This is the Spartan Transfer Hub brought to you by Impact eighty nine FM and MSU Transfer Student Success Center. Here's what we've got for you today.
Zuhaer:Hi everyone, welcome back to today's episode of the Spartan Transfer Hub, the podcast about all things related to MSU Transfer Students brought to you by the MSU Transfer Student Success Centre, also known as TSSC. I'm your host, Zuhaer Aranya. I'm from Bangladesh. I'm a mechanical engineering student and this is my senior year and I go by he/him/his pronouns.
Zuhaer:As usual with me in the studio today is our TSSC program coordinator and grad assistant. We're also joined by the program director and assistant director of the Lansing Spartan Scholars Program. Would you all be able to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about what you do?
Cece:Hi. So good morning. How are you?
Zuhaer:Good. How are you?
Cece:I'm doing great. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having us this morning. We're so happy to be here. Absolutely. So my name is Cece Sumter. I am the inaugural program director for the Lansing Spartan Scholars Program here at Michigan State, and I use she, her, hers pronouns.
Jared:Good morning, everyone. Jared Stratz, he, him, his pronouns. I am the assistant program director for the Lansing Spartan Scholars. I'm excited to be here with y'all.
Ashley:Good morning, Transferland. This is I don't know. Maybe it's morning. Maybe it's afternoon. Don't know what time it is. For sure. Yeah. I got sidetracked. I'm Ashley Hewitt Lumpy. She, her, hers pronouns, and I'm the program coordinator with TSSC.
Lauren:Hi, all. This is Lauren Sargent. I use she, her pronouns, and and I am the grad assistant for TSSC.
Zuhaer:Before we get into our episode, because we're doing something related to the city of Lansing, I was a little bit curious and thinking that if I found a city, or if I discovered a new city, or I was just given power of an already existing city, what would I name it and how cool would my name be? So I wanna I wanna see what you guys have to see say about that. Like, what would you name a city, if you could?
Cece:That's a that's a great question. So, yes, this morning when I thought about it, I was like, okay, CeCe, like, I literally internalized this as like, I'm gonna rename a city that I already know. I was like, oh, I could find one, I guess. But then, you know, me being the inclusive person that I am, I thought about identities and genders and pronouns and all the things, and I was like, no, we're gonna rename a city that already exists, so I am going to use my own. I am a Brooklyn native.
Cece:I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, so I'm gonna actually use New York City. If I could rename my city, it would be called the City Of Wonders. Nice. Wow. Yes, and not for the reasons that you all think. It is because the people that are not from New York City wonder about us, who we are, why we are, how we move the way we do. And the people that are born and raised in New York City also wonder who we are, why we are, and why we move the way that we do. The ways we make
Cece:So, the decisions that we I think it's a very inclusive title for what people think about us and how we see ourselves. And it is a wonderful, magical, unique, but awkward place. So, City Of Wonders, that's where we're at.
Zuhaer:It's a little bit of a mythical name and to a mythical city too, I would say.
Cece:For for sure. I will tell you the Big Apple makes no sense. Trees are not in New York City. Like, you've never seen an apple tree at all, so I don't really understand where that came from. Empire State totally makes sense. Big Apple
Zuhaer:Yeah.
Cece:I don't even know where. But, we wonder we wonder. Yeah. Why is that a thing?
Zuhaer:Exactly. Now I'm more likely to go to the City Of Wonders rather than New York City. City. New yeah,
Cece:You name it. We can talk to the well, not the current mayor, but we're talk to somebody about it. Yeah.
Jared:I don't mind hopping in here. Mine is a little bit of a blend of, I guess, two words, community and metropolis. So I was kinda thinking about community opolis or something like that. I know a big part of what we're talking about is Lansing and the integration and connection with MSU, and I think a big part of that is building the community and building togetherness and belonging and identity as CeCe was mentioning as well. I thought that that might be a fitting space or a place and space as we talk about Lansing and MSU.
Zuhaer:Yeah. That's perfect because that city that's a city name that I just know that everybody would love to live in and everybody the best possible community. So that's very wholesome.
Lauren:Those are both very student affairs answers. I fear that mine is not on that level.
