FRONT ROW: Jessica Muth, Irene Flores, Roni Peter, Sofia Maldonado, Evelin Martin
Del Campo,
Elizabeth Merino Alcantara, Jessica Silva; MIDDLE ROW: Joseph Vallejo, Jesus Solorio,
Areli Tiscareno,
Aidee Raygoza, Citlalli Garcia; Back row: Kathleen Farrand, Alex Shaw
An experimental program in the Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics (MVS) aims to help transfer students achieve academic and career success in a fun and engaging way.
Funded through a $287,000 grant by the Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) Foundation, The Transfer Envision Network or “TEN” is a 10-week “gamified” professional development and career readiness challenge for transfer students majoring in Business. The program was designed and developed by Jessica Muth, MVS Director of Career Success Initiatives and an MVS faculty member.
Students in the TEN program have the opportunity to take part in numerous activities designed to help them succeed in school and land jobs within their major when they graduate. Examples include attending on-campus guest speaker events in accounting, finance, and entrepreneurship and learning how to craft resumes for today’s AI-enhanced employer screenings.
What makes TEN especially engaging is that students can track their progress and participation on a game-like app called Suitable. Moving through four different levels, they earn points and rewards along the way.
“We wanted to explore student success in a more holistic way,” said Muth. “We came up with this experimental design that provides monetary incentives and connections to the regional business community and also includes an easy-to-use tracking app that has game-like elements.”
Each time they complete all activities in a level, students are rewarded for their persistence, earning incentives such as MVS apparel, notepads, a branded padfolio, and a cord to wear at graduation. When they complete all four levels, they are matched with a career mentor and earn a $1,000 reward.
“By connecting students to regional and campus resources designed to help them achieve career-readiness goals, we believe the program will lead to improved student retention and graduation outcomes that will help eliminate equity gaps,” said Muth.
The Suitable app gamifys progress.
The ECMC Foundation funded the program to explore the impact of co-curricular, career-readiness experiences on transfer student success. TEN’s effectiveness will be measured by whether students remain in school, complete more units, spend more time studying, and land a job within their major within three months of graduating.
The program ran in the Spring semester of 2024 and will run again in the Spring of 2025 with two cohorts of 60 different students participating each time.
So far, student feedback has been positive.
Jess Silva, a third-year student participating in TEN, feels the program is helping her meet and engage with other students who are new to CSUCI.
“As a transfer student, I was really connected to my previous college,” said Silva. “TEN has helped me meet other transfer students who haven’t already established roots here at CSUCI.”
“Our hope is that transfer students will find value in the program,” added Muth. “By making professional development opportunities accessible, we can further support our students while also strengthening the regional workforce.”