Transfer

Reduction in Student Services staffing including in the Transfer and Counseling Centers. In 2021, our Transfer Advisor was reduced from a 100% transfer assignment to 50% transfer. This decrease in assignment has affected programing, outreach and services that can be provided to WVC (West Valley College) students. A designated Transfer Counselor retired in 2022 and there are no plans to replace this position. This affected the number of transfer presentations in classrooms and the number of individual appointments available which decreased the chances of connecting with Latinx students and educating them about the transfer process. Over the last five years, ten general counselors have retired or resigned and only 5 of them have been replaced as embedded counselors on campus. We need more counselors to help with ed planning, major and career exploration, and transfer counseling for our Latinx students.

The application fees for 4-year college applications can deter low-income students from applying to several schools, limiting their options. The complexity of financial aid forms can also be a negative influencing factor for transfer.

Over 40% of our Latinx students are first-generation college students who may not have the familial support in navigating college and the transfer process.

The campus community's low level of awareness of available student services, and in particular, the transfer process and the assistance provided by Student Services and how faculty can help.

Have a dedicated transfer advisor and a separate dedicated career advisor. Increase in staffing of student support services, and in particular, at least 1-2 counselor positions dedicated 100% to assisting Latinx students seeking to transfer. Additional counselors are needed to have more individualized transfer education plans and workshops available for targeted support and assistance to Latinx students. Fill vacant Records staff position to help process degree and transfer GE certifications and transcript evaluations.

The average application fee is $70, which can be an obstacle for many WVC students. This would assist students who do not qualify for the EOPS application fee waiver but who are still struggling economically (particularly because the automatic application fee waiver for UCs and CSUs is difficult to qualify for).

Include targeted messaging to Latinx students via the new Latinx Center, Puente, FYE, EOPS, TRiO, WVC Academic Senate and Deans/Department Chairs. The new Latinx Center provides an essential information hub for Latinx students and could serve to inform Latinx students of services available to support their goals of transferring and reduce any stigma associated with seeking the assistance provided. The Latinx Center also provides the college with a list of Latinx students along with contact info for better targeted messaging.

• With the hiring of additional counselors and re-establishment of a 100% transfer advisor, more targeted workshops can be provided and individual transfer/ed planning appointments can be made available for Latinx students. We also need to realign counseling schedules and modalities, with student needs.
• Greater coordination/collaboration of Student Services with existing student groups such as Puente, Umoja and FYE as well as with other college initiatives such as Guided Pathways on transfer possibilities and application processes/forms.
• Build upon new Latinx Center and collaborate with Latinx Faculty Fellow on targeted messaging and hosting of workshops for Latinx students to address financial and cultural factors that may pose challenges for higher transfer rates.
• Create videos in both Spanish and English to educate the students on how to use transfer tools (i.e., assist.org, DegreeWorks, etc.).
• In conjunction with the Latinx Center, Office of Outreach, EOPS, and TRiO, create a bilingual Spanish/English presentation aimed at families to help educate parents and other family members on how they can best support their students in the transfer process and available resources (for example, information on financial aid).
• Develop a presentation for faculty, staff, and administrators on the transfer process and what we can do as a campus community to help support Latinx students.
• Undertake a comprehensive review of counseling services at WVC focusing on:
  • What are barriers for students using services?
  • Will students access evening hours?
  • When would students use the hours?
  • What counseling modalities would students use?
  • What needs to be handled by a counselor and what could be handled by an advisor?
  • Frequency of different types of appointments (AEP, CEP)
  • Disaggregate data for students doing orientations.
  • Disaggregate data for students getting AEPs, CEPs, etc.
  • Look at total availability for counseling hours. Do we have enough to serve the students we have?

• Initiate a pilot program involving California Community Colleges working with UCs and CSUs dedicated to success of Latinx students in meeting their transfer goals, degree completion and finding employment in their chosen field post-graduation.
• Provide technical assistance and professional development opportunities for college faculty and staff to improve on outreach to Latinx students of available student services as well as improving the effectiveness of teaching, for Latinx students and other disproportionately impacted students.
• Expand data collection and research on the factors that negatively impact transfer rates of Latinx and other disproportionately impacted students. This will help with developing targeted efforts to increase transfer rates of specific student populations.
• Work with the UCs and CSUs to decrease the income level requirement for students to qualify for automatic transfer application fee waivers (particularly because the automatic application fee waiver for UCs and CSUs is difficult to qualify for).