Zuhaer:Mine is nowhere close. I can tell you that.
Cece:I listen. There's there's so many ways you
Cece:can discuss.
Cece:Right? But, you know.
Lauren:Mine, my name is Lauren. I would it would be Ren City and it would be like medieval medieval times thing, like Ren Faire Renaissance. That would be like it would be like feudal but not the not politically, but like Mhmm. That vibe, you know? I like it.
Zuhaer:That's pretty cool. Yeah.
Ashley:No. I like that. Nice. It's just Ren Fair all the time. Yes.
Cece:Mhmm. You're on
Cece:Ren City.
Zuhaer:You know your fantasy and some Ren fair stuff. I love it. Nice.
Cece:Please know that I will not call you Lauren ever again. We will be Ren City in the office this far Oh.
Zuhaer:You have one?
Ashley:My turn.
Ashley:I've been
Ashley:thinking about this. I'm like, guess I if I were to establish a city, it would be like the little quarter acre that we're on. I don't even know if it's that big. Where where we live, and I I don't know what the flag would look like, but it would definitely be called Crazy Town because that's just the name. Life be life in these days.
Ashley:So that's that's kinda where I'm at. The motto . Yeah. Yeah. Life be lifeing Welcome to Crazy Town.
Cece:I love the billboard. That is stellar. Already. Come on marketing.
Ashley:That's right. Yes. So, Zuhaer Lauren, you're on it. Pretty hard.
Zuhaer:So when somebody says, town population us, I'd be like, yeah.
Ashley:Yeah. Literally. Oh my gosh.
Cece:Yes. Let's go. Let's go. I'm here for it. I'm here for it.
Zuhaer:I think what I'm gonna name my city, if I'm building or like discovering a new city, is I'm gonna I'm just because my name is Zuhayr, I'm just gonna name it the zoo.
Ashley:Zoo. Oh, yeah. That one
Zuhaer:when when people say, oh, I'm going to the zoo today, and everybody will like, oh, see a lot of animals, and they'll they'll be like, no. I'm just gonna go to work.
Cece:You know?
Zuhaer:And then if we do have a zoo in there, it's gonna be called the zoo. The zoo. The zoo. Yeah. Yeah.
Cece:You know what? It's so interchangeable. I love it. There's so many nuanced renditions of that. Like, there's so many meanings to that.
Cece:I'm That's so creative.
Zuhaer:I know.
Cece:Let's check you out.
Lauren:Is it spelled like z o o or
Zuhaer:is it
Lauren:spelled like your name?
Zuhaer:It's spelled like z o o because I wanna Like, you you can't have like two letters in a name, I feel. So I'll do it like
Cece:I don't know, Friend. Yeah. That might work.
Zuhaer:Yeah. Honestly.
Lauren:The zoo z u.
Zuhaer:I'll keep it in consideration. Oh, the z u z o o, like the zoo zoo.
Cece:Oh.
Lauren:The mascot is Zhu-Zhu pets.
Zuhaer:I was gonna say, if I had a minor league tame, I would just call them the zoo animals.
Cece:There you go.
Zuhaer:They're the animals.
Cece:You know what? It sounds to me like y'all needs to make this happen because you guys are gonna be a crazy town. Like, are all places right now where someone lives, either in your mind or physically. So Yes. Should do it.
Cece:Exactly. It should happen. Exactly. Let's go.
Zuhaer:And I just wanna put it out there that if I was given the power to change a preexisting city's name, I would change Holland, Michigan to Netherlands, Michigan. Because it's called The Netherlands now.
Ashley:That's stellar. Sounds like you need to write a letter.
Cece:Oh, let yes.
Jared:There is a lot of world building that's happened around all of these different ideas.
Zuhaer:It's great. That's what it's about.
Cece:Yes. Community.
Zuhaer:So let's get right into it with the Lansing Spartan Scholars Programme, also referred to as LSS. Would either or both of you be able to tell us a little bit about what LSS is?
Cece:So I will start and then Jared, feel free to jump in.
