Triumph by Transfer

By Jenny Barnett, October 18, 2024

Transfer Students Thrive by Engaging in Campus Life

The college welcomed 83 transfers in fall 2023 and another 25 prior to the spring 2024 semester.

(Photo by Adam Baker)

Every year when students arrive on South Hill for the first time, they step into a new world, getting ready to experience new things with new people. Most of these students share a common experience: they are on their own for the first time after high school and adjusting to the next stage of their lives together. But for students who enroll as transfers at IC, their paths may have been a bit more circuitous.

Like traditional first-year students, transfers to IC come from all over the country. But typically they’re not new to college life, having been involved to some extent at their previous institutions. Though their arrival on a new campus may come with challenges as they settle in and experience their own Ithaca College firsts, transfer students are able to find their home at IC, thanks to help from the college’s faculty and staff, the many inviting clubs and organizations available, and the welcoming student body

Addressing Needs and Putting Down Roots

NAME: Casey Ingraham ’24
IC MAJORS: Theatre arts management and television and digital media production
INVOLVEMENT: Tau Sigma, IC social media team

As director of the Office of New Student and Transition Programs (NSTP), Caryanne Keenan helps all students become accustomed to life at Ithaca College. She understands that the path transfer students have taken is different from traditional first-year students, and likewise, their needs may vary. “They are a unique population,” said Keenan.

NSTP begins addressing those needs at orientation. “We hire current transfer students to be their orientation leaders, and during those events, we group transfer students together,” she said. “This ensures that the individuals they’re interacting with have an understanding about the types of questions and concerns they may have and the best ways to help them become acclimated to Ithaca.”

For the fall 2024 semester, NSTP worked with both the college’s Student Governance Council (which has a transfer senator position) and Tau Sigma, the college’s chapter of the national transfer student honor society, to offer a lunch and other activities specifically designed for transfer students at orientation. Casey Ingraham ’24, a theatre arts management and television and digital media production double major who transferred from Clark University, was president of the chapter, which had around 60 members at the time. She’s proud of the work the social media team has done to help ease students’ transition to IC. “We do a lot of community-building social events. And we also have office hours, so people can come to us and ask us registration questions or about their transfer credit,” said Ingraham.

While the college offers programming for all transfer students, many have found something on South Hill that made it feel like home. These communities are open to all students, but transfer students have found them especially helpful when it comes to planting roots.

Diving In

NAME: Blake Matthews ’24
IC MAJOR: Psychology
INVOLVEMENT: Transfer Residential Learning Community (RLC), Tau Sigma, Active Minds

Psychology major Blake Matthews ’24, who transferred from Arizona State University prior to the start of his junior year, was drawn to IC because he found it LGBTQ affirming and welcoming to trans students. Ithaca is routinely included as one of Campus Pride’s Best of the Best LGBTQ colleges and universities.

Once enrolled, he chose to live in the college’s Transfer Residential Learning Community (RLC), where he thrived. “Because everyone was a transfer student, I found my home in some of the friends I made there,” he said.

Another valuable resource was the RLC’s partnership with Tau Sigma, which provided him with frequent social opportunities. Matthews took part in a cookie-decorating contest, washed cars, had s’mores, and went to board game night with other transfer students. “They also had a T-shirt swap,” he said. “We took a shirt from our old institution and got it replaced with an IC shirt, which I thought was a really cool way to celebrate the new chapter we were undertaking.”

Once he felt comfortable on campus, Matthews became a member of IC’s chapter of Active Minds, a student-led organization that works to change the conversation around mental health through community, mental health education and destigmatization, and mental health advocacy. “I wanted to dive right into Ithaca and get involved in as much as I could,” he said.

Making a Splash

NAME Kailee Payne ’25
IC MAJOR Environmental science
INVOLVEMENT Athletics (diving), Eco-Reps, Grow IC (IC’s community garden and plant club)

Speaking of diving, Kailee Payne ’25 was fortunate that her athletic ability provided her with a community right away. The Ithaca native, who was a standout diver at Ithaca High School, originally enrolled at Division I Marshall University, where she was named Conference USA Freshman Diver of the Year.

Transferring to IC for Payne meant coming home and finding a family with her fellow Bombers in the pool. “The team atmosphere is a big part of my life, so I’d say some of my closest peers are on the diving team,” she said.

