Results

Success in Essential Functions: When we asked how useful advisors were during the transfer process, 70 percent of participants indicated that advisors were somewhat or extremely helpful. Through our thematic analysis of qualitative survey questions and focus group discussions, we identified that advisors were largely successful in the essential functions of helping BIPOC transfer students understand degree requirements, getting assistance in deciding majors, and class planning. Participants also noted that advisors assisted in understanding what credits transferred, what applied to their major, and how to navigate complicated university requirements. Participants also appreciated support with career assistance and grad school planning. These successes should be recognized, but with only 30 percent of participants noting extreme helpfulness of advising, we can also see space for support.

Patterns of Self-Reliance: Some BIPOC transfer students mentioned relying on themselves to find information by using tools such as the university website or google. You can see the quote from a participant who said "I just had so many questions during all these processes that I couldn't get any 1 on 1 help, either through academic advisors or career centers because I didn't know who to ask, so I kind of just relied on myself to figure it out." If advisors are successful in the essential functions we mentioned, why are BIPOC transfer students relying on themselves? One participant stated that “as a transfer student, and as a person of color, it can be very tasking to reach out to people, it's a lot having to research, like, where do I go? What do I do? It's already been hard getting into school.” We found that self-reliance sometimes occurred because BIPOC transfer students felt uncomfortable approaching advisors and staff. While self reliance can be viewed as a positive response to this dynamic, it can also have isolating effects that may prevent BIPOC students from reaching out or utilize university resources.

White Supremacy: It is important to mention that some participants recognized that systemic racism and White Supremacy played a role in shaping their interactions. This included moments when some students felt compelled to change how they acted or spoke when interacting with advising staff. One person said, "we're not white, we don't understand a lot of the things that you do, and a lot of the things that you do turn out to be microaggressions and then they hurt. And then they just further like, alienate us and make us feel like we are not of value." Some also felt tokenized by the university due to surface level representation but a lack of deeper support as was mentioned in this quote. Other examples included how students felt a disconnect from their White advisors who lacked understanding of their cultural backgrounds and were unconscious of their implicit biases when coaching BIPOC students on making academic decisions. This sometimes resulted in microaggressions and pushing a White narrative.

Comfort and Safety: BIPOC transfer students need to feel safe, secure, and comfortable when using resources, interacting with advisors and staff, and navigating the university. Many participants felt that additional BIPOC representation within the advising department would help accomplish this because the shared lived experience could create a safe environment. One participant spoke directly on this when they said “hire people that look like me that have gone through this shit". Hiring more diverse staff is an example of a way to disrupt the pattern of self-reliance. Increasing staff diversity is also not limited to racial diversity, but includes diversity in other areas such as financial background and age. BIPOC transfer students also noted that both getting and giving peer support is useful. Infrastructure for peer support might look like a peer mentor program or peer advising where BIPOC transfer students can connect with each other for these resources. In addition to peer support in terms of resources, we found that BIPOC transfer students also find it crucial to connect to the BIPOC community on campus. One of the participants stated “how important it is to me to learn how can I connect, to be able to get to [know] other students that have the same experiences as me or have that support that is really close to home and makes me feel comfortable here at the university.” This BIPOC community may include other BIPOC students (both transfer and not), BIPOC staff and faculty, and even opportunity to bring in family as apart of this supporting community. Advising departments can aid in cultivating a BIPOC community by collaborating with cultural centers to share resources and by connecting students to resources within these centers as well. While all of this is ideal, some students also indicated that White advisors are able to successfully assist BIPOC transfer students.

Build Genuine Relationships: While all of this is ideal, some students also indicated that White advisors are able to successfully assist BIPOC transfer students. A key way this is accomplished is through building genuine relationships with BIPOC transfer students. BIPOC transfer students want advisors to know them as individuals. Do not make assumptions, but instead ask questions. They want their unique identities and life experiences as a transfer student to be recognized and valued. One participant said “the experience between a BIPOC and a white student can be very different. They do not understand the struggle of being alone with no guidance or resources.” As an example, many transfer students are first generation students and the challenges of this should be recognized. Additionally, some students have time constraints due to other responsibilities and this is often a factor of being both a transfer student and BIPOC. The unique experiences of being a BIPOC student should also be valued and validated. Participants indicated that advisor initiated communication should be personalized and ongoing (including follow-ups) as it is an important part of building a genuine advisor-student relationship. This coincides with another sub theme; maintaining support during the transition process all the way through graduation. BIPOC transfer students want a genuine relationship to be cultivated and this could include communication with an advisor prior to transferring and then the supporting goals beyond graduations like graduate school, internships, and career planning.

Accessibility: Another area for communication to be expanded is through advisor collaboration with resource centers. By sharing information with resource centers such as cultural centers, advising departments are able to further their reach by continuing to initiate communication in spaces where BIPOC transfer students feel safe. The content of publicized information should also be crafted specifically for transfer students. We think this is demonstrated well in the following quote: “I wish there was more detail in whatever emails did come out or specific ones towards students who are interested in graduate degrees and transfer students because it's really confusing to navigate a whole new university when you're only there for two years and you need to do a lot but everything's kind of disorganized and doesn't seem like it's specified for you.”