Representatives from universities from around the country were out in full force Thursday in the liberal arts breezeway for American River College Transfer Day.
Rick Ramirez, the director of the transfer center at ARC, says Transfer Day gives students the opportunity to branch out and explore options beyond ARC.
“We do this every year,” Ramirez said. “Every fall we do this college fair that focuses on transfer.”
“This is great. This is my job. My role on campus is really to pump up our transfer mission. That’s part of what this institution is about – students who transfer to four year institutions,” he added.
Mark W. Ishizu, admissions officer for the Air Force ROTC for Sacramento State University, was at a booth spotting potential recruits.
“ROTC is a college program that is centered around the college student experience,” Ishizu said. “The reason we are at ARC is that ARC is actually one of our home schools.
“The end goal is that the day you graduate with a bachelors degree, you commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. So we’re here communicating scholarship opportunities, career options and ways to make it work for you,” he added.
Natalie Whaley was recruiting for Sierra Nevada College, a small private liberal arts university in Incline Village, Nev.
“We typically every year have a lot of transfer students that come in from California community colleges,” she said. “We are a nice option and we offer a half tuition discount for California students who come in to our college from the time they enter to when they graduate.”
Another small school at the event was the Dominican University of California, represented by Joshua McCay.
“With American River, we have quite a few of our nursing students who have come from here in the past,” he said. “We’re here to explain to future students what we offer as a university and what options we have available.”
The California College of the Arts is a school that specializes in, among other things, art and architecture.
“We’re located in the Bay Area, which is that great intersection of design and technology,” a representative from the California College of the Arts said. “There’s a lot of great companies that are constantly coming to us to hire our students directly. It’s a great place to go.”
Ramirez is optimistic about what can come out of Transfer Day, which he says is integral to the ARC’s mission.
“This is part of what we do: having the fair, giving out information, giving students the opportunity to talk to admissions representatives who actually make decisions. It’s a good opportunity for students,” Ramirez said.