Potential Winthrop transfer students now have quick and easy access to information regarding which of their credits from their previous school will be transferable should they choose to enroll at Winthrop, thanks to the new Transfer Credit Evaluator, TraCE, that became available for use on Dec. 1, 2020.
“We are very excited about the launch of the new Transfer Credit Evaluator (TraCE) here at Winthrop. This tool will be a huge asset to students looking to transfer to Winthrop, as it allows them to quickly and easily get information on what
credits will transfer. In turn, this helps our admissions team guide these students to what works for them and will help them achieve their goals,” said Director of Marketing Katie Price.
Many college students choose to start their degree at a two-year institution then finish their degree at a four-year institution such as Winthrop, although there are many other students coming from other four-year institutions who find Winthrop to be a better fit. Through the new transfer student portal, Winthrop hopes to aid in easing such students’ transitions into the Winthrop community.
“Transferring from one institution to another can be challenging, so we want to do all that we can to make sure the process is as easy as possible, and we think this evaluator tool is a huge step towards= improving that experience for these future Eagles. Our faculty and staff are focused on ensuring that our students are supported and set up for success – and that starts long before a student’s first day of classes. Winthrop’s brand has long stood for a commitment to student success, and this effort is just one of the ways we are putting that into practice,” Price said.
One of the ways in which Winthrop cultivates student success is through requiring all students to take courses that enhance their critical thinking and open-mindedness, such as The Human Experience and Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing. These courses, however, sometimes make transferring to Winthrop difficult because most colleges do not offer such courses and as a result, all transfer students must make room for them in their Winthrop class schedules.
“Those classes that we deem as making it challenging for transfer students are part of Winthrop experience, those are part of their education and I think they really help cultivate students to not only be open-minded and think critically but also to be able to use those skills once they graduate,” said Director of Admissions Dr. Amanda James.
“I know some work has been done to create a hybrid class for HMXP and CRTW and that puts many transfer students at the junior level.”
Most transfer students at Winthrop come from York Technical College, so Winthrop is well-versed in which classes offered at York Technical College are transferable to various Winthrop programs, but for students who come from other
institutions, the transfer process can be more challenging.
“Essentially, [TraCE] is an online portal and a student will create a profile and then go in and they’re asked to put in the courses that they’ve taken and they will enter the name of their previous institutions and the name of the course and the
number of units that they received from that. Then, if that course has been previously transferred into Winthrop, it will auto-populate for them. Once all their courses are in, the students then receive a breakdown on the number of units that will transfer over to Winthrop based on their classes,” James said.
“It also gives them additional programs that will get them through their degree faster, so students could pick business or education, for example, and they’ll get the breakdown for that so they’ll know how many units transfer over and they’ll also get a breakdown for other programs that may accept more units, which then means it’ll get them through faster.”
Creating TraCE was a joint effort by many departments at Winthrop, and as a result of their work, Winthrop is able to be more competitive with other institutions that aid transfer students in continuing their educations.
“There have been a number of departments on campus that were integral in making this happen such as Admissions, University Communications and Marketing, and Records and Registration has been absolutely wonderful, as well as our IT department,” James said.
“This TraCE platform is the first step in many great programs that Winthrop is going to be putting out in the coming years. It’s really going to help impact and support our transfer enrollment numbers and our transfer students.”
Photo by Wren Brooke