Cece:LSS has been championed by President Kevin Guskowitz. The Lansing Spartan Scholars Program is a transformative initiative designed to empower students from the Lansing area to succeed at Michigan State University and beyond. It is rooted in a commitment to inclusion and academic excellence. LSS provides mentorship, resources, and intentional support to guide scholars from enrollment through graduation. With an ambitious goal of achieving an eighty six percent graduation rate, the program is driven by five strategic objectives.
Cece:The first is expanding accessible pathways to MSU through both high school and transfer routes. The second, facilitating a smooth academic and social transition through targeted guidance and resources. The third, offering career development and professional opportunities aligned with students' goals. The fourth, cultivating meaningful connections within the MSU and Lansing communities. And the last one is identifying and addressing the distinct needs, challenges, and aspirations of Lansing students.
Cece:So there's a lot happening there. It is a transitional and holistic view of supporting students, largely. We give those five points because we want to make sure as a new program that folks listening understand what the goals are, they can press pause, play it back, and listen to all the objectives, right? But largely, it's really about supporting the whole student throughout transition coming in and matriculation while they're at Michigan State University.
Jared:Yeah, I'll double down on that. This idea of supporting the two MSU, especially meeting students where they're at within the Lansing area, and then being able to support, as Cece was mentioning, the through experience as we're adding in a lot of great, experiences and aspects to help them be successful and thrive here at MSU.
Cece:Yep. So the who Can- incoming transfer and first year scholars who are Lansing Promise eligible and have been accepted into Michigan State University. Right now, in its current iteration, the program is first come first serve. There's an application that gets sent out to students. Students are, and correct me if I'm wrong, Jared, students are identified through Lansing Promise, so we know who those students are.
Cece:And then once they apply to Michigan State, that's how we're aware who is eligible for the LSS program. And then there is our internal application that we have through the LSS program that first year and transfer students can fill out. And then once that is complete, we kind of then evaluate that. We reach out and then we let them know if they've been accepted or not. Upon completing your application, there's some internal Michigan State things you need to do, right, like registering for NSO, that's new student orientation, and making sure that you're completing your advisement, and enrolling in your courses.
Cece:So, it's both ends. You have your external Lansing City things that you need to do, but then you also have internal Michigan State University things that you need to do. And of course, if those internal things are not done, then we're not going to remove you from the program. It just delays, it delays your, it delays kind of the time when you can come in. You may, this year you won't lose a spot, let's just say that.
Cece:As the program grows, that could be a possibility. Just think about it from an admissions perspective, right? Admissions has timelines, you need to apply by a certain time. If you wanna have your seat, LSS operates in the same way. If you wanna make sure that you have your seat in LSS, you need to make sure that you are applying by the time we establish those deadlines to ensure that you participate in the program.
Jared:Yes. I'll add a lot of the conversation about supporting students and identifying that the program exists as an opportunity for Lansing students. I think a lot of the work that we've done is to, you know, reach out and connect also with the community and making sure that we're, connecting with the specific high schools that are Lansing Promise eligible and, making sure that we are engaged in those community experiences in a way that's authentic and transformative to helping highlight the experience because we know students love an email, right? I know we're all laughing, but the opportunity to be able to get in front of students as well as the community members that support the experience in the program is such a powerful piece to the linkage between Lansing and MSU. So it's been fun being able to recruit the fall cohort and work alongside many of the amazing community partners to support this initiative.
Lauren:This is just an announcement. If you haven't checked your Spartan email in the last forty eight hours while you're listening to this, you should do that.
Cece:Yes.
Cece:While we're talking about it.
Zuhaer:Absolutely. Totally. This seems like such a great initiative, and I appreciate you guys for being so headstrong with it and so hands on involved with it. And I know that you guys cover a lot of bases and there are a lot of opportunities for career development through this program including Cap City Spartan Impact Initiative which is available to all students in the program. What are some key features of this initiative?
Cece:Thank you, that's such a great question. So, it is a long title and does take a little long to say, so we're to work on them. The purpose of CAPCITY Spartan Impact Initiative is to provide learning and networking experiences by connecting Lansing scholars to businesses and organizations through panel discussions, Lansing based service learning projects, and on-site job shadowing. One of the biggest things is through ExecConnect and Industry Immersion Days, we aim to connect, to conduct, excuse me, on-site business or organization leadership visits where scholars get to learn with and from staff at those entities. So, we're really excited about that.
