Direct Flight: Phi Theta Kappa’s Nonstop Route to Transfer

In "Direct Flight: PTK’s Nonstop Route to Transfer," we explore how Phi Theta Kappa is transforming the transfer landscape with its new direct admissions initiative. By partnering with four-year institutions, PTK is removing application barriers and offering eligible students a streamlined, stress-free path to their next campus. Tune in to learn how this bold move is reshaping opportunity and access for high-achieving community college students across the country.

Host:

Loida González Utley,

Director of Recruitment and Enrollment Services
Texas A&M University- Central Texas
loida.gonzalez@tamuct.edu

Guest:

Heather Yush

Senior Director of College Relations
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society International
heather.yush@ptk.org

FMI on PTK’s Direct Admission: https://www.ptk.org/youre-in-phi-theta-kappa-leads-national-efforts-to-direct-admissions-for-transfer-students/

Register for #TechTransfer2025 : https://www.aacrao.org/events-training/meetings/technology-transfer-conference

Transcript

0:13

Hi, you're listening to TransferT, a podcast for the Acro community sponsored by Acro, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. I am your host, Loya, and this episode is called Direct Flight. We are cruising at 30,000 ft with a bold new initiative from Phi Theta Kappa that's changing the transfer game. Imagine a world where students don't just apply to transfer, they're invited. That's right, no stress, no guessing, and no red tape, just a direct admission offer waiting in their inbox. Here, we'll explore how PTK is teaming up with colleges and universities across the country to give high achieving community college students a smoother, faster route to the next academic destination. So buckle up, sip your tea, and let's talk transfer. Transfer to you listeners, I am super excited again about today's episode, but rather than me tell you who our guest is, I am going to let her reveal herself and introduce herself to you all and go. Loya, thank you for having me. My name's Heather Yus. I am the senior director of college relations at Phi Theta Kappa, and um we work to make transfer work better. So we're serving the mission of Phi Theta Kappa through the lens of making transfer work better on our particular team in college relations. Um, a little about me, I won't take up too much time because I think I'm the least. Interesting part of the story today, uh, as far as what we're going to unveil, but I am a first generation college student, and I think that's important in terms of my, you know, alignment with the mission and values of Phi Theta Kappa. And also, I was a former college student athlete, so I chose a tiny little Division 3 liberal arts school that allowed me to be a student and an athlete, and I think that those values and experiences really helped me to kind of make a transition into the recruitment and education space um in higher ed. So, um, that's a little about me, um, from Ohio originally. My degrees are in psychology, and I've been at Phi Theta Kappa for almost 10 years now. So, um, really thrilled to be here. So thank you for this opportunity. Heather, we are thrilled to have you, and I have to ask this. Were you a transfer student? I actually was not, um, funny story, I didn't really know about community colleges until I left my home state of Ohio. Um, we're oversaturated with four-year colleges in Ohio where we were back then, and I really didn't know about them until I moved to Kansas, and that's where I got my first chance to start working. And teaching within community colleges and you know, the rest is history. I haven't left higher ed since. Wonderful. Yeah, thank you. It's a great space to be in, isn't it? Absolutely more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. And just because you said Kansas, I have to ask, do you like the Kansas City Chiefs? Well, um, I don't dislike them. Um,-- I really don't-- follow professional football, so I'm,-- I-- don't have a favorite. I'm, I, you can convince me, Loya, we can talk about it later. I'm happy to become a Chiefs fan if you want me to. I mean, if you're swifty, that's just by default, but it's OK. That's a whole different conversation. Thank you, Heather, for being here, for taking the time to, um, come on Transfer T. We have had PTK on TransferT before in the first season, but we have gathered today to spill some really fresh tea about something that keeps coming up on LinkedIn and I don't quite understand it. So you are the expert. There's this thing just floating the internet about Phi Theta Kappa. And direct admissions. I have no idea what that means because direct admissions to a practitioner means, um, a, uh, sometimes a partnership between a community college or um a high school, um, directly into university, but PTK is not a higher ed institution, so I am curious what this actually really means in real life. Yes, uh, the, the rumors are true, so what you're seeing and hearing on the internet is true, and you're actually the first person to interview anyone about direct admission for Phi Theta Kappaloita. So thank you for that as well. Um, this is a month old, so this