Already known for our nationally-recognized first-year experience, the University of South Carolina is home to unmatched support and resources for our entire student body — including returning students and transfer students. Key to that mission is the Carolina Experience, a cross-coordinating department launched in 2024 to ensure a holistic comprehensive undergraduate experience.

The Carolina Experience office, led by Director Amber Fallucca, is focused on extending awareness of USC’s memorable experiences and strong resources to sophomores, juniors, seniors and transfer students. Much of that work is being done well already across the Columbia campus and beyond, so Fallucca’s team is focused on working with offices around campus to elevate key programming and drive students to take advantage of all they can.

That cross-coordination led the Carolina Experience to partner with another department supporting transfer students: the USC athletic department. The Gamecocks currently have 21 varsity teams across the Southeastern Conference, Sun Belt Conference and Big 12 Conference. More than 700 student athletes make up those teams, and many began their careers at other colleges and universities before transferring to USC, missing out on the top-ranked first-year experience.

Fallucca, who also serves as affiliate faculty in USC’s College of Education, says the idea of a partnership started when she took her intercollegiate athletics and higher ed class on a tour of the Dodie Anderson Academic Center. There, she got to know Senior Associate Athletics Director for Academics Charlie Ball and the athletic department’s academic support program.

“The USC athletics department really thinks about the holistic student athlete,” Fallucca says. “I have a background administratively in athletics departments, and I would say they're one of the most holistic that I’ve seen, and that's wonderful to see from a student affairs partnership, that they care so much, and they know how to walk the talk.”

Once the Carolina Experience office was established, Ball and Fallucca re-connected about emerging needs within athletics and zeroed in on the needs of transfer student-athletes.

“It's just making them feel welcome because it's easy to find your community as a first-year student,” Ball says. “But take for example, if student comes in in January, they don't have very long to get acclimated to campus. They come in, they're starting class that next week, so we noticed that that was a population that needed us just a little more.”

For the Carolina Experience, that extra support took the form of an Adulting 101 class. The Adulting 101 series is designed for upperclassmen to help develop skills that help them in life outside the classroom — things like a credit workshop, a meal prep cooking class and a session on dressing for the job market. For this class, it was a crash course in car maintenance.

“I went to my mechanic to say, ‘Will you do me a favor and spend an afternoon facilitating this workshop?’ So we were in the Dodie garage, he brought a car, and we provided a lesson on how to change a tire, how to check your battery, how to check your oil, and we provided a Carolina Experience overview. It was a big hit," Fallucca says.

The car workshop was just one step in the partnership and just one part of the athletic department’s summer bridge program. The program, S.P.U.R.S. or Student-Athlete Programming for University Readiness and Success, also includes time with the Title IX office, Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, the First-Generation Center and other key campus partners.

Additionally, Fallucca was invited this fall to serve as a faculty guest coach, which included a presence on the sidelines ahead of the Gamecock football team’s win over Kentucky on Sept. 27. Ball says the faculty guest coaching program honors professors and staff from the university who play a part in building the holistic student-athlete, and the program has expanded to cover all varsity sports.

“We normally ask our student athletes to send us an instructor to invite for faculty guest coach.  We share what our programing looks like. They show up two hours prior to kickoff for football. They see the students come through, we talk about our programing, and they can just see what the production looks like,” Ball says. “I'm excited to say that we actually had an opportunity to do it for every sport since I transitioned into this role.”

Moving forward, the Carolina Experience partnership will serve as a strong touchpoint for student-athletes adjusting to campus and connecting to USC’s resources. Ball plans to increase tabling opportunities in the Dodie Anderson Athletic Center and build on the workshops tailored to transfer student-athletes.

Building the Carolina Experience as a whole

Beyond work for transfer student-athletes, Fallucca and her team are continuing to build the Carolina Experience office as a resource to elevate and connect existing campus resources, especially for the majority of continuing and transfer students that live off-campus.

“I think what we do have is a lot of resources in place. How we can help is to better customize and elevate these experiences,” she says. “We know the Career Center and the Student Success Center and other places are doing a lot for transfers and for sophomores, juniors and seniors. We’re elevating what's happening from there.”

Already, all students past the first year have a Carolina Experience peer leader assigned as part of their student success team in Navigate 360. That is always a student who is the same academic year, if not higher, and can help support students in a number of areas — from dining questions and roommate issues to learning about scholarships, study abroad and career opportunities.

The office also supports targeted programming for its focused populations, such as Sophomore September and Transfer Welcome Week in addition to the Adulting 101 series. New this year is the Countdown to Commencement, which brings in over a dozen campus partners that play a part in the graduation process to prepare and celebrate students as they gear up to walk across the stage.

To read more about the Carolina Experience, click here or visit https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/carolina-experience/ .