Cece:I think up until a couple of hours ago, those days did not have a name. We just knew that we were gonna do them. But now we have a name for them, so
Zuhaer:They are great names.
Cece:Yeah. Try. I'm very big I'm very big on on on naming things and I think it's important to like, we ideate all day, but I think the minute we have a name to it, we're like, okay, we can now package it, we can now talk about it, we can make sure that we market it to parents and the students, and not market it like sell it like it's a product. But students wanna know they're very, very curious. Michigan State is a very magical and amazing, but also marketable place, right?
Cece:Come in because we have all of these amazing helmet signs and ghost Spartans and all all of that is marketing, right, but we also, but it's intentional, it's to create this energy that is warm and is welcoming, and letting you know that we are here to support you while you're here, and so I also just wanted to make sure that while we know that we're going to do those things, that students understand and families understand like, hey, like this is Exec Connect or it's an industry immersion day, but that's essentially what it is. Also too, like in ideating this as well, we really understand how cool it is to have a business owner come to campus, but how more impactful would that experience be if you could visit that business owner or that entity owner at their location on a day maybe when they're not open, and we can tour the space and have lunch with that owner and kind of sit in on you know, a business meeting where it's okay for them to sit. But just really kind of get an understanding of what that looks like to situate themselves in that space, I think is really great.
Cece:So we're, although it is very, very new in ideation, we are hoping and we're really confident that it'll be impactful.
Zuhaer:Totally. And especially the thing that you mentioned about the visiting the businesses, I think that's really cool and great work guys. You mentioned something in the Cap City initiative about internships or job shadowing experiences as a part of the program, along with the resume and networking requirements. How do these enhance the experiences of the students in the program while they're at MSU and after they graduate?
Cece:That's a great question. So I wanna say, I don't wanna say we're now in this space. We've been in this space for a while, right, where businesses and organizations are expecting scholars to have two to three years of work experience coming out of post secondary. Which as we all know, if you are a student and you're trying to ingrain yourself into a university, into culture, make friends, have a good time, like not that you're not working, but the notion that on top of the 15 to 18 credits that one could be taking, and learning and transitioning that someone would automatically come out with two years worth of experience at an entry level position is somewhat mind boggling, right? And so the goal of the Cap City Spartan Impact Initiative through the industry immersion days and ExecConnect, the idea is to one, establish that networking piece there.
Cece:Two, we're also asking them to make sure that they have a LinkedIn together. Three, that job shadowing, those internship opportunities, all of that will for the most part be situated under Cap City Impact Initiative. There's another piece that we're working with called Spartan Forward where that is geared toward career and graduation. So a lot of these things can be both in, but the idea through that is to make sure that scholars are getting that real world experience with us. They can intern on campus, they can, well, intern off campus, they can work with units and departments on campus, they can work with us.
Cece:I am taking a small break, but I'm getting my PhD, there's research that needs to be done, there's research in the office that needs to be done, so there are opportunities for students that way there. So there's a lot of opportunities for students to gain that two year, two to three year experience with us, and that's really the goal. So that when you come out, they're looking like, wait a minute, you really did all the Mhmm. We did. Even though you asked for it thinking that we wouldn't have it, our program made sure that we call your bluff on that and that they provided the support to make sure that they had it.
Cece:So, yeah.
Jared:Yeah, I'll I'll double down on that as well because I think from a student success lens, if we look at it from a high level view, we know that it's more than just taking classes. Right? A college experience is an experience that extends out to all of the other things that students might be adding in to their schedule or adding into their just things that are happening outside of the classroom and, you know, everything from resume building. Well, we need experiences to put on that resume, right? And think that it's a really hallmark of an experience here at MSU within the Lansing Spartan Scholars is to be able to tap into the networks and the community partners and all of the things that make up the experience in a kind of a solid concrete way that students can, as Cece said, can leave and feel accomplished and feel like they have a plethora of of experiences that they can talk about at an interview or continue growing, especially if they do want to venture into grad school, kind of what's next after MSU.
