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 Assistant Director 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 4,588 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 buy new software to streamline the transfer credit evaluation process, begin creating academic maps and guides, and hire student mentors for TEMPO, the Transfer Experience Mentoring Program Opportunity.
“We have six mentors who are each responsible for five to six mentees,” Jackson said. "Student mentors help mentees with campus navigation and connection to various campus resources, which is another way we’re able to help build a strong sense of belonging to MSU."
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 valuable experiences for students while they’re here at MSU, so they remember how the initiatives within the Transfer Student Success Center helped elevate the transfer student voice and improve their success,” Jackson said. “Ultimately, we want to build a stronger alumni connection, where transfer students can help future transfer 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.”
Come January, programming will primarily be in the Spartan Success Center, giving transfer students a physical location where they can meet other students and access resources that support their academic, personal and professional growth without having to navigate multiple offices on their own.
“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.”
