Salt Lake Community College’s Transfer Center spotlighted the resources and support systems that help its students transition to four-year universities as part of National Transfer Week.
The Transfer Center collaborated with departments and universities Oct. 20-24 to highlight SLCC’s commitment to helping every student find a pathway to a bachelor’s degree. Through workshops, advising, tabling events, and personal guidance, SLCC ensures that transferring remains an achievable goal for all.
For National Transfer Student Week, transfer advisor Fernanda Ramirez said the center partnered with both in-state and out-of-state universities to connect students with those schools.
Ramirez also mentioned that the process of transferring starts with looking at which classes would and wouldn’t transfer to a student’s desired university. She noted that around 90% of the time, all credits are transferrable.
“If you’re still unsure, that’s when we get you connected to an advisor at their school, since they would know exactly what would transfer,” Ramirez said.
According to Ramirez, students commonly assume the transfer process is hard, when in fact, it isn’t; it’s more a matter of looking for the information.
“It’s just a matter of looking at their [desired school’s] website, looking at the classes, and we can always do that together. That’s what the Transfer Center is here for,” Ramirez said.
The Transfer Center also partnered with the Student Writing and Reading Center, the Dream Center, and the Financial Aid and Scholarships office to connect students with the right resources based on their needs.
Dream Center writing and rhetoric fellow Tracy Fraatz said the Dream Center helps immigrants and children of immigrants succeed in higher education. Fraatz mentioned that the center held its own transfer event Oct. 21 to address the specific experiences and transfer processes of immigrant students.
“Holding informational events like this can create sort of a middleman between the knowledge and being able to gain those resources, and those resources themselves,” said Fraatz.
Social work major Angelo Jemuel B. Tala attended the Transfer Center’s big tabling event Oct. 24, which involved Utah universities like the University of Utah and Weber State University, to learn about budget-friendly options for international students. His primary concern was the cost of tuition for international students.
“Looking for a community in different colleges is very important for me too … a lot of my friends who graduated from Weber State are there, and there’s a lot of options to do as well for scholarships, as from just getting your GPA up,” Tala said.
Business student Pamela Silva Santisteban also attended the Transfer Center’s event on Oct. 24. Santisteban is graduating this semester and wanted to learn about the tuition options and possibilities available to international students.
“If they have scholarships, according to the honors club, for example, PTK [Phi Theta Kappa], if they have special transfer opportunities, what can they offer?” Santisteban said.
Santisteban mentioned she didn’t have information about the transfer process; she only knew she wanted to transfer, so the event was significant to her.
“I validated for sure that it was more expensive for me, but I know that there are a lot of scholarships, and now I’m connected with a lot of the people at the tables,” Santisteban said.
Santisteban also expressed the importance of belonging to an honors program and continuing that partnership when transferring. She says the honors program opens doors not only to scholarships but also to networking and a sense of belonging in a community.
“I think nowadays, on my side, I want to be better. And if I want to be better, I want to be the best, I have to get together with people that have the same kind of focus, goal, or target,” Santisteban said.
The Transfer Center also offers resources that allow students to check transferability by institutional interest, location, and equivalencies, which means checking which credits transfer from SLCC to a student’s desired institution. Visit their website for more information.