Zuhaer:Oh, yeah. And I know that it can be students can feel really directionless at some points with how college is, and I appreciate you guys putting so much effort into solidifying one particular way of going for them and giving them more options. Yeah, I'm grateful on behalf of students to whatever you guys are doing. Finally, I know that this program requires students to participate in research and other student leadership experiences. How do these experiences contribute to student success in the program, would you say?
Cece:That is a great question, and I think one of the of the great ways is honestly just leaning into my experience as a student. I have this role because I was a student leader first. It came from me working with new student orientation programs at my alma mater, Virginia Union University, which is a small historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. But I remember how impactful it was to have students come on campus and have that student leader. We had, I think I had maybe 17 or 18 incoming first years.
Cece:And it was, the training was a lot, there were a lot of us, that was like our largest incoming class at that time, but I just remember how fun it was to answer students' questions and to make sure that they had a point person on the onset with them entering the institution. So that's a part of it. My whole job and everything that I've ever done has stemmed from wanting to help students, right? And so moving that into LSS, I think that current students, they're leaders already. They're coming in with leadership, whether they are big brothers, little sisters, whether they are caregivers.
Cece:They're already coming in with these qualities, and it's our job with the time that we have with them to hone in and shape those qualities that they already have. We're not saying that you're not a leader, We're making you a better one when you come in. That is the goal. And so I think that those research opportunities, they speak to that. In all of our jobs, we do research, right?
Cece:One would sit and say, well it's just a podcast, is it? You gotta research about the program, right? Have to know you're talking to, you tailor your questions to that, and that requires research, right? So taking that part of that. And then taking a leadership role, leadership looks so different.
Cece:Mhmm. You do not have to be the program director to be the leader. The leader can be the graphic designer, because listen friend, it's gotta look good for the people that wanna use it, right? Absolutely. I say it right, so leadership looks so different, and I think that when we say leadership, and most often times, there's this one track mode of that, but hopefully through LSS, through the hard work of Jared, myself, Portia, TTSS, all the great work that you do, because it is gonna take all of us, right?
Cece:They will understand that leadership looks a myriad of ways. There's more than one way to be a leader, and we are not looking at leadership in one way. I think that's the biggest thing. Yeah, if the students are looking for tangible things, yes, join an organization, know, champion a community service project. If there's civic engagement things that you're really excited about in the community in Lansing, go do those things.
Cece:And we're not gonna throw you to the wilderness and say go do it. It's our job while you're here as scholars to help you all out to navigate that as well too.
Zuhaer:CeCe, because we're talking about the Lansing Spartan Scholar Program, I wanna talk a little bit about how you guys engage, communicate, or interact with this Lansing community. And can we talk a little bit about how it works so that our students who are interested in this program have a better idea of how you guys are reaching out to the community and how they can reach out back to you?
Cece:Absolutely. That's a brilliant question. Thank you so much for lifting that up. Jared touched on it in his earlier response earlier in our podcast when he talked about the outreach in K through 12 and the Lansing School District. So that is a huge part of the work, right, because that works in with recruitment, that works in with community engagement with families so that they understand who we are as a program.
Cece:We become a familiar face of the community and not just the face at Michigan State, you know, it's kind of remove the face you don't see until your student becomes a junior or senior, right? So building that connection early. So Jerry, thank you so much for lifting that up. The other component of that too is making sure that we're patronizing members of the community in Lansing. So case in point, we have our barbecue that we're gonna have.
Cece:It won't be outside, we're not cooking outside y'all, so don't worry. The grass and the trees will live at Michigan State. President Guskowitz, please dont come find me like, are you lighting a fire? I am not. It'll just be barbecue style food, but we are working with the CZ Lounge, which is black owned.
Cece:We've worked with this restaurant in the past. Racheyne Lanzo is amazing, she is going to be her and her restaurant will be catering that kind of barbecue event that we're having, not kind of, but the barbecue event that we're having on this Saturday. So that's one way of making sure that we are keeping Lansing Lansing by making sure that we're patronizing those businesses. And how you're staking that, right, and making sure that we're patronizing those businesses. The other piece of that too is at some point, and not at some point like not this year, but just at some point as we get our cohort together because that is the large part of why we are here, right, is to make sure that the cohort is together, and that is where our focus is in the interim.