tea is pretty fresh, um, and as far as our concept of direct admission, it is a frictionless entry process to a university for a transfer student, specifically a PTK member. So this is a membership benefit for our Phi Theta Kappa members who, if you're not super familiar with Phi Theta Kappa, just kind of backing up real quick so we don't get ahead of ourselves. These are students who are high achievers at community colleges or institutions that offer associate degrees. So these students have showed early signs of academic promise. They've really committed themselves and have a very high GPA, typically a 3.5 or better, and they become a member of their local chapter. They get invited, they join and accept their membership, then they are a member of not only their local chapter. But their region of Phi Theta Kappa as well as the International Honor Society at large that we represent at headquarters. So it's an interesting point because we're a nonprofit organization, but we are a voice for the students and we do advocate and try to represent all of the colleges that they represent, which are almost 1250 different, you know, community colleges and associate degree granting institutions. Um, so what we have done is through the partnerships we've already built through PTK Connect, which is the way for students who are members of Phi Theta Kappa to research and plan their transfer, kind of a one-stop shop place for them to have all the resources and support they need as a transfer bound student. They are already accustomed to our platform PTK Connect. Our 4 year partners are already accustomed to the platform, so we just decided that it was time that students needed to have as a membership benefit of Phi Theta Kappa, an opportunity to have, as I said, a frictionless kind of direct entry process if they want to transfer. And those institutions are actually stepping forward and raising their hand to let us know we want to be part of this initiative. We want to be a direct admission partner to PTK. Um, so we've built this within the platform to make it possible for students to hand raise and indicate their interest in the schools that are direct admission partners of Phi Theta Kappa and for those schools to find out who those hand raisers are and communicate with them directly. Speed to contact is super important, so we expect these students to have quick communication coming at them from the four-year colleges as soon as they let them know they're interested in direct admission. You know, uh, Heather, I think this is really interesting because, um, the term directed missions has been around in higher education for a really long time, particularly in the transfer space. But when you really dissect a direct admissions process, it ends up not being very direct to admissions and so I'm just um curious if you can talk a little bit more about what How direct is it? I, I know that in, in my, um, in several conversations, you know, with other, um, practitioners at several points we, we always say direct admission, but the student actually has to do this direct admission, but the student actually, um, it takes two more steps, they're just in the back end and so they don't see it. So is direct admission actually direct admission? Great question, and I've been keeping my eye on other partners um or other organizations that have directed mission programs. This is not a new concept. It has been around, especially in the freshman space. So we are on the forefront of this in the transfer space. So we had the advantage of kind of watching everything play out and making some really intentional decisions within the design of what our direct admission process will be. And so the way that we have engineered this is within the profile of any college on PTK Connect and any four-year college can be a PTK Connect partner with us. They can build a profile, it's completely free. Um, again, we're a nonprofit. We're trying to make sure that students have access to information and they can make informed choices about transfer. So once a college kind of steps forward and says we want to, you know, try to become a partner with you for direct admission, we allow them access to the profile. They update the profile. There's going to be an entirely new section actually the three partners that we already have have this live on PTK Connect for students to see, and the student can go in and there's a filter that we've added for them to be able to checkmark. I want to, I want to look at all the direct admission options for me as a Phi Theta Kappa student. Those 3 colleges currently pop up. They can read the whole profile. So those colleges have had discussions with us. They've filled out a lot of questions and give us a lot of data and answers about what they expect and how their program is going to work. What are the exclusions, if there are any, it's all very upfront and transparent so that a student, hopefully if they don't, you know, check the boxes, so to speak, of what the college is looking for, um, that student. Wouldn't opt into the directed mission, but if they do see what they like and they qualify, they can just check the box. It's basically like an icon that they can click, kind