Delta Terrace will house only transfer students next year, after dedicating a third of the residential building exclusively to transfers this year.
The idea is to build a community catered to the needs of transfer students, said Kristo Gobin, resident director for Delta Terrace.
“Our hope is to funnel everyone into Delta and really build a full transfer experience,” Gobin said. “I think it’s a really cool, new way to (enhance) the student experience.”
Transfer students do not have the same concerns as freshman, Gobin said. Transfers already have experience with the college system in registering for classes and finding financial aid. The Delta Terrace program next year will focus on the unique set of transfer students’ needs, which first include transitioning to the quarter system and life on the Hill, Gobin said.
Transfers only have six quarters at UCLA to acclimate to residential life, their majors and the quarter system after coming from either living at home with their parents or in an apartment on their own, he said.
Once they get through their first quarter, they become more concerned with finding a job and resume building, which will be part of the focus for next year’s programming, Gobin said.
Also, next year’s residential assistants and student leaders will be transfer students and other students who are interested in catering to transfers, he said.
Jenn Lee, a biological anthropology transfer student from El Camino College, lived in a single in Hedrick Summit and did not meet many students her own age or in a similar academic situation.
She said she met one other transfer, which was important to finding her next step at UCLA, she said.
“It’s nice to live near other transfer students because we do have common goals,” Lee said. “It’s someone to have your back a little bit and keep up with all the transfer news.”
Vanessa Luke, a counselor in the Bruin Resource Center, sees many transfer students as part of her day-to-day job. She said statistically, UCLA students who took an exit survey reported a higher sense of satisfaction with their UCLA experience if they had found a significant community or social group.
She said a building solely for transfer students is a great idea.
“One of the greatest challenges for transfers is having a sense of community,” Luke said. “Having that large of a space (exclusively for transfers) will help them tackle the first hurdle, which is forming meaningful relationships.”
Next year, Delta will work with the Bruin Resource Center to link transfer students living on and off the Hill together to create a wider network of students that can find comfort in their shared experience.
While many transfer students said they agree that living together would be ideal, others still prefer to live in a more diverse atmosphere.
Jules Suzdaltsev, a psychology transfer student from Pierce College, lives in the all-transfer section of Delta Terrace this year.
He said it was not as social as he would have liked.
“I don’t like a lot of like-minded people living together,” Suzdaltsev said. “I’d rather have a good mix. Right now this works, but it’s kind of boring.”
Laura Neff, a women’s studies transfer student from Moorpark College, also lives in the all-transfer section of Delta Terrace but said she feels differently than Suzdaltsev about living in Delta.
She said she appreciates the common ground she finds with fellow transfers.
“Everyone’s in the same spot in their life,” Neff said.
Gobin said he believes that working with only transfer students in a focused program will benefit all who are involved.
“Working with a specific community like this is a big deal,” he said. “I think it’s a cool community to work with and a specific community that has been overlooked for a long time.”