2026-27 Award Recipients:
Whitney Carswell
Virginia Commonwealth University
Meet Whitney
Whitney Carswell, M.Ed., serves as the director of the Transfer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia. Whitney joined VCU in 2007 and began working exclusively with transfer students in 2012 when she started in the Transfer Center as a transfer advisor, becoming director in 2020. Whitney was instrumental in securing a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence Award in 2018 with the goal of improving outcomes for transfer students in math and science disciplines at VCU. Whitney has presented about transfer students at numerous conferences, been published in About Campus, and passionately supported the interests of transfer students at the state and institutional levels. In 2023 Whitney was honored with the VCU Staff Senate’s Executive Award for Staff Advocacy and the VCU Military Student Services Distinguished Service Award. Whitney continues to advocate for transfer students and support their holistic wellbeing through the VCU Transfer Year Experience program.
Robin Haggins
Florida State University
Meet Robin
Robin K. Haggins is the Director of Transfer Student Success in the Division of Undergraduate Studies at Florida State University, where she has dedicated her career to advancing the success, engagement, and persistence of transfer students. With more than 30 years of experience in higher education, she leads innovative initiatives that strengthen the transfer student experience through campus-wide partnerships, academic support, mentoring, success coaching, and community college collaboration.
Haggins has expanded opportunities for transfer students to connect, engage, and thrive, including establishing Florida State University’s first Tau Sigma Honorary Society charter and implementing annual National Transfer Student Week celebrations. She also leads transfer student mentoring and success coaching initiatives and provides outreach, advising, and professional development focused on transfer student success.
A passionate educator, Haggins has more than two decades of teaching experience in academic success, career development, leadership, and transfer student success. She has presented at state and university-level institutes on academic resilience and success coaching for transfer students.
Haggins earned a master’s degree in social science/public administration from Florida State University and a bachelor’s degree in international Affairs with a minor in Economics.
Lauren Prepose-Forsen
University of Hawaii, Mānoa
Meet Dr. Prepose-Forsen
Dr. Lauren Prepose-Forsen serves as the Director of the Mānoa Transfer Coordination Center (MTCC) and transfer advisor for Windward Community College and Honolulu Community College. In her role as Director, she leads with great gratitude to her team of transfer specialists who provide much needed transfer support to students across the University of Hawaiʻi Community College (UHCC) system. The Kaʻieʻie Transfer Program which is managed by the MTCC team is touted as a best practice for UHCC transfer students and promotes higher rates of retention and timely graduation. She serves as a liaison between the UHCCs and UH Mānoa on matters related to transfer and has advocated for scholarships and policy changes to improve the transfer student experience. She was recently awarded the 2026 Pakela Individual Advisor Award for UH Mānoa and was also awarded the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 9 Community College Advising Award in 2021.