Cece:But at some point, we will have a community advisory group where we're able to kind of bring those folks in and have the discussion and say, okay, outside of asking you to cater our event, outside of asking you for FlexPasses, shout out to the Lansing Lugmugs for giving us FlexPasses. We put in some flag bags. For our scholars, Amanda Rich and Marcos, y'all are incredible. Thank y'all so much. We appreciate you.
Cece:But right but outside of those transactional things, right, we really wanna make sure that we are strengthening and building relationships. So I think that through a community advisory group or advocacy group, we don't know what we'll call it yet, but there'll be some opportunities there. And yeah, community mapping is a huge part of that. That is something that I hope to start after the cohort gets here, getting a sense of where everyone is. Although I've lived in this area for twelve years, I am not from here, right?
Cece:And I do realize that me being a cousin to some community, right? That I have limitations in my knowledge and so relying on the parents and the students and Jared and those of you that have been here significantly longer and know the city in a capacity that I do not, right, leaning in into that knowledge. So making sure that we are not just creating relationships to create them in a on in a, I wanna say in a surface way, but just making sure that they're intentional. And that the folks that are at the table, one, care about the students and care about the city of Lansing.
Lauren:Can we shout that barbecue place out again? Have not had I don't think I've had good barbecue since I've moved here.
Cece:So so the CZ lounge is actually a cigar lounge, but they make food. Okay, my girl. So person
Cece:they make food, but she's making like some macaroni and cheese, she's making some chicken wings with some different sauces that she has, she's making some green beans. Oh, what else is she doing? Oh, and for our vegan folks out there, we have jackfruit sliders, so she's gonna do jerk and barbecue jackfruit sliders. They're delicious. Nice.
Cece:Excited about her about her coming. There were a few other like folks that we really wanted to kinda have come in. Don't worry. I know some of y'all, you hear me like, CeCe, you've used us for all these things with athletics. You're not gonna use us.
Cece:Don't worry, friend. We love to eat. There'll be time to eat. There'll be opportunities for us to patronize all of you very, very soon. We're just working on a time constraint right now. And so so we reached out to Racheyne in her business, but but yeah, she's she's really amazing. Her husband is awesome as well. But she's really amazing.
Cece:They have been a great partner for the for the institution and they're they're relatively new.
Zuhaer:Alright.
Cece:She might be coming up, don't at me, Racheyne, I'm sorry. They may be coming up on maybe one or two years, I wanna say between one and two. And so, you know, they appreciate the partnership, we appreciate them. It's always a good time to be able to support another another Lansing business offensively, right? Like,
Jared:yeah. I think it speaks to the intentionality of every little thing that we're doing into the grand puzzle that is the Lansing Spartan Scholars experience because when we're just thinking about food, it's not just food. It's, you know, connecting with the Lansing community and Lansing owned businesses, everything from programming aspects of how do we incorporate Lansing community members alongside the MSU partners, How are we doing this together in a unified way that is benefiting the students as well as their families and supporters that are supporting and and cheering them along the way as well? So this togetherness, I think, is an important overarching theme within the many themes and goals so on and so forth.
Zuhaer:Totally. And I have to appreciate again how much you guys are doing, how hands on you are with it, and I feel like the community will be able to appreciate you guys in return, because we talk about, like you said, the little pieces that make up the bigger puzzle, and I think that's so important, and again, grateful to you guys for doing so much, and once again I want to shout out the Lansing Lugnuts, go nuts! And now that we know a little bit about the programme, well now that we know enough about the programme and some of the features, could you explain how being a Lansing Spartan scholar can be beneficial to transfer students particularly?
Cece:That's a great question. So, our Promise program is interesting in the fact that we have incoming first years and incoming transfer students, right, where there's a good portion of Primus programs that usually just focus on incoming first years. So Jared and I have had numerous conversations, right, and it goes in the line of transfer student experience is different from the first experience, but there are some common denominators between the two. And when you're thinking as a cohort, you try to find this line of making sure that folks don't feel othered, folks don't feel like this is for them and not the other group, right? And so, but we also wanna make sure that we are speaking to the uniqueness of the transfer scholar experience, right?
