This study expands the literature on transfer student experiences by exploring the way(s) in which campus traditions function to build connections between transfer students and the institution. The postsecondary trajectories of many students in the United States are changing, and transferring institutions occurs more often than not for students seeking higher education (Renn & Reason, 2013). Transfer students receive considerable attention in the literature; however, they are often characterized from a deficit-based viewpoint as either victims of inefficient processes or individuals who lack necessary academic preparation. Through this qualitative study, a narrative inquiry approach was used to honor and analyze the stories of nine individuals who transferred to the University of Georgia (UGA) during their undergraduate career. Participants were recruited locally at UGA and data collected in February 2020. A semi-structured protocol guided each conversation. Since campus traditions are often inextricable from the locations in which they occur, each conversation took place in a place of significance as deemed so by the participant. Data were (re)constructed in the form of narratives to (1) be presented as stand-alone findings, and (2) serve as interim texts that allowed for identifying common themes across participants’ experiences.
Primarily, findings from this study highlight the uniqueness of transfer students’ experiences and the compounding influence(s) of multiple social identities and roles on their enculturation processes, engagement with traditions, and sense of connection to the institution. That said, participants’ narratives did reveal common themes regarding person-environment congruence in UGA’s intellectual climate and the role of campus traditions as key cultural knowledge during their extended acclimation process. Perhaps most notably, an overarching sense of personal accomplishment permeated participants’ narratives more resonantly than collective institutional identity. The role of campus traditions was described as a celebratory marker of personal accomplishment rather than an effort toward cultural integration. Pragmatically, these findings support a (re)focus on transfer students’ individualities and buttress the caution to overgeneralize their transition experiences. In terms of scholarship, this study provides impetus for a philosophical reorientation of higher education’s conceptualization of transfer students’ experiences away from process-centered and toward truly student-centered.
Primarily, findings from this study highlight the uniqueness of transfer students’ experiences and the compounding influence(s) of multiple social identities and roles on their enculturation processes, engagement with traditions, and sense of connection to the institution. That said, participants’ narratives did reveal common themes regarding person-environment congruence in UGA’s intellectual climate and the role of campus traditions as key cultural knowledge during their extended acclimation process. Perhaps most notably, an overarching sense of personal accomplishment permeated participants’ narratives more resonantly than collective institutional identity. The role of campus traditions was described as a celebratory marker of personal accomplishment rather than an effort toward cultural integration. Pragmatically, these findings support a (re)focus on transfer students’ individualities and buttress the caution to overgeneralize their transition experiences. In terms of scholarship, this study provides impetus for a philosophical reorientation of higher education’s conceptualization of transfer students’ experiences away from process-centered and toward truly student-centered.