As class registration begins each semester, rumors circulate regarding transfer to the Oakland campus.

Spring 2010 registration began Oct. 22.

All Pitt regional campuses have students planning to transfer to Pitt-Oakland. Whether these students are able to make the move depends on their grade-point average and classes taken. Also, certain deadlines have to be met.

Sophomore Kristi Baxendell, an Oakland accounting student, said she was able to move from Pitt-Greensburg after only one year.

“I was a business major . . . for business you only need a 3.0 (grade-point average) and 30 credits to transfer,” Baxendell said. “Of the 30 credits, you have to take five classes, and you need a 3.0 in those classes to transfer.”

Baxendell said she decided to switch her major to accounting before moving to Pitt-Oakland. Despite the change in major, she was cleared to transfer earlier than most other students.

“It’s not that Oakland doesn’t want the students,” she said. “It’s that the branch campuses don’t want to lose them.”

Pitt-Johnstown Academic Affairs worker Gladys Andrews has a different interpretation, saying Pitt-Oakland often screens incoming transfer students to keep enrollment numbers at a steady level.

UPJ students in most fields of study must have 60 credits and a 3.0 grade point average to move to Oakland. In effect, this means a full two years of study, according to Andrews.

As for students who wish to transfer early, Andrews said their plans must be discussed with Pitt administrators.

“(The policy) is across the board. It’s up to Oakland . . . there has to be a sound reason for (an early transfer),” she said.

Andrews explained the logic behind keeping students at branches for their first two years of study.

“Basically, you don’t start your major at Oakland until junior year,” she said. Students planning to transfer can complete general education requirements at UPJ before moving on to more advanced studies in Pittsburgh.

In addition to students who transfer as a result of personal preference, some are required to move to Oakland to complete their majors.

These include pre dental and, in some cases, premedical students, whose majors are not fully covered at UPJ, Andrews said.

One of the rumors regarding Pitt-Johnstown students’ transfer status is that administrators have a policy of encouraging students to stay here all four years.

Andrews said this is not a policy, but perhaps a general opinion among administrators.

“It’s not a policy but . . . basically you’re already here, so of course we’re going to try to encourage you (to stay),” she said.

Another rumor circulating among hopeful transfer students is that some credits earned at Pitt-Johnstown are not accepted at the Oakland campus.

Andrews was surprised to hear the myth.

“Your entire record goes over,” she said. “There may be some credits that get placed differently, but everything goes over.

“What they’re talking about are requirements for a major.”

Some majors hold different prerequisites at Oakland, so certain classes taken at UPJ can fail to fulfill major requirements after transfer.

Credits earned, however, are guaranteed to remain the same within the Pitt system.

Students hoping to move to Oakland are required to submit requests to the Pitt-Oakland Registrar’s Office by Nov. 30. Andrews said this means they should ideally be submitted to the Johnstown office by Nov. 16.