were also recognized. Winners will be announced during the Board of Regents’ April meeting.
This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TIGER Way.