of like the heart that they use for favoring the college. It's a little pencil for direct admission interest. So once they hand raise, you know, there's transparency there because the college has already up front told the student, this is what we're looking for, and these are the things that won't work if you're, you know, maybe a nursing student or an architect or something. Maybe that's not going to be part of their direct admission program at that university. Um, so once they do that, the college takes it from there and they would just need some minimal information from the college. A lot of the partners use phrases or or phrases or, or, you know, things like onboarding form, intake form, just getting real basic information about the student, um, they will eventually have to evaluate the transcripts, but the idea here and the concept and behind our design is. Really to allow students to be in the driver's seat and have agency in this process. We're not interested in creating application bloat or artificial, you know, inflation of numbers of applications for colleges. We, we're not in that business. What we want is for students to be able to literally hand raise and say if you're admitting me, I want to go here, and that enrollment process, it cuts out. The worry, it cuts out the anxiety, the stress, you know, the timeline is, is much faster. So those are the principles that we design this around, not just the agency for the student, but also the part about the anxiety and stress because even our high achieving Phi Kappa members are still fearful of the word denied or rejected, and they shouldn't be. They're high achievers, they've already proven themselves as leaders and um a lot of times in the classroom and in their community. Um, so these are students that are scholarship eligible, uh, they're change makers, they're leaders, and we think that colleges are ready to invest in them. So let's just cut to the chase, um.-- I hope that helps illuminate kind of-- that. Yeah, well, and in thinking of, you mentioned like stress and uncertainties, and I couldn't help but to compare this to like traveling. Um, and, and so, you know, whenever you're booking a flight, like there is some anxiety, you know, where you, you know where you want to go generally. You don't always know the final destination and how it's How you're going to get there. And then all of the challenges of getting there. So one thing that makes me super anxious when I travel, um, for example, is checking in a bag because I'm always fearful that if I do not have a direct flight, if I have 2 or 3 stops that my bag is going to get lost, and then what the heck am I going to do when I get to my destination without my personal items, you know? And So, um, I have this thing to where if it's not a direct flight, I don't check in a bag. Um, now, it's never happened to me before. I don't know if it's happened to you, Heather, but it's never happened to me before, but I hope it never does. Um, and I'm traveling here soon, so, um, you know, that's always in the back of my mind, but all of the potential delays involved in, in when you make stops in, um, You know, things not going well or change of plans or change of seats and all of all of that creates anxiety. And so in in thinking of this conversation and the transfer student, it seems like direct admissions is a lot like taking a direct flight. That is a great analogy, and I might steal that from you, Loya, just to make this a much simpler conversation in the future because that's genius, and I think that you're spot on because as far as what I'm seeing, I know I only have a sample size of 3, which is not a large number, and I'm, you know, a psychologist by trade, actually experimental statistical psychologist, so this really bothers me to give you a sample of 3 data. But I'm going to anyway simply because that's all I have. And what I wanted to share about that is the three colleges that have stepped forward that are currently enabled with us as direct admission partners have all waived the application fee. They have waived an essay. They have also provided an automatic review for scholarships, and they all three have an exclusive scholarship for Phi Theta Kappa members. Those scholarships that they have for Phi Theta Kappa members are also renewable and stackable scholarships. So these colleges, you know, to be kind of competitive in the landscape of direct admission that we're creating, we have our little wish list, you know, that's why we put them kind of through the survey process to ask all these very specific detailed questions because we want our partners to not only think through them. to have us kind of alongside as a guide, um, you know, kind of hopefully that friendly pilot that comes on the announcements and kind of gives you that piece of time like you're heading in the right direction as a university with what you're doing and if I see other things out there that other people are doing that you should be or that they're, you're doing that they're not, you know, this is also we're trying to make the ecosystem better for transfer students, not just any individual particular university. Um, so I, I think your analogy is, is a