Students who recently transferred to San Jose State said they are confused about which courses they need to take and are blaming it mainly on a lack of individualized counseling.
Javier Serrano, music education junior and Fall 2020 transfer student from Diablo Valley College, said over Zoom that his transfer experience has been mostly positive. However, he sees a problem in how SJSU students outnumber their advisers.
He said he was able to build a relationship with his adviser at his community college, but he knows that when transferring to a four-year university with a much larger student population, he won’t have the same rapport with his adviser.
“We met each other in person and that adds different layers,” Serrano said regarding his adviser at Diablo Valley College. “That might be something I don’t necessarily get to experience my first semester here.”
Matthew Chairez, public health junior and a Fall 2020 transfer from The University of Texas at El Paso, said over Zoom that he came to SJSU prepared for online classrooms, but is now having difficulty getting an advising appointment during the pandemic.
“I actually saw that the first time I could be seen by an adviser was like a month after registration had already opened,” Chairez said. “I had no idea what classes I was going to register for. I felt like I had nobody to talk to.”
Transfer orientation, an event meant to inform and integrate transfer students, was another aspect of transferring that was fraught with challenges.
“For being online it was alright, but it was also awful,” Chairez said. “I expected a full-on tour of SJSU like someone walking around with a live camera . . . By them making a video, it was less encouraging.”
The video Chairez referenced was one of many pre-recorded videos shown to transfer students. This is different from previous semesters where students were given an in-person tour of the campus. Chairez added that the videos were not satisfactory because they did not feel authentic.
Michael Randle, Academic Advising and Retention Services associate director, said over Zoom that even before the pandemic, transfer students found that transitioning to a California State University can be tough. With the coronavirus pandemic, it makes it even more challenging.
Moreover, he said it affects advisers’ abilities to help students and correctly answer their questions.
“We’re scrambling, wondering how to get from place to place, so if we’re doing that I can only imagine what a new transfer is experiencing,” Randle said.
He said that, compared to pre-pandemic circumstances, students can’t walk into an office and get the help they need.
Students are navigating through web portals they’ve never used before, “kind of like walking around in a building with the lights out trying to find what room you want to go to,” Randle said.
With an ever-growing list of hurdles transfer students have to navigate, Randle said there are certain things they need to do to succeed and remain on track to graduate.
One key to success, he said, is for students to equip themselves with the proper technology, such as a computer, laptop or smartphone. He specifically emphasized the importance of at least having a smartphone.
“Make sure you have a smartphone and download the free Zoom app,” Randle said. “Your phone is an excellent backup because if you don’t have [Wi-Fi] for whatever reason you can use your cell signal.”
Cindy Kato, Academic Advising and Retention Services director, similarly said that transfers are facing the same advising issues as before, but now it’s amplified by the pandemic.
She said every adviser has hundreds of students they work with, and this may be a difficult transition for transfer students who are accustomed to a more personalized advising experience.
“It’s gotten a lot better over the past 5-6 years but we know we don’t have enough advisers,” Kato said.
Randle added that an alternative to seeking advising is to just ask students that attend SJSU for advice.
“The assumption that a lot of [transfers] make is, ‘I’ve already done this and this is just a continuation of what I’ve been doing,’ and they don’t have a sensitivity to what the rigor is like and that’s where they get caught,” he said.
