Meet UVA Batten’s first transfer student navigator
Sean Gillaspie stationed himself at the check-in table on the morning of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy’s Bachelor of Arts orientation, determined to be the first face incoming transfer students saw. This summer, he became UVA Batten’s first transfer student navigator, a peer resource created to help incoming transfer students find their footing and feel a sense of belonging from the start.
This year’s cohort of 10 transfer students is the largest UVA Batten has welcomed to date – part of why the school created the position. It’s a fitting role for Gillaspie, a fourth-year student who was in a similar situation just a year earlier.
Gillaspie’s path to UVA Batten was unconventional. Originally from Flat Rock, Michigan, he attended four colleges before earning his associate degree at Henry Ford College and transferring to Wayne State University to study finance. He was the first in his family to graduate from high school, let alone pursue a bachelor’s degree. Along the way, he took on a string of leadership positions, including co-founding a chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success at Wayne State and holding jobs ranging from optician to journalist to middle school teacher.
Gillaspie’s strong grades opened the door to apply broadly to top finance programs across the country. UVA Batten’s Bachelor of Arts program appeared in his search results as an applied economics degree.
Gillaspie admits he needed some time to find his footing at UVA Batten.
“For a while, I was comparing myself to people who seemed like they already understood UVA, had their communities and knew how everything worked,” he said.
That feeling didn’t last, though. Gillaspie points to a spring-term class, Behavioral Science for Civic Leadership with Eileen Chou, now UVA Batten’s interim dean, as a turning point. Many of his classmates were second-year students still deciding on their paths at UVA, and Gillaspie found himself talking with them about his experience at Batten and encouraging them to apply.
“I think that is when my perspective started shifting from, ‘Do I fit in here?’ to ‘What can I contribute while I’m here?’”
Jenn Fraticelli, the admissions officer at UVA Batten who works with transfer students, has watched the position take shape from the other side.
“We’ve learned from prospective students that the admissions office is offering good institutional knowledge, but what we can’t provide is a direct lens on the student experience,” Fraticelli said. “Having a peer-to-peer contact has filled that critical gap in helping to see themselves at UVA Batten.”
That’s where Gillaspie stepped in. Transfer students often have more to manage than other classmates who started at UVA as first-year students – sorting out housing and financial aid, catching up on required coursework, adjusting to a new school, city and social scene – and the biggest hurdle is often knowing who to ask for help.
His role is to break the ice, figure out what a student needs and connect them to the right person quickly. It’s not a substitute for Batten’s formal academic advising, just a faster path to it.
“His work makes all the difference and truly matters,” Fraticelli said. “Having a peer who provides resources, support and a genuine point of connection helps students navigate that change and feel like they truly belong at Batten.”
Gillaspie also built “New Hoos,” an app for this year’s transfer cohort that walks them through common questions and points them to the right person on Grounds for help.
“I want to shorten the distance between the experience transfer students bring and the meaningful participation they can have at UVA,” Gillaspie said.
For Chris Cole, a third-year Batten transfer student from Streamwood, Illinois, who transferred from Augustana College and started classes at Batten in August, that support has helped him get acclimated to the school.
“Sean’s mentorship has been a breath of fresh air within this anxious transfer process,” Cole said. “He has answered the questions we’ve had for him, and he has been our largest advocate and supporter. He has provided us with words of encouragement, letting us know we belong here at Batten.”
Looking back, Gillaspie said he thought about how far he had come as he watched this year’s transfer students walk into orientation with the same nervousness he once had. A year ago, he was the one searching for a familiar face. This year, he was it.
