Taylor: All right, welcome. Thank you for coming to Transfer Talks. My name is Taylor Swenson and I work for Transfer and Online Connections and I'm the Jacks Online Coordinator. So tell me a little bit about yourself, your name, where you work. Randy: Hi, I'm Randy Shannon and I work in the College of Arts and Letters. I'm the Academic Advising Manager for the college. Taylor: All right, so you've been an advisor for some time. Randy: Yes, I started there in 2010. Taylor: Okay. Have you ever worked in other positions at NAU or just advising? Randy: I started at NAU in 2007. Taylor: Okay. Randy: And I was working for the Four Corners Upward Bound Math and Science Program. Taylor: Oh, okay. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: And then kind of switched over to advising and stuck with it. Randy: Yeah, I did four Summers at Four Corners Upward Bound Math and Science. And then transitioned into an advising position. Taylor: All right, and where are you from? Randy: I was born in Los Gatos, California. Taylor: Okay. Randy: We moved when I was three to Sandy, Oregon. Taylor: Okay. Randy: And I grew up there. And then I went to high school in Reno, Nevada at Sparks High. Taylor: Oh, so kind of all over. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: Yeah, but most of the west side of the country. Randy: This is the furthest east I've ever lived. Taylor: Really? Wild. That's very cool. And what community college did you go to? Randy: I am a bear from Phoenix College. Taylor: Okay, so down in the valley. And so what do you like about NAU? Randy: I like the weather. I like the surroundings and I like the diversity and breadth of programs that are offered for students. Even in Arts and Letters, we have seven departments and schools that students can select from. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: A lot of, you have a lot of music programs. It's just kind of like a wide breadth of things that students can do. Randy: Language, art, theater, philosophy. Taylor: Yeah. Sounds like very interesting and diverse students that you get to work with too. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: And do you, when you went to community college, where did you transfer after? Did you transfer to NAU? Randy: Yes, I transferred to NAU. I graduated from Phoenix College with an AA degree in Outdoor Recreation. Taylor: Okay. Randy: And I transferred here and got a degree, a Bachelor's degree in Commercial Recreation. Taylor: Okay. And so you, so Outdoor Recreation, Commercial Recreation. So you kind of found your niche a little early on or? Randy: Yeah. After I graduated from NAU, I met my, my wife here and we settled down here, and she was in the Therapeutic Recreation Program at the time. Taylor: Oh, awesome. Randy: And so we had jobs in town. I worked with adjudicated youth at a non-profit that has since closed. It's called Aventure Discovery. Okay. I worked there for 17 years. Taylor: Oh, that's awesome. And then kind of transferred over to NAU, which worked. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: Okay. And so what was your favorite memory from attending NAU, back when you did? Randy: I would just think the small class sizes. There used to be a Lumberjack Gym over here behind the Adel Math building. Taylor: Okay. Randy: And I remember we would go in there and have classes. There was little classrooms off of the gym and it was, you know, a basketball gym with a hardwood floor and it had a wooden stage on the inside. The Fencing Club would come in and they would fence up and down the little stairs. That was fun. We, we had just really small classes. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Because the Recreation Department wasn't very large. It was Recreational Leisure Services at the time. Taylor: Okay. Randy: Yeah. And so we would have these small classes of like 12 students. Taylor: And you got to like build relationships with professors and other students. Randy: Yeah. And we had a lot of practicum hand-on kind of coursework. We did a San Juan River trip as part of the class. Taylor: Oh, that's really fun. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: Yeah. Especially being at NAU, that you just have access to a lot of really fun things in Northern Arizona too. So kind of switching over to your transfer experience. And so what was your transfer experience like from Phoenix College coming to NAU? Randy: I came up early and I did previews. Taylor: Oh, okay. Randy: Yep. And I remember we were walking around on South Campus by Du Bois and we went by the stainless steel french fries and those are related to sound buffering from the underground and shooting range, I think, was down there. Taylor: Oh, wow. Randy: Yeah. And just, you know, I took classes on South Campus and I was riding my mountain bike a lot. Like I never had a parking permit and I lived over in Woody, no, Kit Carson RV Park. Taylor: Okay. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: So very close. Randy: Yeah. And so I would ride my bike over and I remember riding just across the bowl when I would go up to North Campus and other classes. Taylor: Yeah. I, When I went to NAU, I also had a bike and I always felt like that hill right by the dome. I always had to walk up it. I felt like I could never make it up there. But I love how NAU is a campus that you don't necessarily have to have a vehicle. Randy: Right. Taylor: Yeah. How is NAU different from your experience at Phoenix College, like academically or experience-wise? Randy: The classes were, you know, they're more in-depth. They were at the upper division coursework. I believe, you know, the faculty probably had more, they had more knowledge about the material as opposed to my professors at the community college. But not all. I mean, I had some professors at the community college that were, you know, like in Chemistry and Biology for my sciences. They were both Ph.D. faculty. Taylor: Oh, awesome. Randy: And I found both fun and I, and the classes seemed, you know, intimate because we had, you just kind of find your niche. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: You get into class and then they start assigning group projects or you know, like lab partners. And you just find people that you work with and click with and you'd set up study groups and you'd meet in the library and we'd go into the lab when we're dissecting our beetle pig. I mean, one time the professor walked in at Phoenix College and he's like, what are you guys all doing here? And we said we're studying for the final. And he's like, all seven of you need to go home. He said you're already getting A's, get out of here. But I guess that was why we were getting A's. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Because we put in the time. Taylor: Yeah. That's really neat being able to like have those close relationships and, I don't know, rely on people in your classes. And yeah. