MSU marks 4 years of transfer student success

National Transfer Student Week, Oct. 19 to 23, is recognized on campuses across the United States each year, highlighting transfer students' experiences.

For the past four years, Director Charles Jackson III and Program Coordinator Ashley Hewlett at Michigan State University’s Transfer Student Success Center have supported and celebrated transfer students year-round.

“We have been really intentional for these past four years to really enhance Transfer Student Success here at MSU because before we were put in our roles, we didn’t have individuals or a solid foundation to do that engagement,” Jackson said.

As of the fall 2026 semester, the center has helped over 4,800 transfer students ease their transition to MSU. Jackson and Hewlett both said they aim to meet students where they are and are intentional about the information they share on social media and in newsletters.

Understanding that students often receive multiple communications a day from various organizations on campus, they target key resources and events. From peer mentoring and transfer student newsletters to mental health support and organizational skills workshops, the center is cultivating support for new Spartans.

“Primarily, we do outreach to transfer students, trying to get them engaged in our programming and helping them be aware of the services and resources that we have here,” Jackson said. “Making sure that they’re able to build community and build a strong sense of belonging here to MSU.”

Helping transfer students connect to resources

Hewlett also prioritizes community events that are safe spaces for students to come together and socialize.

“We usually have dinner because the opportunity to break bread and build community lends itself to opportunities to have lots of organic conversations where questions about a variety of different things can be asked,” Hewlett said.

The work that the center does is, in large part, due to a grant it received from MiLEAP, the state of Michigan’s Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential program. The grant allowed them to purchase new software, streamline the transfer credit evaluation process, begin creating academic maps and guides, and hire students for TEMPO, the Transfer Experience mentorship Program.

“We have about six to seven mentors who are responsible for about five to six mentees per mentor,” Jackson said. “They are helping them with campus navigation and connecting transfer students to resources here, which is another way that we’re able to engage with the broader transfer student community.”

Mentors are encouraged to use their creativity to plan events for their peers and mentees, which provides an opportunity to grow leadership skills and creates space to connect with their community.

“Providing that kind of leadership opportunity for our mentors to get a low-stakes public speaking experience,” Hewlett said. “It also yields the opportunity for mentors and mentees to get to know the staff and each other a little more broadly while doing things that they’re interested in.”

Programming is targeted at current students, but Jackson hopes these programs will have a lasting impact on their experience as they become alumni.

“We really want to focus on creating these experiences while students are here at MSU, so they remember how this mentoring program established an advisory board where their voices as transfer students were heard and improved their success,” Jackson said. “As a result, they’re going to build a stronger alumni connection, which will help future students.”

Expanding opportunities into a physical location

The center prides itself on gathering student input to improve its strategies and often gathers data surrounding its programs. Hewlett is happy to report that, to date, regardless of the type of program, feedback relating to sense of belonging questions has historically been very high.

“Students are walking away feeling like they were seen and they belong and with greater information and connection with other transfer students,” Hewlett said. “So that’s a very exciting kind of impact we’ve had over the last year. Students who come to our programs are having a meaningful experience while here.”

Starting in January 2027, the center will move into the Spartan Success Center in the Hannah Administration Building. For Jackson, the change brings new opportunities to grow and cultivate community.

“This is exciting news because for the past four years, we have not had a physical location for our transfer students to build community and meet each other,” Jackson said. “Come January, programming is going to primarily be in the Spartan Success Center, which will give transfer students an opportunity to have a physical location where they’re able to meet other students as well.”