Four weeks after her move to UC Merced in January 2014, psychology major Valara Villanueva wasn’t sure if she fit in. She felt academically prepared, but the transition from community college to a university environment was more challenging than she expected.
Transfer students have fewer years to get acclimated to the campus than first-year students, so Villanueva knew she needed to assimilate quickly if she was going to persist. Fortunately, she discovered UC Merced’s Degree Attainment for Returning and Transfer Scholars (DARTS).
DARTS, which was established within the Calvin E. Bright Success Center in December 2013, was the first program of its kind to implement the UC-wide initiative of increasing admission and retention rates for returning and transfer students. The program has given Villanueva, a first-generation college student, more than valuable resources — it has provided her with a sense of belonging.
“You get involved with others and they become your family,” said Villanueva, a single mother with two kids who attended Merced College’s Los Banos campus. “The program is tailored for us; we are all unique.”
Currently, the DARTS program has 19 fellows assisting more than 100 transfer or returning scholars with career development services, tutoring, workshops and more based on students’ needs. The students attend a weekly class on obtaining success in college and complete public service projects, which Villanueva credits for the Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship she recently received.
About 6 percent of entering UC Merced undergraduates are transfer students, and most come from a California Community College. With the University of California’s new Transfer Pathways, which will simplify course selection at the community college level for students who plan to transfer to a UC campus, the number of UC Merced transfer students is expected to increase significantly.
“It is imperative that programs like DARTS are available for students once they arrive on campus,” said Krystal Miguel, the program’s coordinator. “They are a special group of students, and we are here to help them make the transition as smooth as possible.”
Recent cognitive sciences graduate Lee Juarez was one of the first DARTS Fellows to be hired for the program. Juarez transferred from San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton in Fall 2013, and like Villanueva, she initially had a tough time trying to navigate a new campus.
The first-hand experience Juarez received as a transfer student — along with the resources she found on campus — have enabled her to better help others like her.
“As a student, I got the support I needed,” Juarez said. “I was really happy to be part of building a new program for transferring and returning students.”
Juarez said her time as a fellow helped her develop leadership skills that have prepared her for graduate school and her career. After graduating from UC Merced in May, she’s now studying for her master’s degree in higher education at Penn State University.
As a first-generation college student, Juarez said her parents often struggled to understand her university experience. She hopes to return to Stockton, where she grew up, and work at the community college level to establish programming including a support group for family members with college students that are far away.
“I would get so many calls from my parents asking, ‘Does studying really take you that long? Where are you? Why are you staying out so late?‘” Juarez said. “I really want to create a program that has that family support to show the parents and guardians what it takes.”
Transfer and returning students can stop by the DARTS office in the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library, Room 222, or call 209-228-2434 for assistance.
