Transfer Fair is March 26

Hazard Community and Technical College students who wish to transfer their credits or associate degree to a four-year institution will have the opportunity to connect with those institutions, ask questions and better prepare for their future during a Transfer Madness fair. Transfer Madness will be Thursday, March 26 from 2 p.m. 8 p.m. EST (1 p.m. 7 p.m. CDT).

Transfer Madness is the only online, statewide transfer fair where students can chat online with transfer advisors, search for scholarships, download materials and get questions answered at a time that suits their family and work schedules. Application fees will be waived for those who visit a booth during Transfer Madness.

The event is being sponsored by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and the Council on Postsecondary Education. This year 22 Kentucky four-year institutions are participating in addition to KCTCS.

HCTC President Dr. Steve Greiner said he hopes many students will take advantage of the transfer fair. The waiving of the application fee, the access to so many people online, and a great deal of good information are just a few of the reasons students should participate, Dr. Greiner said.

Transfer Madness supports the Council s Stronger by Degrees strategic plan to improve the quality of Kentucky s workforce by increasing the number of students who transfer from KCTCS colleges to four-year institutions. One of the goals of House Bill 160 (2010) is to eliminate the barriers students encounter when trying to transfer to a four-year institution, and one of the barriers is a lack of information and engagement between students and transferring institutions.

Jesse Roark from Blackey in Letcher County, a student at HCTC, is pursuing an Associate in Science degree with plans to transfer and complete his studies in veterinary medicine with a focus on large animals. Jesse says he is glad he chose HCTC, not only because it is affordable and close to home, but also because he met Dr. Paul Currie, who teaches most of the courses Jesse needs to transfer. Dr. Currie has linked Jesse with possible transfer options. Dr. Currie also directed Jesse to the transfer counselor services provided through the University Center of the Mountains: Higher Education Center.

In addition to the online fair, a KCTCS Transfer Madness Twitter Game is underway. The game is played in a typical bracket style by paring up the 16 KCTCS colleges against each other for a Sweet 16 tweet-off. The colleges are encouraging their students to tweet about where they plan on transferring to and include #kytransfermadness. The Sweet 16 round ran from Monday, March 16 to Thursday, March 19. The following rounds will be played the following week leading up to the championships on Wednesday, March 25. For official game instructions visit: http://transfermadness.org/twitter-game/

To register and to view a list of participating Transfer Madness colleges, universities and education partners, visit www.transfermadness.org. Follow on Twitter at #KYtransfermadness.