Transfer Student Success Partnership Conference 2026 Agenda

Every student wants to transfer with confidence—knowing they’re on the right path for their intended major. But how can institutions be sure students are truly ready?
This session shares early CFEED findings from UCF and Valencia College’s Student Major Readiness Dashboard Project, which evaluates Common Program Prerequisite (CPP) completion to predict how “major ready” students are before transfer. The analysis reveals how CPP progress influences outcomes such as persistence, degree completion, and time to degree—while highlighting new opportunities to guide students toward majors where they can thrive.
Presenters will showcase CFEED’s development of the cross-institutional data model, examples of preliminary results, and the project’s potential to transform transfer advising. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how prerequisite alignment shapes transfer success—and how collaborative partnerships can empower institutions to improve student outcomes and equity in the transfer pathway.

High-Impact Practices (HIPs) are proven to foster student engagement and academic achievement. At the University of Central Florida, we developed a framework to monitor HIP participation across six core areas: Capstone Projects, Experiential Learning, Study Abroad, High-Impact Designated Courses, Learning Communities, and Undergraduate Research. This initiative, built through collaboration between HIP program leaders and institutional research, produced dynamic dashboards offering real-time data to inform strategic planning. The data show consistent disparities: traditional students participate in HIPs at higher rates than transfer students. This is particularly true in learning communities, study abroad, and undergraduate research. Transfer students often enter with fewer opportunities to engage early and face structural barriers to accessing HIPs aligned with their academic trajectory. Despite these challenges, transfer HIP participation correlates strongly with improved graduation outcomes and post-graduation success. With these findings in mind, UCF has created strategic programs to support transfer student engagement in HIPs. These include a transfer research learning community, pre-research programs, and a HIP Scholars program that allows students to learn about HIPs before choosing one that best fits their professional goals. During this session, we will review how the data is compiled and the transfer data gaps and share details about the programs built to reduce transfer engagement. We will also engage attendees in a focused brainstorming session to explore innovative ways to enhance transfer student participation.

This session explores how faculty across disciplines have advanced interinstitutional curriculum alignment by assessing the integration of shared Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) within syllabi and course materials. The initiative emphasizes evidence-based practices that connect student learning goals to desired outcomes, enhance communication across scaffolded courses, and prepare students for academic and career success. Participants will gain insights into assessment processes, findings, and strategies for scaling these efforts through institutional collaboration.

Using shared values of curriculum alignment, faculty have moved beyond alignment conversations to the next level—systematic assessment of CLO integration. This work ensures that students experience intentional, transparent connections between course objectives and broader learning goals for sequential courses and career preparation. For transfer students, this is a critical pathway for subsequent coursework success and timely achievement of degree.

For many transfer students, arriving at a university isn’t the final goal—it’s the moment the next chapter begins. This session explores how UCF’s Academic Advancement Programs (AAP) supports pre-health, pre-law, and graduate-bound students in building competitive candidacy beyond basic requirements. Through a holistic coaching framework and peer mentorship, AAP helps students shift from passive progress to intentional preparation. Attendees will discover how tools like the Roadmap and Action Plan guide students in identifying gaps, mapping meaningful experiences, and crafting compelling narratives through reflection, storytelling, and strategic goal setting. Designed with transfer students in mind, this approach centers equity, confidence, and self-advocacy at every step of the journey. .

Transfer students bring motivation, resilience, and diverse experiences to higher education, yet their transitions are often marked by uncertainty, isolation, and a lack of coordinated support. This session introduces a model that strengthens transfer outcomes by investing in the people and processes that support them. Grounded in Tinto’s Theory of Student Departure and Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), the approach fosters collaboration and shared learning across advising, coaching, and engagement units. By building a unified network rooted in connection, community, and belonging, institutions can create consistent, student-centered pathways for success. The model also develops a peer leadership pathway empowering students to mentor others while gaining professional competencies. Participants will learn strategies for aligning staff collaboration, peer leadership, and belonging-based assessments to create sustainable, transfer-affirming ecosystems that enhance achievement and student development.

Transfer students face unique challenges—new systems, unfamiliar expectations, and varying levels of academic preparation—that can impact confidence and persistence. This session explores how custom classroom-specific large language models (LLMs) can serve as personalized, data-informed supports that strengthen academic belonging and reduce transfer shock.

Unlike generic AI tools, these models are fine-tuned to align with a specific course’s materials and expectations, ensuring accurate, relevant, and contextually appropriate assistance. Through guided, interactive case studies, participants will see how instructors can use classroom AI to provide just-in-time academic support, clarify assignments, translate materials for English learners, and identify patterns of struggle earlier in the term.

Designed for faculty, advisors, and institutional researchers, this session demonstrates how AI can enhance data-informed teaching and student support without increasing workload. Attendees will leave with a practical framework and examples of how custom LLMs can improve engagement, persistence, and equitable outcomes for transfer students.

Are you advising students who plan to transfer to UCF? Understanding UCF’s transfer readiness framework is essential to helping students become “major” and “transfer” ready.
This professional development session will equip you with comprehensive knowledge of UCF’s three-milestone transfer checklist, enabling you to provide targeted, timely advising at every stage of a student’s academic journey. You’ll learn how to effectively use UCF Success Pathways as an advising tool, understand critical completion benchmarks (particularly the 45-credit hour threshold for core requirements), and identify warning signs when students are off-track.

We’ll explore advising strategies for students at various credit hour milestones—from exploratory first-semester students to those preparing their UCF applications. You’ll gain insight into supporting students interested in limited access majors, encouraging participation in High Impact Practices, and ensuring students meet key requirements before critical deadlines.

This session will provide you with practical tools and resources to confidently guide your students through the transfer process. Leave equipped to help your students avoid common pitfalls and successfully transition to UCF as Future Knights!

The first semester for transfer students is a critical period that shapes their academic success and sense of belonging. Without intentional support, many feel disconnected and overwhelmed. This session introduces innovative advising and coaching strategies designed to help transfer students BEAM, Belonging, Engagement, Achievement, and Meaning and Thrive from admission through their first term.
Participants will explore best practices for proactive success coaching, including early outreach and personalized goal setting to build confidence before classes begin. We’ll highlight creative programming such as Transfer Quest, Trivia Knight, and the Take Flight Resource Fair, which fosters engagement and connects students to essential campus resources. Attendees will also learn how to leverage peer mentoring and small-group meetups to create a strong sense of community and belonging.

Beyond orientation, this session emphasizes strategies for academic readiness, career alignment, and purposeful involvement that help students thrive throughout their journey. By integrating holistic support with dynamic engagement opportunities, institutions can transform the transfer experience into one of empowerment and success.
Through interactive discussions and resource sharing, participants will leave with actionable tools to implement BEAM-focused initiatives that promote retention, persistence, and graduation. Join us to discover how to make your transfer students shine from day one and thrive for years to come.