BOONE, N.C. — App State's Academic Services for Student-Athletes staff was honored on the national stage recently with the Model Practice Award in Academics for its work on how the department approaches and manages the transfer portal process.
Sharon Sweeting is ASA's interim director, while Kayla Hill and Taylor Webster are assistant directors. Hill and Webster presented their model at the annual National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) Convention held earlier this month in Las Vegas. N4A is administered by NACDA, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
App State's "Evaluating Transfers: A Process Built on Collaboration, Consistency, and the Transfer Tracker" presentation highlighted a model that was developed through a collaborative partnership among ASA, Transfer Admissions and Engagement and campus stakeholders. It provides coaches, advisors and prospective student-athletes with timely, accurate and transparent information during recruitment.
At the center of the model is the Transfer Tracker, a streamlined system designed to improve communication, standardize evaluations and ensure compliance with NCAA and institutional requirements. The process allows transfer prospects to be reviewed efficiently while providing detailed academic evaluations, eligibility assessments, degree pathway options and timelines.
Since the model was implemented two years ago, Appalachian State University has completed more than 640 transfer evaluations, enrolled 176 transfer student-athletes and successfully managed high-volume transfer portal periods without sacrificing accuracy or service.
A Boone native who earned a Master's degree from App State, Sweeting has been part of the ASA staff for the last 15 years.
Hill, who also joined the ASA staff in 2011, was a pitcher for App State's softball program during her time as a collegiate student-athlete. A national-championship-winning field hockey player at the collegiate level, Webster joined the ASA staff in 2018.
