When Chloe Froning transferred to Kent State as a freshman, she needed math tutoring. While attending Transfer Kent State (TKS), she learned about all of the tutoring resources Kent State offers. Now as a junior and an ambassador for TKS, she sees the importance of the “Navigating the KSU Classroom” workshop offered at TKS.  

“That workshop shows students where tutoring options are,” Froning said. “I know when I first came to campus I needed a lot of math tutoring and that resource really helped me.”

TKS started in 2009 as a one day tour for students, originally called “Transfer Thursday.”  It later developed into what it is today, a partially online, workshop-filled orientation. 

Kickstart, the online portion of TKS, started in 2016 in combination with TKS and helps transfer students with academic advising, reviewing transfer credits and accessing technology on campus. The program is located through Blackboard and replaced the need for people to talk about the same topics in person.

“It puts the nuts and bolts of the things that the students need to do to be fully enrolled in an online portion of their orientation,” assistant director of Student Success Programs Barbara Miller-Harris said.  

Attending TKS became a requirement for students transferring as freshmen in the fall semester of 2018. This year, the orientation requirement grew by requiring transfer students from all class standings to attend.  

One reason students transfer to Kent State is to enter a different program than they were in at a previous college, Miller-Harris said.

“They came to Kent because they spent a year or two or three at their previous institution and then decided to pursue a different degree program,” she said.  “When they looked at that degree program either their current school didn’t have it or Kent State had a better one.”

The orientation helps students discover things they might not have known about Kent State before experiencing the orientation, junior english education major and transfer student Slsabeil Ayad said. 

“The programs that Kent provides for students, like tutoring online to help with a specific subject.  I never knew Kent had that so hearing that was really comforting,” she said. “As well as the campus itself, like I never saw it so it was nice to actually see the buildings and what they are embodied by.” 

Autumn Rietzler covers student life. Contact her at [email protected].