By Nicole Troy

Every third week of October, colleges across the nation celebrate National Transfer Student Week (NTSW) to foster transfer pride and community, challenge assumptions and educate the community about the transfer experience.  

In celebration of NTSW, we got to know alumna Jackie Duerr (Psychology, ’09; Master of Education, ’11), program manager for UC San Diego’s Transfer Student Success Program. 

Duerr gave us advice for current students and insight into how her experience as a transfer student inspired her to become a leader for the next generation of transfers. 

Where did your college career begin and how did you find yourself at Cal Poly? 

I started my college journey at Santa Barbara City College and I just knew that I wanted to help students somehow. I found my voice in psychology, and as I was trying to decide where to attend, I loved that Cal Poly’s Psychology and Child Development Department had an internship requirement embedded in its curriculum. My practical mind said, “This would be a great bonus — I’d get a degree and experience!” 

Why did you navigate into a career of working with transfer students?  

The reality is that my transfer experience wasn’t so great. I was working part time, so I didn’t attend orientation and my connection to academic advisors was minimal. I didn’t make connections until I looked around my classrooms and discovered that the other transfers were sitting in the back with me. Somehow, we found each other by being the outcasts.  

So, I really wanted to change the experience for transfers following in my footsteps. Because of that, I earned my M.A. in Counseling and Guidance for Higher Education and then I earned my Ed.D. 

What has your career trajectory looked like since graduating? 

After graduation, I went from being the graduate assistant of the Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) within the College of Engineering to being an MEP advisor to becoming the MEP coordinator.  

I loved working with first-gen, low-income engineering students and ensuring they knew the potential and skills they already had! I was able to incorporate transfers into the program as well.  

Finally, I got to a point where I was ready to spread my wings and I went to CSU San Marcos to work in their Office of Undergraduate Studies. Later, I discovered that they were hiring someone to build a transfer center at UCSD and I couldn’t help but apply. And here I am now! 

What has been your greatest career achievement? 

Something I am proud of is our Transfer Storytellers Contest and Gallery, where transfer students submit diverse artwork focused on resilience and identity. We work with the campus to provide creative coaches and judges for the artwork, and it’s always so inspirational and moving to see transfer stories come to life.