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: It makes it easier to learn and do group projects for sure. Randy: Yes. And in a small program like ROS was at the time when I started here, I was in every class with every student, basically. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: It was in my cohort. We, we would always help each other. Taylor: Well, kind of switching into like graduating and how did you feel being a transfer graduate? Randy: It felt good. I was a first-generation student, as well. Taylor: Okay. Randy: I was not prepped to go to college coming out of high school. You know, my plan is that I actually, I went to barber college right out of high school. Taylor: Oh, okay. Randy: I'm a licensed barber in the State of Arizona since I was 18. Taylor: Wow. Randy: Yeah. So I still have my license, but I always call that my exit strategy. I, but I was, I didn't want to stand behind a chair my whole career. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: You know, I worked in a lot of different barbershops and with a lot of owners that, you know, was like, someday all this will be yours. I don't know if I want all that. And I really kind of had an adventurous side that I wanted to go and explore. You know, I'm not just stay in one town and live there forever. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: I have done that. Flag, it seems like. This is a great town to do that in. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Yeah. So I decided to go back to college and I went to high school in Sparks, Nevada. And I think at that time in the late 70s, Arizona was probably 49th in high school education and Nevada was 50th. So I, I had one year of math in high school. Taylor: Oh, wow. Randy: When I started at Phoenix College, I had a lot of catching up to it. Um, I started in 086 Math, wasn't transferable. And it was difficult for me. I took every Math class twice. And the first time I would drop it and continue and audit the class. And then I would take it for a grade this second semester. Taylor: Oh, that's pretty smart. Being able to build the skills. Randy: Yeah. Because I did not have the skills and I didn't know any other way to gain them. I spent all my time in the tutor lab. I was in there when the space, space shuttle blew up. Taylor: Oh. Randy: Yeah. Was it Columbia or what was it? Taylor: I'd have to look it up. Randy: Yeah, I'd have to look it up. I'm sorry. Taylor: Yeah. No, it's fine. Randy: Yeah. But it's a little tiny TV up in the corner. We're all just in shock. Well, it seems like you had a wide variety of experience, but it was also very cool that you were able to recognize that being a barber wasn't it. It wasn't like the end of the road and kind of switch gears and go to college. And it seems like the community college experience allowed you to get the experience you need to come to NAU and the rest of this history, I guess too. Randy: Right. Taylor: Um, what was your feeling about it when you first transferred compared to now? Randy: Um, I don't know. They're pretty much the same. Yeah. I enjoy the campus. You know, the campus is, it still has an intimate feel to it. It's fun to walk around. Like, you know, I can walk across campus and I'd see people I know. And that Summer, no one is from when I was going to school here. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: My faculty have all retired and I, none of my cohorts stayed in town. So I, I see people, though, like lots of connections I've made on campus since I've been here since 2010. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: It's really neat too. I enjoy being on campus. But I spent some time back in Phoenix after I graduated and then knew I needed to come back. And so it's just, I always enjoyed this place too. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: Yeah. Um, what do you wish more people understood about the transfer experience? Like, students you work with, faculty, staff. Randy: As an advisor, what I wish would happen is if you're a transfer student thinking of going to a university to finish your terminal degree, Bachelor's degree to start with, um, I wish that you would reach out to wherever you're planning to transfer and look at the progression plans, the degree progress reports, advisory report, whatever it is that this university uses to get you graduated, so that you can determine what classes you can take at the community college to transfer. Taylor: Even before you transfer. Randy: Before you transfer. Yeah. So go to the end and work backwards. Taylor: That's great advice too. And anything else that I feel like I said? Randy: Yeah, no. And just, and work with, if you can find an advisor you can work with in that department that you're interested in, see if there's specific courses that you can take while you're there that will get you or keep you on track for graduation. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: We get a lot of transfer students that sometimes with a bearer of bad news, it's like, yes, you have a two-year degree, got two years of course work, but you don't have the freshman, sophomore coursework for the degree that you're planning. Taylor: So it ends up being more like three or four years. Randy: It seems like six years total. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Yeah. And so at that point, the financial savings isn't there. The time savings is not there. It's, yeah, it's, it's not a win that way. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Where possibly, and if they, you know, started at the end and work backwards, they might have been able to actually stay that time. Taylor: Yeah. And the advisors in the specific colleges would know like what community college courses specifically could transfer and articulate well. Randy: Yeah. With, well with the tools we have for Arizona, it would be the arizonatransfer.com website. It's for the course equivalency guide and then for outside of the state of Arizona, we would use Jack's path. Taylor: Yeah. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: Yeah. That's great advice. And so kind of switching into the, a couple of fun questions is what's your favorite place to eat and flag stuff? Randy: Martanne's. Taylor: Is that your favorite Mexican place in town? Randy: That is. Yeah. It's my favorite restaurant. Taylor: Now, they have really good breakfast too. Randy: They do. Taylor: I enjoy going there too. Randy: Yeah. I mean, green chilaquiles. You can't beat it. Taylor: That sounds delicious. And really cool decor too. And it's fun in a fun downtown area. Randy: Yeah. Taylor: Well, I just wanted to say thank you for coming and sharing your experience with us and thanks for being a part of the Transfer Talks Podcast. Randy: Of course. And thank you for having me. Taylor: Of course. Randy: Go Jacks.