An early look into the updated Transfer Center space

By Nicole Wadkins
Staff Reporter

On the second floor of the Gannon Building, students have often passed the construction and temporary walls over the last few semesters. This space is the future home of LCC’s Transfer Center, where students can connect with four-year institutions across the state. Though the space is still under construction, The Lookout gained access to the space for a sneak preview.

 

The new center replaces the current office. LCC Transfer Center director Patricia Spagnuolo expressed that space was always going to be temporary, as it is not conducive for conversations with students that might involve private information. “It’s too tight,” she said. “Oftentimes, when you talk to the students, you need privacy areas because you start talking about things like grades or sometimes a little bit of financial aid becomes part of the conversation. So, you have to be able to have a door.”

Spagnuolo mentioned that the move has been a long time coming. “We were over in the University Center, and it was just a model that wasn’t working because students wanted to go to many more places.” The University Center offered courses from a handful of schools: Central Michigan University, Ferris State University, Northwood University, Siena Heights University, and University of Michigan–Flint. The Transfer Center team wanted to help students on their pathway to any school, though, not just those in the University Center. So, in June 2023, they moved over to Gannon, and six months later, plans for a new and improved Transfer Center started brewing.

 

When students enter the new Transfer Center, they are immediately greeted by the staff at the impressive reception desk. There, they can schedule meetings and join workshops that will help them with their goal to transfer to another higher education institution. Spagnuolo and the Transfer Center staff are dedicated to making that transition as seamless as possible for LCC students. “We can talk to the four-year school,” Spagnuolo said. “We can sort of be that liaison for the student.”

 

The Transfer Center is run by Spagnuolo, an operations manager, transfer specialists and student employees. Their offices will overlook the main space while also providing privacy for when students have advising appointments.

 

For Spagnuolo, pictured her in her future office, the Transfer Center’s mission is personal. After graduating from high school, she had no plans to attend college until a friend encouraged her to take the placement test at LCC together. “The rest is history. I stayed here at LCC, got my associates, went on and got a bachelor’s, went on and got a master's, and was fortunate enough to work here as well,” she said. “Part of my passion is, I don’t want it to be an accident for anybody else. I want it to be very driven. I want them to understand what we’re about so that we can help you right out of the gate.”

 

The new space has been designed to be as inviting as possible. Just beyond the front desk, the center has a seating area with high top chairs and tables designed for students to come in to do homework or just hang out. The center is not just catering towards students planning to transfer. “Our hope is that students will continue to just use the Transfer Center like they did before,” Spagnuolo expressed. “We want it to be very welcoming.”

The center will also have an area stocked with snacks for the students to make the space—and the daunting task of transferring—a bit more inviting. “One of the things we wanted to have is just things for students,” Spagnuolo said. “Snacks or waters or something like that, that are just free.”

 

There will also be a casual seating space for students to use, especially when students want to be in a quiet area. “If somebody wants to come and sit, they’re more than welcome to just come in,” Spagnuolo said. “It doesn’t have to be for a specific purpose.”

 

The center includes a dedicated virtual advising room with a large screen for remote appointments. Schools like Michigan Tech—which is an eight-hour drive away from Lansing—have already expressed interest in using the space for virtual advising. “Students can schedule something and come in here and sit and work one-on-one with their advisor,” Spagnuolo said.

 

There is also a group work room for information sessions. The space will be primarily available to any school looking to connect with students right at LCC’s Downtown Campus, but will also be available for other events and programming.  “We just really want to be that conduit for students to understand transfer,” Spagnuolo said.

 

The new center includes many rooms that visiting universities can reserve on a rotating schedule. The rooms are not permanently assigned; any institution can book one of the spaces to meet with students. “As long as it’s open in the schedule, they just put their time in and then they will be able to use the office space,” Spagnuolo said. This will enable any school from across the country to come to the Transfer Center to meet with LCC students.  

 

The grand opening for the center is tentatively scheduled for March 18, which will happen on the same day as the Job and Internship Fair and the Transfer Fair. “We want to do it all on the same day,” Spagnuolo noted.

Spagnuolo is looking forward to welcoming students into the new space and guiding students toward their goals at four-year colleges and universities. “Come in our doors,” she said. “We will figure it out together.”