On this episode of the Transfer Talks Podcast, Katherine Lawlor, Transfer Jacks Coordinator, will cover part 2 of transfer terminology. So, why do we share definitions? Well, some of us do not know all of the terminology used by our guests and our mentors recommended that move up the terminology podcasts in order to help in the beginning of our Transfer Talks episodes. So that you have a better understanding as you are listening to our featured guests. So, the next definition we're going to cover is non-traditional students, which may also be called post-traditional students. Typically, these students are 24 years or older. As many consider the average college age 18 to 24-year-olds for those who are attending a on-campus experience. However, it is still very common for transfer students to be non-traditional students. So, we as a mentoring program actually pair non-traditional students, those who are 24 years of age or older, to be with a mentor who is also a similar age, and that has been a good experience for our transfer program. So, we continue to offer that each year when we can, so, it's important for us to represent this population of transfer students. Now non-traditional student can also mean other factors, meaning varying enrollment patterns, whether that be enrolling part-time versus full-time. It could be various high school graduation status. So, for example, some individuals go to a two-year community college to earn their GED while taking college classes. And then, family status so a parent who has a student, who is a parent who has dependents, meaning children. It could be because of financial reasons, so for example, I was more of a non-traditional student in the sense that I was fully independent from my parents as an adult because of a private decision that they believed it was up to the student to financially contribute to educational and living expenses. As well as non-traditional could mean someone having a full-time job. Typically, a full-time job is 40 hours a week or more. I was also someone who needed to work 40 hours a week or more. So non-traditional can be more than simply age, however, we pair students based on age. So, anyone who is 24 years older, we tried to pair them with an individual who is of similar age in our mentoring program. The next definition I'll cover is transfer credit report. So, transfer credits can be submitted both by transfer and dual enrollment students to the Transfer Center. I do want to make an important reminder that Transfer and Online Connections, as a department, is not the Transfer Center. So, the Transfer Center is a separate place, a separate center, at the university. And so transfer credit is a measurement of comparable prior learning, whether that be courses, experiential learning, or examinations, versus the current offerings of a college or university, by assessing the currency and applicability of the credit petition and claims. And so, there are people here at the university outside of our department who evaluate transfer credit and they can be contacted at transfer.center@nau.edu. The third definition is student employment. So, a student undergraduate or graduate engaged in research, teaching, work-study, or another related or comparable position, at an educational institution, like our university, can be considered a student employee. Typically, at Northern Arizona University, our individuals use a platform called Handshake to find part-time on-campus, some off-campus, and seasonal employment that will prepare you for the realities of the 21st-century workforce. The fourth definition is talking about the Education Abroad Program because one of our guests mentioned their experience on short-term trips. So, Education Abroad offers are about a robust, study abroad program and encourage all students to explore their international options at some point during their time at the university. They offer traditional exchange programs, faculty lead programs, and provider programs. The Center for International Education has advisors available to help you figure out which one is right for you and make it easy for you to get there. Number five is Student Clubs and Organizations. So, this means a group, club, or organization having students as its primary members or participants. At Northern Arizona University we have 400 Student Clubs and Organizations. If you can't find something that you're interested in, you can start your own club as long as you meet the club or organization's requirements. Definition number six is Phi Theta Kappa. This is an honor society that recognizes the academic achievement of college students and provides opportunity for its members to grow as scholars and leaders. Established in 1918, Phi Theta Kappa has a presence on almost 1300 Community College campuses and eleven nations. The American Association of Community Colleges recognizes Phi Kappa or PTK as the official honor society for two-year colleges since 1929. More than 3.8 million students have been inducted since 1918, with approximately 250,000 active members in the nation’s community colleges, making Phi Theta Kappa a true catalyst among members and colleges. So, the important factor here is: someone who went to a two-year community college could have become a member, depending on their academic achievement. So, if one of our guests mentions PTK it's because they were a community college 2-year transfer student. We also offer Tau Sigma Honor Society. Now PTK is not something that NAU offers since we are a four-year university. So, I just want to make a clarification that PTK, like I mentioned, two-year college that someone went to and PTK was offered there, versus Tau Sigma Honor Society is offered at NAU. So, these individuals have to be a transfer student to NAU. For our chapter specifically, we are underneath the national organization, so, there is chapters across the nation. Must be registered in a bachelor's degree program. You actually do have to take 12 to 15 credit hours at NAU, as a transfer student, before you can try to join Tau Sigma Honor Society and you have to have a 3.5 out of a 4.0 scale in order to be inducted. Right now, we're not a student organization at NAU, we're underneath the Transfer Jacks Mentoring Program, and I say we because I happen to advise Tau Sigma Honor Society. As well as the Tri-Alpha Honor Society for first-generation college students, and so Tau Sigma, specifically, is underneath Transfer Jacks Mentoring. We may become a student organization again in the future as we were in the past. Definition number 8, someone mentioned low socioeconomic status. There are other terms people use like low income, Pell-eligible, and social class. So low socioeconomic status, as defined by a dictionary says, the position or standing of a person or group in a society as determined by a combination of social and economic factors that affect access to education, other resources crucial to an individual's upward mobility: low, for example, low socioeconomic status can be linked to many health risks. I typically, for myself will use Pell-eligible because I was eligible for the Pell Grant from the Federal Government after applying through the Free Application, of Federal, for Federal Student Aid, but not everybody is Pell-eligible, which is why there are different definitions people may use to describe their undergraduate experience. The final definition is 2NAU and two as in the number two. It could also be heard as two as in TO, so, I did have a guest mention 2NAU program. So, this is with admissions. NAU has an innovative partnership with community colleges providing affordable and convenient pathway to transfer to NAU, typically, in the state of Arizona. That could be some other community colleges, as well, but I will tell you based on the admissions web page most of them are located in the state of Arizona. Through the 2NAU pathway program, students maximize their college credits and took courses that they needed to transfer to NAU. So, you will have some guests that went through the 2NAU program, so, I wanted to make sure we mentioned that. In my last episode, I mentioned military-connected students and I did want to mention in this episode that they are actually mentored by Veteran and Military Affairs because of the variety of military benefits that can be offered to students. We want to make sure they're receiving accurate information, so those transfer students can attend our events, however, they're not paired with a Transfer Jacks Mentor because the Veteran and Military Affairs has a mentoring program to help military-connected students. That's it for today's podcast. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next time!