really good one, and you know, even they're in the front, they're in the priority lane, and they're in the aisle seat, you know, they're getting off that first and heading straight to right now we have colleges in Nebraska, Illinois, and New York, so we're hoping that we add more destinations. Um, in the future, uh, and, and, you know, you being here to interview me and ask me these questions, I think that this is going to be very helpful in addition to, um, Transfer tech coming up. So I'm really excited about the timing of these opportunities. So thank you for that. And so I, I want to know more. You have 3 direct flights then. And you mentioned 3 states, but can you mention the universities, the institutions that are part of your 3 direct flights? Absolutely, yes. So, um, I have to go with Nazareth University first simply because, um, no pun intended, they did a pilot program. I know we're talking about airlines, um, but you know, this, this is something that they piloted a homegrown version of this on their own. Um, and they actually brought to my attention that they were doing this and it was successful and had the collegiality and generosity of sharing that idea and concept with me and helping us all the way through the webinar that we put on last month. I have a recording of if anyone cares to listen in the. Um, but those are things that, you know, they've they've really helped us and been alongside us, um, the whole way to bring this to fruition. So, um, special shout out to the Nazareth team who has been incredible, um, at every turn, and then we also have Nebraska Wesleyan and Elmhurst University as well. That's really exciting. And so you, you mentioned this is really fresh, like one month fresh. How has, can, can you tell us like what's, how's your reaction been with PTK students already? And I know it is young and you're a stats person, so kudos to you because I did terrible in my Stats class. That's the only class I ever cried in in my graduate career. Um, but can you tell us, like, what has been the initial reaction for students who may be, um, hearing about direct admissions for the first time and not really know, you know, what to do with it? Yes, so we have actually just done the press release. So the press release just literally came out. So this is very, very fresh, um, and we have upcoming events all through the fall. We're going to integrate directed mission content into pretty much everything that we do at the chapter regional and obviously the international level. So I will have many More data points as soon as the fall starts and the students are kind of back in the swing of things, although a lot of RPTK overachiever students are in summer classes, so they are still paying attention to their email. But this is something that we're going to roll out kind of strategically. We have kind of a magic number of 5 that we want to do so that students have really solid options in different parts of the country in a more diverse array. Um, you know, of institution types as well, and we're going to update this on our website, so it's a membership benefit and, and we've kind of got this, this rollout plan. So, you know, right now it is super fresh, um, the virtual fair we just had was a graduate school themed virtual fair, so unfortunately that wasn't the right timing to kind of, you know, talk to the masses about this particular program for undergraduate, you know, direct admission. Um, but we have a lot of upcoming events throughout the back half of the year that will support this and really help lift this off. But yes, we're starting to get inquiries from students and advisors, um, but we haven't done our official kind of push. We've started with the four-year colleges to get everybody kind of a head start, you know, so they figure out what this is, um, but you know, we're new to this as well, so you know we're certainly not the experts in the space, but we're the leaders in the space, so we're trying to onboard ourselves as quickly as possible. Um, to make that happen. So, um, we've had organically just over the years, you know, kind of tickets and emails roll in from students asking who are your direct admission partners. So I think that there's some knowledge actually within the transfer space of students who may be familiar from that concept, maybe with other organizations who may have had a similar concept when they were like a high school student, for example. So, um, you know, we do organically kind of get those as well. So, you know, this, this has been Uh, something that we've needed to do for a while now, but like I said, we wanted to make sure it was the right time and the right, um, you know, opportunity for students, and, and this, this seems to be the time, and we're,-- we're super excited to be where we're-- at. This is exciting. It's exciting that it's new, and I know that that that this just means we're gonna have to have a follow-up episode, um, at some point when we have the data, and that part's exciting too. We've introduced a lot of new things to transfer tea on this season, and I think that speaks a lot to the people. And the leaders and the organizations that are stepping up to the plate to make transfer