Transition Experiences of Community College Transfer Students: A Qualitative Study.

This qualitative study sought to determine what academic and social difficulties are encountered by community college transfer students in adjusting to their transfer institutions. Data was collected from interviews with 12 students who transferred from Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) to the University of Virginia (UVA) in the fall of 1997. Students were interviewed in the spring of 1998 through in-depth, open-ended questions about the transfer process, as well as through more specific questions about the academic and social difficulties the students had experienced. Two UVA administrators were also interviewed to ascertain administrators' perceptions of the transfer process, and to compare these perceptions to those held by the students. Analysis revealed that: (1) transfer students initially felt alienated from the other students both academically and socially; (2) differences in the two institutions' academic cultures also created transitional difficulties; (3) administrators underestimated the difficulties inherent in the transition process experienced by transfer students; and (4) a positive transition required finding a niche at the transfer institution in which to make and build relationships. Participants of the study offered several suggestions for ways in which the administration could improve the transition process. (Contains 55 references and 4 appendices, including the interview protocol.) (KP)