Improved rate of transfer reflects up- grades in the transfer center.

“Students at LMC are transferring at an improved rate,” Dave Belman, Director of Transfer Programs, said. “LMC currently transfers about 550 students per year to four-year colleges and universities. This is an increase from the past, as even 6-7 years ago, we would transfer about 450 students per year.”

Student Dean Rober t Livingston added, “the increase is good but an additional hundred transfers per year would be better.”

There are helpful resources available at LMC aiding students in transferring, such as computers across campus, counselors, teachers and staff in the Transfer Center

and Library. The Transfer Center is a key resource

in helping students with transferring. Tara Sanders, the Transfer Center Coordinator reminds students that, “we are here to help in all steps of the transfer process.”

The Transfer Center was improved and the Transfer Academy was formed leading up to about 2 years ago when LMC received a federal Title V Hispanic Serving Institutions grant for $3.2 million dollars, which centered around building a robust transfer culture at LMC and increasing transfer rates.

“The Transfer Academy is a community of students, faculty and staff working to- gether to keep you on target to transfer in a reasonable time period,” says Sanders.

Programs are offered at LMC that help

students transfer more easily, including Con- current Enrollment, Transfer Agreement Guarantee and The Transfer Academy.

For example, the Transfer Agreement Guarantee or (TAG) program helps students transfer into UCs. Students who meet the requirements of TAG for both their school and the school they want to transfer to will be guaranteed transfer admission.

Concurrent Enrollment, another pro- gram hosted in LMC, “is a program where students can take classes at local colleges and universities and pay LMC fees,” Sand- ers explains, “allowing them to see if the school is a “good fit.”

Sanders adds that the Transfer Academy provides “strong support in and outside of the classroom, like academic counseling tutoring, workshops, social and cultural experiences, leadership development, and campus tours.”

By guiding students with a combination of resources, LMC students are improving the rate at which they transfer.

While there is no quota or minimum number of transfers allotted for each year, Living- ston implied the rate of transfer continues to increase.

Livingston suggested that while the reputation of the school might be connected to the transfer rate, the focus is on the students, noting that “we are here to help.”

Livingston added that some

challenges that students at LMC face is the cost of four year universities, along with universities accepting fewer transfer students.

Staff at LMC help students conquer the obstacles of transferring.

Bellman said that LMC plans to “continue increasing the number of students who transfer each year. We know that this will be hard amidst state budget cuts and limited access to UCs and CSUs.”

Another issue Livingston brought up is that many stu- dents at LMC are first in their family to attend college, so parents of students have not been through the transfer process to provide help.

The rate of transfer LMC has is comparable to other colleges, as Bellman notes that “the LMC transfer rate is about the same as the state-wide transfer rate for community colleges.”

Livingston added that CCC is similar to LMC in size and rate of transfer, while DVC has more students and a higher transfer rate.

Given the many resources available to LMC students, transferring is in sight.

Do not wait seek help, start planning early, Bellman stresses, as “there is now so much support that our Transfer Center Offers. Every student interested in transferring should visit the center and do it early, instead of waiting until

just before they apply.” Livingston suggested stu- dents create an educational plan early to help in the transfer process, as not planning could

result in an extended stay. “We want students to come in long before they are thinking of applying so that we can help them explore their options,”

said Sanders. While it is ultimately up

to the students, there is lots of help.

Improvements have been made in staf f and transfer programs, and Bellman notes that “as a DVC/LMC alumni myself, who transferred, I only wish that some of these things existed when I was going through the transfer process.”