a reality for students. Um, I, I mentioned it over and over again and gosh, my transfer to, uh, listeners are probably going to get tired of, of hearing me say this, but I will take it to the grave. We have to stop referring to statistics with excitement that were released 10 years ago. Like, we have to do something about it. The the numbers have not changed. We see it time and time again. We reference the same data, and we, we need to come to a point that something has to be done, some action has to be taken. So there is excitement in the newness of this program. Um, but I wanted to ask, um, what is PTK's role, um, in the directed mission part? Like, I know you mentioned PTK Connect, but what does PTK actually do as part of that directed mission? Yes, great question. So um we much like when the best comparison I can make is when a college starts a scholarship, a PTK scholarship, for example, where they have one and they innovate, maybe expand the access to that or change their eligibility criteria. Um, again, that's, that is a process that's handled in-house at that. College, it's their dollars, you know, we're here to advise. So as a as a third party if you want to call us, but a nonprofit organization that's heavily invested in the success of both the four-year colleges and the students, um, you know, part of our strategic plan is caring for colleges and caring for students, and as college relations for our team, that means our 4-year college partners. Not just the colleges, the community colleges that have the chapter. So I see our role on the college relations team, you know, big shout out to all of my teammates Paul Singh, Christy Griffith, and Emily Gora. There's 4 of us, so it's a small but mighty team. All 4 of us are considered, consider ourselves consultants as well as kind of higher education. Um, experts, buffs, supporters, we want to make sure that we're providing consultation to any four-year college about anything that they want to do for being more accessible to PTK members or just transfer students in general. So our role is really more of a promotional marketing type of role where if if colleges want to, you know, use our logo on their micro site to share that they're a partner with us. We certainly do that with them when we have virtual fairs and things of that nature. We want to make sure there's kind of that brand recognition for students so that they know that this is a trusted partner that is invested in your future and wants to support you and hopefully has an exclusive scholarship that they're earmarking for PTK members and we try to really make sure that even on our virtual fairs, you know, talk about this and we'll certainly do the same with direct admission. Um, these are colleges that, you know, these representatives could be anywhere in the world right now, you know, quite literally, they could be investing their money, doing anything anywhere with any population of people, and the fact that, you know, on those virtual fairs we get 40 colleges to stop what they're doing that moment in time and just be here for you or come to Catalyst. And for those 2 or 3 days, however long they spend, which is a huge investment for any 4-year college to spend that much time, you know, not doing work and doing Phi Theta Kappa, they could be doing anything. They're doing this, same for direct admission, you know, we do encourage the colleges to have like a a point of contact so that if a student does reach out. That person knows who they are, what they are, what is Phi Theta Kappa, what is direct admission, you know, we want that point of contact for the student, kind of a concierge level service for the student, um, and that's a, that's a huge commitment. Um, so we are just incredibly thankful. I think we're a guide in the space, hopefully as how people see us. Um, but you know, we are kind of like the only real single source partnership for all of this for high achieving community college students, um, for these four-year colleges that are interested in really investing, you know, their their time, effort, and scholarship dollars in a certain population of transfer students. Absolutely. And so to those of you that have not done the PTK fairs, they are phenomenal. I've been a part of a ton of them. Um, they are, yeah, they're conversation driven. I mean, you learn a whole lot about students. You learn a whole lot about yourself as an institution and how to communicate with students outside of the normal recruitment efforts that you have. And it's just an eye-opening. Experience. I really enjoy them and so you guys will continue those, correct? Yes, yes, we have um interspersed those with professional development webinars throughout this back half of the year. So we're we're scaling back a little in terms of just having 3 of those in the back half of the year and 3 professional development webinars for recruiters in the transfer space, um, again, caring for colleges, caring for students and making sure we're keeping those in balance and and top of mind. Um, so yes, we will definitely continue those. um, and, and your previous question, Loya, about, um, you know, making sure that what we're doing in the space alongside the colleges. One