4Cs students at Umass Amherst (Louise Ineson)
By Louise Ineson
For students planning to transfer or graduate from 4Cs and looking at Mass Transfer schools, several programs here at 4Cs offer informational field trips to UMass campuses and Bridgewater University.
The Advantage, SUCCESS, and STEM co-sponsor field trips for their students in the fall and spring semesters, most often attending Bridgewater State University in the fall and a UMass campus of interest to students in the spring.
But what do field trips through 4Cs programs offer, and what does a transfer field trip entail?
For the spring trip, the three programs brought a group of students with adviser chaperones to UMass Amherst on April 11.
Transportation from the 4Cs campus was provided for the three-hour drive with a coach bus directly to the UMass campus, where two student tour-guides met the group. The tour guides, Fiona Smith, a senior kinesiology major who transferred to UMass Amherst, and Raef Abi Chaker, a freshman chemical engineering major, brought 4Cs students to on-campus housing and model dorms, the dining hall, classrooms to explain UMass Amherst’s curriculum, as well as the campus center to introduce the group to different extracurricular activities.
Following the tour, the group was offered lunch at a campus dining hall before splitting into groups based on what students wanted to learn more about. Those more interested in STEM opportunities followed one group, and the other went on a tour with recent 4Cs transfer student Giana Sosa, who is currently studying at UMass Amherst, that covered the recreation center, the honors college, and the Isenberg business school. The final stop of the field trip brought student groups together again for a slideshow and informational session with the associate director of the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst, Syde Desabrais for more information about student life and research opportunities in her field at the college.
On this trip, 4Cs students were introduced to academic areas of interest at UMass Amherst and relevant information for aspiring transfers, with tour guides answering questions about student life, dining systems, what classes students can expect to take after transferring, housing options and applications.
4Cs advisers say that not enough students realize this opportunity to experience and understand potential transfer schools that are available to them.
”We’re always looking for ways to increase students taking advantage of the opportunities we have,” says Kerry Morrell of the SUCCESS program, which offers support to help students “persist in college and earn a degree” through advising, laptop loans, math remediation services and support for diversity on campus. She emphasizes that there may be students eligible for advising and academic programs such as SUCCESS, Advantage, and STEM, who do not realize they have these resources available to them.
Students can learn more about SUCCESS at https://www.capecod.edu/4cs4u/ or by visiting its offices at Grossman Upper Commons 206D, The Advantage Program by visiting its office in Room 221 of Building 4 or by visiting https://www.capecod.edu/advantage/, and STEM through https://www.capecod.edu/support/stem-starter-academy/.