Payne excelled in her first year at IC, winning the national championship in both the one-meter and three-meter dives. But it wasn’t just in the pool where she’s thrived. Ithaca College’s distinctive academic offerings have provided her ample opportunity to grow as a student and connect with others.

An environmental science major, Payne has a keen interest in sustainability, conservation—and the outdoors. She joined the college’s Eco-Reps organization to take part in their weekly food drives and participates in Craft for a Cause meetings, where club members provide local community organizations with knitted and crocheted objects like hats, blankets, and booties. She also loves gardening and has met friends through the gardening community.

Coming Full Circle

NAME Quinten Hernandez ’21
IC MAJOR Television-radio
INVOLVEMENT Jumpstart, orientation leader, Unbound Dance Comp

After graduating from high school, Quinten Hernandez ’21 wasn’t sure if higher education was the right path for him, but as he saw his classmates leaving for campuses around the country, he changed his mind and spent a year at a community college in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

During that time, he took a trip to Ithaca to visit a friend at IC and toured the Roy H. Park School of Communications. There, he saw a path that was different from the one he’d been on. “I realized that it was a space that was going to be really supportive of my career, and it seemed like Ithaca was going to be a great investment,” he said.

Hernandez transferred to Ithaca for his sophomore year, majoring in television-radio. He participated in the college’s Jumpstart program, which invites students to campus prior to the start of the year to take part in community-building activities with other incoming students. Working with his fellow students helped Hernandez build connections and meet people before the year began. The next year, he signed up to be an orientation leader himself, continuing to make friends and experience the college in a more personalized setting. “The orientation staff is a really great group of people,” said Hernandez, “and it was fun to be back at IC before the semester began.”

He continued his involvement with orientation throughout his time on South Hill, working as a coordinator his senior year. In his role as a guide for other students, Hernandez learned even more about the college’s available resources, which had a positive effect on his own journey. “It helped me build connections with those resources, too,” he said. “This, overall, helped me be more successful as a student and enriched my experience at IC.”

Hernandez, who had danced throughout high school, joined the IC Unbound Dance Company. “That was a large part of me deciding to come to Ithaca,” he said. He also joined HiFashion Studios, a student organization that produces two runway shows each academic year. Through those experiences, he appreciates the way the college’s offerings can help transfer students find what works for them. “There’s so much to choose from,” he said. “It’s just a matter of fine tuning what you want to explore as a passion, and spending energy and time on building connections throughout.”

This deepened appreciation for IC and interest in helping other students carried over once Hernandez graduated. He got a job with NSTP as an administrative assistant, and he now works as a success coach in the college’s Center for Student Success. He’s able to draw on his experiences to connect with students in a way that others may not be able to do. “When I work with students, I understand some of the emotions they express relating to their transition to college, or to Ithaca,” he said. “When I come across students who are experiencing some of the same challenges I faced, I’m able to share with them how I personally navigated them or found options that worked for me.”

Connecting in the Classroom

NAME: Katrina Ali ’24
IC MAJOR: Stage management
INVOLVEMENT: Theatre productions, performance crew, and IC Creative Strategy Student Team

While outside clubs and organizations can provide opportunities for connection, some transfer students “find their people” through academics. Katrina Ali ’24 transferred from Boston University and majored in stage management as a rising junior. She came to IC looking for more hands-on experiences and the opportunity to participate in a wide range of productions—musicals in particular—both faculty and student led. She found all this at Ithaca, as well as an immediately welcoming community among the nearly 50 students in her program.

Since Ali had theatre credits to catch up on and took some 100-level courses during her first semester at IC, she somewhat ironically found herself making friends with first-year students. “We were all learning the ropes together,” she said of the experience. “Everyone was super supportive, and we had our practicum, the shows that we worked on together as well.”

Triving at IC

With an array of official organizations and clubs, IC offers a variety of options for students to home in on the topics and activities that truly interest them. But more than these groups, it is the college’s welcoming environment that allows transfer students to truly thrive. “

You’re in this new environment where, at first, it may seem like everyone has friend groups already,” Hernandez said. “And that can seem discouraging at times. But you quickly realize that everyone is also still looking for their footholds as well.”

“I realized pretty quickly that once I put myself out there, I’d find my space,” said Matthews. “By getting involved in as much as I could, I found the people who I think are going to be a part of me for the rest of my life.”