Nationwide, the numbers of transfer students on college and university campuses are increasing; however, libraries have not fully recognized the unique needs of transfer students with respect to students\u27 attainment of information literacy competencies. Students may come to our campus with no previous information literacy instruction, and even if they had a library instruction class, it does not mean they can apply that to a new institution with different and perhaps more complex resources, or they may be taking online classes. Neither can we treat transfer students as First Time in College students, because they are not. Transfer students frequently experience transfer shock , which is defined as a drop in GPA post-transfer. Since information literacy is multi-disciplinary and essential to finding, applying and ethically using information, there is definitely a role for libraries to support the academic success of transfer students. By supporting transfer students we also support institutional initiatives often tied to performance-based funding. We will explore transfer student pathways beyond the traditional community-college-to-university path, challenges inherent in the transfer process and how libraries and librarians can support the academic success of this incredibly diverse group of students.
The presenters are academic librarians; one at a large university and at one of the university\u27s large feeder colleges, and bring both personal observations as well as significant research to inform attendees