Cece:So it's been a really interesting and intricate dance that Jared and I have had in program development and really understanding how this all will come about and will work. But in the onset, what I can say is that that immediate support that we've kind of been talking about happens upfront, right? You have someone, I won't say tracking, but yeah, not tracking in a negative way, but tracking to make sure that you're successful. Like making sure that we're checking in with you. Like as transfer scholars, they're also a part of that weekly required twenty minute check-in.
Cece:Those transition coaching sessions, and I'm sure transfer students like, are you serious? Yes. And but it's not because you're not doing what you're supposed to do. It's one, we wanna learn more about you. Two, we want to make sure not only are you engaging academically, but you're engaging socially.
Zuhaer:Mhmm.
Cece:We all know that it's very easy to just get focused on, I'm here to, for the two, three years that I'm here as a transfer scholar, get my paper and head on out. Well, no, we want to make sure that you're engaging in the institution. Engagement And doesn't necessarily mean joining a student organization if that's not what you wanna do, but making sure that you are way finding effectively, and also making sure that you're building those connections with your professors, with us, with members of the community, right. So we're really that bridge between the transfer scholar, the university, and the community. And not that those things are not readily available to transfer scholars when they come in, but the idea is that it is situated in a particular place that transfer scholars can easily identify, I think is the most helpful part of our program, to be honest.
Cece:I know that's like super vague and someone's probably looking for something tangible, but really that's the location is a huge part of it. But yeah, they'll have research experiences as well, and community service, and volunteer, and all those things that other students have, which to me is not necessarily unique to the transfer scholar experience. That's a Michigan State student experience.
Zuhaer:Mhmm.
Cece:You're getting exactly what they get. I think the difference is for them is that you are now a part of a cohort. You are more than just a transfer scholar. You're also a Lansing Spartan scholar as well.
Jared:And I think adding on to that, there is a lot of work that were especially for students who are Lansing Promise eligible that are coming, from those high schools. A lot of them naturally, lean into Lansing Community College. And I do wanna shout out our our partner with Envision Green, as well as the work that's happening in the Transfer Student Success Center. Because I think the bridging of a lot of these experiences is what helps make students more comfortable with the transfer experience. And as Cece was mentioning, every student is unique.
Jared:And how do we meet the students where they're at in order to be able to successfully support them both academically and socially? And knowing that the transfer experience is is unique and can be fun and exciting. Right? And and all the all the things that come along with transitioning to a new institution. As Cece had mentioned, there is a lot of nuances that we wanna be mindful of, especially with commuting to campus, I know you probably have all talked about this many times as we think about transfer students and, you know, living in the community and, you know, picking up in the morning and, you know, driving to campus and doing the thing and then driving back home.
Jared:Well, we know here at MSU that it's more than just that experience. And I think CeCe definitely touched on that, that it that it becomes less transactional and more personal in a way that really transcends the academic experience. I know sometimes the mission of getting to the end is is a really good solid motivator, but we wanna make sure that we are adding in experiences that are impactful impactful and intentional no matter what type of student you are coming into the program.
Lauren:I wanna just like highlight some things that you said about like, just I think just like having more programs for transfer students and what ways they can get involved, especially as we're getting closer, like at the time of recording and I think the time of release, we're getting super close to that start date for classes and move in and things. And I've seen things on like Reddit threads and I've seen things we did. We did a parent and supporter webinar last night and we got comments about it. But there are, like, there are I don't wanna say so many because I don't wanna make it seem like it's monolithic, but there are quite a few things that I've seen from transfer students and they're nervous or they don't know how to get involved. And, you know, we can shout TSSC into the void until our throats hurt, but the more programs that we have for transfer students, like having them involved in the Lansing Spartan Scholars Program, is just is just so needed and so necessary, but also makes me feel like so happy and proud that they get to have those experiences.
Cece:Absolutely. And one of the things too, like just as Jared was talking and like Lauren, when you looked it up, one of things that made me think of was we were talking about drop in study hall sessions, which sounds ridiculous to someone who is thinking about transfer students, but when you're talking about that commuter moment, and they've got forty minutes before they get to another class, and they're trying to figure out, well, do I sit in Brody, do I go to Minskoff, like do I go to Case or whatever? And it's like, oh, well, we know that two to three times a week, we have this space allotted for drop in study hall where, okay, I can post up here. Sorry. I'm from New York.