other thing and a reason why I'm even at Phi Theta Kappa, uh, I started at a four-year university as a transfer counselor with no experience other than recruitment and. Coaching experience, you know, and I know a lot of people are in that same space even today and you know I'm talking about something that happened 15 years ago for me, but the same same thing exists where people shift, you know, they might be in a freshman admission counselor role, then they become a transfer counselor, or they might be coming into the industry, so to speak, or the sector from somewhere else completely. Um, and sometimes it's a really overwhelming feeling to like have that island, you know, I'm on an island type of feeling, right? So one of the things that I think we do really well is not make more work for people, but we come alongside them and look at their strategy or what their plan is as far as recruitment and enrollment and try to come alongside them and show them like one other thing that you could do, um. That kind of goes hand in hand with what you're already doing. So a quick example for our directed mission partners that's been a really helpful thing. They all have a URL for their profile and they can embed that and update their profile and then send outreach to students to say we've just updated our profile, we're directed mission enabled, you know, here's how to click to indicate your interest. So we have kind of those tools and Build out, but you know we have, we have to be able to explain that and be the guide to educate the four year college recruiter. This is what you should do so that you're getting students signing up or showing interest as you sleep. You know, you can't be all places all the time and it's, it's really overwhelming to even come up with a recruitment plan. So we want to make sure that, you know, that thoughtful design is kind of integrated into any, any of our directed mission partner. Um, colleges, we want to make sure that they're really taking advantage, full advantage of all of the capabilities of what this can offer. Um, so we're we're excited. We're learning as we go and we're sharing that knowledge as we go as well, which is pretty exciting to be really a true partner of our colleges. I'm learning a lot right now, Heather, because I've been a PTK Connect user for 5 years now, and I'm like, oh, I'm literally writing this down for my team. I think it'd be beneficial to go to some of these webinars and Um, and have those resources available. So I, I guess I skip those. I'm, I'm a bad example now, um, but I will share with my team as soon as we are done with this, um, this, this episode, that's really exciting and definitely needed in the transfer space, um. A few more things, kind of, you know, questions. What is the short-term goal and what is the long-term vision for direct admissions? That is a great question. So we have, as I mentioned, 3 colleges that have already entered the platform. Um, there's about 10 colleges that have kind of gone through step one, which is filling out the questions. Um, so we're, we're keeping an eye on those numbers, um. I don't know where we'll land by the end of 2025, but I think if we're at 3 now and we keep that pace for a few months, you know, we're hopeful maybe we get to about 20, you know, by the end of the year, just so that again college students have a diverse array of options, not just geographically, but institution types, size, you know, missions that they're. Um, so that would be really ideal for us, for the students to have that kind of, you know, array of our landscape of of choices. Um, long term, you know, we want to see that this becomes, hopefully, you know, our president and CEO and her press release kind of mention, hopefully this is the wave of the future, you know, that this catches fire, not just At Phi Theta Kappa, um, but we would love to see more universities just open their policies, you know, to have fewer barriers, to have fewer application fees, enrollment deposits, you know, all of these things that as you mentioned, just kind of pile up, um, and you know, those are the real barriers, you know, there's some data out there about like yield, and if you want to, if you're looking at your yield and it's suffering, you know, what's your application fee and do you have one, you know, there's some really recent data out there that I saw on LinkedIn from one of the researchers talking about, you know, the look within, look at what your own policies are and what you're doing, um, and, and those are the things, you know, we've been talking about these things, but I think formalizing them in direct admission. And then it's easier to bring to the attention of a student, for example, who already likes what they see and is sold on the idea of coming to that institution for that particular scholarship or whatever it is that they're reading about that's enticing. Once they already are invested in it, I think as far as, you know, those, all those pieces that kind of everybody gets lost in the mix and you start seeing that transfer melt when you start having enrollment deposits and all of that kind of piling up, um. I think that this really does flip the script in terms of