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The pandemic did not derange me enough like my CUNY advisor!

Erica Alvarez

Many CUNY students that graduate from a community college wish to continue their education and pursue a bachelor’s degree at a four-year senior college. However, not many have the adequate support system to understand how difficult the transfer process is. From my experience, online academic advising has not been sufficient. There are not enough academic advisors to help students work through the process and seamlessly transfer students.

In this pandemic it has been hard enough to at least get support online through Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and any other video conferencing. Many advisors have lacked at helping transfer students and ease their experience on transferring to a four-year senior college during a pandemic. I personally did not know what to expect in the process of transferring. My advisor waited until the last minute to start the process. When my advisor emailed me to schedule an appointment, I had already finished doing my transfer application. I did everything on my own and had to rely on the answers I found online.

The pandemic has affected everyone mentally, physically and emotionally-It has resulted in a social disconnect. During my transfer process, I felt like I was not provided with enough information and sometimes, not taken seriously. I went to college for half a year and then the pandemic started. It’s 2022 and I still do online class. It has been a bad experience with my advisor in my second year of community college. There is not much support when attending a 4 year college coming from a 2 year college. According to a research report published on The Ohio State University “Research indicates that transfer students are likely to experience challenges as they transition into a new educational environment.”

At John Jay College, the school I currently attend, they have many academic support programs for eligible students, but it seems like they excluded transfer students. There are little to no programs available for transfer students suffering in a transfer system during a pandemic. The school should mandate a transfer class for transfer students and have availability for students to get a sense of the school either with an advisor, a student leader, or a coach. I am a recent transfer student and still struggle to find where everything is at school. I have no friends at John Jay and do not have social contact with the professors. I do not even have an academic advisor assigned to me. There is a transfer class I am currently taking but still no other support nor connection with an advisor to guide me on the next semester on to what is expected as a transfer student.

I urge the Chancellor of CUNY to seek change by mandating a transfer program for transfer students and demand advisors to have a mandated transfer process to guide students along the way. A transfer support program will allow students to have a better experience and gain more social connections while transferring online.

Erica Alvarez is a member of Young Invincibles-New York’s 2022 Spring Young Advocates Program.