Community College Honor Society Offers Free Transfer Service Website

 

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - CollegeFish.org, a highly interactive website aimed at facilitating transfer and career planning, will soon be available to all community college students free of charge, according to the program's developer, Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.

The extensive database, which will offer information on colleges and scholarships from a multitude of sources, is designed to be used in conjunction with traditional transfer advising to educate students, allow them to plan and make good transfer decisions and save time for already overworked community transfer counselors.

"We have the responsibility of raising the aspirations of all students to complete a baccalaureate degree - so we are providing students with a tool to accomplish that aim," said Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director Rod A. Risley. "CollegeFish.org is for all students - traditional and non-traditional, part-time and full-time, first-generation college students and those traditionally under-represented in higher education."

The program, CollegeFish.org, consists of two major components, transfer tools for planning completion of a baccalaureate degree, and career tools for aiding career planning.

"Phi Theta Kappa members are automatically enrolled in CollegeFish.org, but access to the program can be available to all community college students from the moment they enroll in their first class," Risley said. In the near future, all community colleges will be notified of the procedure necessary to offer access to CollegeFish.org to all students enrolled on their campuses.

"Community college students, many of them first generation college students, generally do not know the how, what, where, and when with regard to planning for transfer and completion of a baccalaureate degree," said Risley. "These students wait too late to begin the planning process and are often locked out of admissions, scholarships, financial aid and housing opportunities at senior institutions."

"CollegeFish.org resources will be accessible 24/7," Risley continued. "Today's college students, and in particular community college students, conduct their research on the internet late in the evening and on weekends, due to family and job commitments. The internet is quickly becoming the first point of information acquisition for students."

The website will also contain articles to help students understand the terminology associated with planning for transfer, the sequence of tasks to be completed for transfer, a personal automatic calendar noting deadlines, and profiles on more than 2,000 senior colleges. "One of our major goals is to introduce students to four-year colleges who are not only interested in recruiting them, but who are also eager to ensure their transfer success," said Risley.

For many years Phi Theta Kappa has operated the Transfer Connection, a database providing directory information on Society members to senior college admissions officers, to facilitate recruitment efforts. As a result, more than 600 senior colleges now designate $36 million in scholarships to Phi Theta Kappa transfer students.

The basic service provided through the Transfer Connection will be incorporated into CollegeFish.org. Through online profiles students will provide more detailed information about themselves, which will lead to the identification of four-year colleges and universities which are "better fits" to meet their needs and interests for transfer success.

The transfer component of the program will include enhanced capacities for managing scholarship searches for students, and initial capacities for community college transfer centers and advisors to research opportunities for their students and begin to monitor the progress of their students in the transfer process. Search capacities for senior institutions for identifying prospective students to provide early advice on course transfer and articulation agreements will be included.

The career component, a second phase of the program, will assist community college students who are not planning to transfer to find career opportunities after earning their associate degrees. Currently, any Phi Theta Kappa member may request an account by emailing support@collegefish.org.

Functionality for advisors and administrators should be completed later this year, including the ability for community college administrators to enroll all students interested in using CollegeFish.org. If you have questions, or would like to provide your email address for future updates of CollegeFish.org, please email support@collegefish.org or call 866.286.8453.

Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, is the largest honor society in American higher education with 1,250 chapters on two-year and community college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than two million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 100,000 students inducted annually.