the student is in in the the driver's seat now and that's what we want, you know, we want that student to kind of have already see themselves at that college. They see the path forward, they see it's a clear path and they know what's involved, what are the pieces. So instead, Finding this out and then kind of abandoning and going a different direction and shopping, um, you know, this, this is more, it is more direct, you know, for the student and for the college. Um, so that's our hope is just that over time, you know, this frictionless process will become maybe the norm. Um, and, and kind of, you know, definitely for transfer students because I think that there's been a lot of attention on this for freshmen and even for international students, you know, direct admission for for international students, but no one's really doing this for transfer students um and you know, the excuse of it's complicated or there's too many exclusions or there's too many variables, um, there are a lot of variables at play here, but it's nothing that, you know, without some thoughtful design and intent, um, can't be overcome. Um, so I, I hope that, you know, we, we are seen as a kind of a thought leader in this space now, and, and if people want to talk to us about why or what, you know, what's behind it or how we did what we did, you know, we want to make sure we're helping kind of lift off all of transfer, um, in, in this space, not just by the DealA members. Yeah. So, um, if somebody wanted to establish a new direct flight to a new destination, Heather, who should they contact? What should they do first? Yes, great question. Um, relations at Ptk.org is our email. It goes to our team. Somebody is here every business day, so you will receive a response if you email college relations at PTK.org. but step one is really just going into that profile, the transfer profile on PTK Connect and like I said, anyone can have a profile. They just need to contact us so we can get them set up if they're not already set up. Um, so any 4-year college, you know, accredited institution that wants to, um, you know, take, take a look, take it for a test drive and PTK Connect, they can do that. Um, there's a series of questions that will pop up almost like a survey, so it really guides the the representative, um, the recruiter, you know, through the process. Again, if they're unfamiliar with direct admission or they don't even know what they don't know, this really kind of lays out the roadmap for them um of here's what you need to be preparing for and thinking about and doing in-house to make sure you're actually set up, um, because the thing is, these aren't, you know, prospects or effects like these are admits, so you're just so you have to be ready, you know, you have to be very ready. Um, so as soon as somebody raises that hand, you know, speed to contact is important to make sure that these students yield and to make sure they kind of have that concierge level treatment that I was referring to earlier, um, that they're expecting with this program. So, um, they can contact us and and take a look at the questions even if somebody doesn't feel prepared to fill out the questions yet and answer them. It's a great exercise to go through to see what would be involved and take that back to your team and use that kind of as an inventory or assessment tool, you know, to kind of like go through that and see if you're ready. Much like our transfer profile for transfer on a roll, you know, that's an assessment tool as well for colleges to kind of self-reflect, um, and this new, you know, it can be this new innovation for direct admission, uh, this little survey I'm talking about can be kind of used the same way. Yeah. And uh speaking of flights, I'll be taking a flight at some point in July to go somewhere to this place. Um, so I don't know, Heather, what if somebody wanted to talk to PTK in person? In July, well, there could be or will be a very specific place and time for that. Um, so Acro is hosting, I don't know if you knew this, Lloyd Transfer Tech is coming up in July. I very excited, um, and actually my colleague Paul, who is an associate director of college relations at Phi Theta Kappa, um, on our team. Uh, has been talking direct admission with schools pretty much 5 days a week. So we are, you know, going to have a presence there. There's an exhibitor area and he'll be at table or booth 8. So if you can just remember one single digit and you're going to cro, remember the number 8 and go check it out, but Paul will be very excited to meet you and make sure you add us on LinkedIn. You can find us all sorts of ways. If you're not an emailer, you can be a LinkedIn person and find us on LinkedIn. Um, but yes, we would love to have you stop by and chat with Paul and learn more about this directed mission or just about PTK in general, um, you know, anything that we do, we would love to have a chat about, um, transfer enrollment and recruitment. Um, so that's, that's our goal, you know, to see you in person, um, in July, I believe July 20th, July 2, the 22nd.-- I-- was gonna say, yes, so, and he. have a direct flight if anyone's actually he's driving.