By Paige Quiggins
On Tuesday, Jan. 12, the University of Louisville opened the doors of a new center on campus that hopes to enhance the success of transfer and veteran students. While these two groups may appear different, according to Joe Dablow, the director of planning operations for the Office of Undergraduate Affairs, the shared office between the Office of Military and Veteran Student Services and University of Louisville Transfer and Adult Services—also known as ULtra—could not have been better planned.
“All veterans are transfer students,” said Dablow, who is also a Navy reservist. According to Dablow, students can take advantage of services such as a veteran transition series, provided to help translate their military experience into the classroom.
Other available programs include counseling and career development services. All programs aid in identifying student veterans’ strengths. The office can help them with everything from choosing a major to improving their career skills.
Kathleen Mandlehr, the director of ULtra, said the new location in the Houchens building could help reduce the stress a student feels when applying, transferring and transitioning to the university. Mandlehr said ULtra also has programs designed to aid the state initiative to double the amount of college graduates by 2020.
To this end, counselor Nancy Davis said she will visit all 24 Kentucky Community and Technical College System locations in April, in hopes of recruiting students to U of L.
One program that seeks to recruit students is Project Graduate. This program is designed to help students who have completed 90 or more credit hours and have been out of school for more than two years. Its goal is to help them finish their college career and graduate from U of L.
“Basically, I’m a point of contact between admissions, the registrar and advising,” said Carrie Mundorf, Project Graduate coordinator. According to Mundorf, the shared office space is a mutual benefit to her students as well.
Events like the annual transfer student dinner, hosted by U of L President James Ramsey and Provost Shirley Willihnganz, help students socialize with fellow students and get acquainted with their new surroundings. In addition, programs and counselors are available to ease tension and anxiety students could feel when starting off at a new school.
Mandlehr said they rely on research from the Council on Postsecondary Education to better meet the needs of students.
“Our goal is to provide a supportive environment in a big institution,” said Mandlehr.
All administrators within the office agree that the shared space will be mutually beneficial to both the transfer students and the administration.
“In the military, everything is centrally located and mapped out,” said Terri Carr, coordinator for the Office of Military and Veteran Student Services. “The idea of a one-stop location helps in smoothing out the transition.”
