Transfer students take the mic in YouTube podcast series

DLT and the Office of Transfer Student Success team up to give transfer students a platform 

When Jorge Hernandez arrived at the University of Utah, it felt like being “a little fish in a big bowl.” A transfer student from Utah Valley University and single parent of two teenagers, he was starting a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies, a new program at the U, and “didn’t know where to go for help.” 

Hernandez wants the next transfer student to have an easier start. That’s why he and nine fellow transfer students volunteered for a National Transfer Student Week podcast series — five conversations between pairs of students now streaming on YouTube. The series is a partnership between the Office of Transfer Student Success in the Office of Graduate Studies and UIT’s Digital Learning Technologies (DLT), whose student Adobe creative consultants recorded and produced each episode. 

The idea grew out of a smaller project. For 2025’s National Transfer Student Week, Devon Darland, director for the Office of Transfer Student Success, and Tamar Castillo, senior supervisor for technology product training in DLT, produced a short audio feature with one transfer student. It went so well that Darland wanted to do it again with more students. 

This year’s twist, during the event’s October 19-23 run, was that students interviewed each other. “Secondarily, it became a really good way for transfer students to meet each other,” Darland said. She intentionally paired students with different experiences: in-state, out-of-state, and international students; traditional college-age students; and single parents. 

Before recording, students received questions, a mix of prompts from last year’s episode and new ones tied to this year’s theme, “Every Journey Recognized.”

There were no scripted answers, but students could think through their responses, and in some episodes, they asked each other follow-up questions on their own. Hernandez said the note cards he brought were helpful “because I’m not good at memorizing everything,” though he suspects a conversation without them would be even better. 

For most students, this was their first time in a podcast studio. It was also a first for the studio itself. DLT installed a new video console system over the summer, and Castillo suggested adding video to the series to put it to use. 

Paige Tarsio, one of DLT’s newest Adobe creative consultants, greeted students, set up their microphones, and adjusted audio during recording. Castillo took photos and headshots afterward. Adobe Creative Consultant Andrew Decker designed the graphics for digital monuments and posters, about 500 of which went up across campus. 

Hernandez worried about “messing up” and the conversation feeling unnatural, but he grew more comfortable as his chat with Kendall Harward, a Communication Studies major who transferred from Salt Lake Community College, went on. Darland heard much of the same from others as they left the studio: It wasn’t as bad as they thought,  or it was fun. “I think they surprised themselves,” she said. 

Editing the episodes, Tarsio found plenty of chemistry and trimmed off-topic banter to keep each one focused. The outtakes will get a second life as a blooper reel on social media. 

For Darland, the series is about more than a first podcast experience. “Transfer students often feel invisible on this campus, and not just our campus. I think that’s a nationwide phenomenon,” she said. 

The series has had more than 350 views since promotions began. Students were excited to learn they’d be on posters, and several asked to keep a copy. “They joked about being famous on campus for a week,” Darland said. 

Darland hopes to record another round in the spring because “we have transfer students here all year long.” She called the partnership with DLT a wonderful experience: “Tamar’s team really brings all the skills that I don’t have … and I appreciate their help so much.” 

For Castillo’s team, it was a chance to put the new studio, and a new generation of Adobe creative consultants, to work for students across campus.

 

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