Cece:So I can sit post up here. Right? Until, like, in the in between time before my class, I can review my notes. Just that accessibility, right, and just kind of the convenience of being able to have these spaces. Like, those are the things that Jared and I, while study hall sessions sound great for a first year, that are living here, okay, yeah, cool.
Cece:We think about that and say, okay. Well, how does that impact our community friends? Like, what does that look like for them? Right? So it's, again, taking to your point, Lauren, I love that you lifted that up and thank you, Jared, for, like, jogging my memory in that way.
Cece:Thinking about their identities in a community in a collaborative way to make sure, like, while we're thinking about one population, we're also thinking about how this impacts the other. And the potential barriers that that population may have that hopefully this service or this project or initiative may fix or fill for them. So, no, y'all are great. It just made me think about it. Thank you.
Zuhaer:Absolutely. Once again, I have to commend how involved you guys are, how many bases you guys are covering. So appreciating what you guys are doing once again. And I know that Jared shouted out Envision Green. I wanted to point out that if you guys care more and are interested in listening to more about Envision Green, they have been on the show.
Zuhaer:Please go into the link in our description, go into our website to see that episode hear that episode as well. Pardon me. And now finally, for those who are interested in learning more about Lansing Spartan Scholar Program, how can they get involved or contact someone for more information?
Cece:They can contact Jared and myself via email at lansingspartanscholarsmsu dot edu. So that is our email. The phones, we're working the phone system out. If you do call, can always call the Office of Transitions and Transfer Student Success. I fortunately don't have that number on hand.
Cece:Jared, do you know? Nope, I don't have that number on hand.
Lauren:It'll be in the description of this episode.
Cece:There we go. You.
Zuhaer:It's very good.
Cece:Appreciate that. There we go. When you do, when you do call, just make sure that you're asking about Lansing Spartan scholars Program and you'd like to speak to Jared or myself, and we are typically there. If we're not, then you can leave a message with the front. We will we will get it and we will most certainly get back to you.
Cece:But, yeah.
Zuhaer:Perfect. That's all the questions I have for you today, but I wanted to still ask if you had any last thoughts or shout outs or anything you wanted to mention before we wrap it up?
Cece:Last thoughts. I will just say thank you all so much for having us this morning. Oh my gosh, I had so much fun with you all. Like, this is such a great time. You know, hopefully the scholars that are coming in, the scholars that are already here that may be listening, just know that we appreciate you.
Cece:This program does not happen without you. You are the program, okay? And it is our job to support you in any way shape form that we can. When you get here during the summertime upon your arrival, it's our job to support you and we are looking forward to meeting all of you August 16. So please enjoy your summer, Please take the time.
Cece:Have a good time because classes will start very, very soon. So we wanna make sure that you get all of your downtime now because we don't know how much downtime you will have past August 16. It'll be a good time, but you will be busy. For
Zuhaer:sure. Absolutely.
Jared:Yeah. Same here. Very excited to connect more with the students and then continue building the relationships with the Lansing community. I think that there's some amazing partnership pieces that are coming through with the creation of the program and excited to see where those linkages exist for both the students and for MSU as a whole. So it's gonna be a fun adventure for sure.
Zuhaer:Absolutely. And I'm excited for the students and excited for whoever is going to participate. And this is me just being here in this conversation today. I want to promote the idea of how fun this is going to be and how exciting this is going to be for everybody who wants. So please get in touch with Cece and Jared and check out Lansing Spartan Scholars Programme.
Zuhaer:That's all I have for you today. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you Cece and Jared for coming and accepting our invitation. And with that, we're going to wrap up today's episode of the Spartan Transfer Hub. If you want to hear more episodes like this, make sure to tune in on the impact89.fm website, Spotify or Apple Podcast.
Zuhaer:Go green. Go white. Thanks for stopping by the Spartan Transfer Hub brought to you by Impact89FM and MSU's Transfer Student Success Centre. See you soon!