National Transfer Student Week, typically held the third week of October, aims to give transfer students support to help them acclimate to the new environment. This is the second year that NIU has held a series of events for National Transfer Student Week.
From Wednesday through Thursday the Department of Orientation and First Year Programs has planned campus engagement events including social gatherings, information sessions and community college pride activities.
“Show Your Community College Pride!” was held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the MLK Commons, where transfer students showed off their community college merchandise and were offered a free photoshoot from a photo booth.
Joe Kauzlarich, the coordinator of these events, is the program assistant for transfer programming in the Department of Orientation and First Year Programs. He believes it is important for transfer students to be proud of the community colleges that they have started their college careers with.
“They can be proud of where they come from, while also being proud to be Huskies. Now we want to make that a good transition for them,” Kauzlarich said.
Last April, Kauzlarich conducted one-on-one interviews with 12 transfer students where he learned about the struggles these students faced on their way to graduation. One of the challenges is the lack of connection to campus and sense of belonging on NIU, according to Kauzlarich.
“There is a danger that with social groups already established during freshman and sophomore years, that we want to give transfer students a chance to be more engaged on campus,” he said.
National Transfer Student Week will continue with “Transfer to Career Triumph: Professional Approaches to Career Success,” an event where transfer students can practice interview skills and work on resumes with NIU Career Services, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday in the Peters Campus Life Building, Room 100.
The week will end with the 2026 orientation leader information session where all NIU students can learn more about the responsibilities and benefits of being an Orientation Leader. The event will be from 5 p.m to 6 p.m on Oct. 29 in the Holmes Student Center, Room 306.
