Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention

The Self-Advocacy Advantage:

Alex Chambers — 2026-06-18

This article presents a practical framework for teaching all first-year college students self-advocacy skills during orientation programming. Grounded in Schlossberg's Transition Theory and the framework of self-advocacy (Test et al., 2005), the program proposes the universal need for students to navigate college environments effectively. The four-component model, which includes knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication, and leadership, provides structured yet flexible programming guidelines that support successful college transitions while building lifelong advocacy skills.

You Got Me Here... Now What?

Kaelyn L. Hannah — 2026-06-18

The transition to college is a critical period marked by excitement and uncertainty as first-year students navigate new social and academic environments. This study uses Walton & Cohen’s concept of belonging uncertainty to examine how university-managed Instagram accounts influence belonging uncertainty among first-year students. Using qualitative focus groups, this study investigates how students interpret university social media content and how these interpretations shape perceptions of belonging. Findings indicate that authentic and student-generated content reduces uncertainty and fosters belonging, while overly curated institutional messaging can heighten feelings of exclusion. Implications are discussed for using Instagram as a digital intervention to support first-year transition and retention.

Adjustment Experiences of Students Who Internally Transfer from a Regional to Flagship Campus

Huy Nguyen — 2026-06-19

This study explored the transition experiences of internal transfer students who transfer from a regional to a flagship campus within a large, multi-campus institution. We conducted focus group interviews with 34 undergraduate internal transfer students to understand the challenges and affordances to successful transition and adjustment. Our findings revealed that these students experienced similar academic and social adjustment challenges to community college transfers, while also experiencing challenges unique to the regional-to-flagship campus transfer pathway. Successful transition and adjustment to the flagship campus was partly attributed to students’ robust social supports.

Academic Psychological Capital: College Retention, GPA, Demographic and Student Groups

Johanna Sweet — 2026-06-18

This study aims to further explore the relationship between Academic Psychological Capital (PsyCap), GPA and retention, while also examining how Academic PsyCap differentiates among demographic and student groups. This research is significant as it examines six years of incoming college freshmen with a response rate of 76% (n=2379) and explores Academic PsyCap with demographic and student groups that have not yet been discussed in the academic setting. The results support that Academic PsyCap has a positive significant relationship with GPA and retention, and identified student groups with overall higher Academic PsyCap scores (honor students and student athletes) and groups with overall lower Academic PsyCap scores (female, minorities, and LGBTQ+). As liberal arts colleges and other educational institutions struggle with financial, recruitment, and transition challenges, Academic PsyCap could be one underexplored tool to aid in retention efforts (Sweet & Swayze, 2023). With relationships between Academic PsyCap with GPA and retention, incorporating Academic PsyCap developmental initiatives (hope, self-efficacy, optimism, and resilience) into orientation and core curricula benefits both the student’s educational outcomes and the long-term strategic goals of the institution.

Spring 2026 Letter from the Editor

Dennis Wiese — 2026-06-18

The letter from the editor, Dr. Dennis Wiese, for the Spring 2026 issue.