-- He doesn't even have a flight he-- doesn't. We're gonna throw that analogy out the window for just a moment, just talking about him getting to Acro, but yeah, we're very excited to be there and be represented. So um thank you all at Acro for, you know, helping put this together and and making this a priority. So, um, you know, we are in that transfer and tech space and it's a really interesting place to be and It's much needed, um, in today's day and age, especially with all of the AI and everything else that's out there. I think there's going to be some interesting conversations. Um, so I'm, I'm excited for his attendance. And those are all the tools that help us get to the direct admission point, right? Like all of that technology and all of those, uh, efficiency, that's exactly what helps us get there. Now, Paul, this is your second shout out and transferste. So we It's gonna be extra smitten, um, but, but anybody who, if you have never, if you are a transfer practitioner, um, if you have transfer students in your campus, um, and you have not made a connection with PTK, I encourage you to do so. It is life changing. Everybody on Heather's team has such heart and passion. I've got to meet all of them and work with you all throughout the years, um, as a transfer practitioner, um, you will learn a whole lot about your transfer students, so get ready to take action. Um, and we will all see each other in July at Tech Transfer. Heather, I hope that next time you can join us in person wherever the next place will be, um, and then we can all just gather around and talk transfer. Absolutely, and we would love to see some people at PTK Catalyst. It's in Baltimore in March of 2026. So if you really want to see us face to face, um more than just Paul, you know, we'll all be there um and I just want to leave off saying like we really are invested in the professional development of our transfer recruiters because we know it's a really hard Job, um, and a lot of times a lonely job, and you know we want it to be a career for higher ed professionals and not see, you know, the turnover because these people that are in these spaces are some of the most talented, um, you know, best communicators, best statisticians, um, just best customer service, and they have a very, very big heart, um, and you know, we really want to support all of our, our recruiters so that they really feel. Celebrated and invested and I think Catalyst is one of those places where we try to do that um but you know, also just as a nonprofit, you know, making sure that all of the um any, any sort of investment a four year college makes goes back into student programming for Phi Theta Kappa students. So we really wanted to, you know, make sure anything we do professional development wise also will, you know, be something that will reinvest in our students. so that they will be more successful and they'll be more um likely to retain and graduate at your institution when they transfer. Um, so, you know, I just want to give a shout out to the transfer professionals out there because this, this is a very important job and it's more than a job, it's a role that you serve your institution and you all do it quite well, um, so we, we're very thankful to be able to support the people that make students successful. Thank you so much, Heather. That was, that was beautiful. Thank you. Uh, from, from a transfer practitioner myself, often, you know, transfer practitioners are overlooked in institutions because the populations are so small. So thank you so much. It does take a lot of heart and passion and dedication. So I'm thinking Thankful that that has been recognized and this is what Transferte is about a celebration of all of, all of the transfer champions and all of the transfer leaders in this space. So thank you so much again. I can't thank you enough. I know I thanked you like 20 times already. We're just so grateful that you're here. I appreciate that, Loya, and it's been a pleasure and thank you for all you've done to serve Transfer students for many, many years through Phi Theta Kappa and beyond as we see here. So thank you, you know, for what you're doing to make our voices heard and kind of amplify the voices of the students and the practitioners in the space. It's really important, and I look forward to hopefully seeing you all along the way, but you know, at least you'll see Paul soon next month. All right, thank you so much. I appreciate you very much. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of TransferD. Today, we explored the pivotal role faculty play in guiding students through the transfer process. Their active involvement not only demystifies transfer pathways, but also empowers students to make informed decisions about their academic futures. By fostering a collaborative environment, faculty can significantly enhance transfer success rates and student satisfaction. If you have found this discussion insightful, be sure to subscribe to Transport T on your preferred podcast platform. We welcome your feedback and suggestions as well for future topics. You can reach out to us anytime via email at transportT@Aro.org. Until next time, let's continue to support and uplift our transfer student community. That's the T.