Dec. 3, 2004

Contact: Gordon Ovenshine: 724-738-4854; gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu

SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY AND BUTLER COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE EXPAND PARTNERSHIP,

APPROVE 15 MORE TRANSITION PROGRAMS

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- A collaborative agreement signed today by the presidents of Slippery Rock University and Butler County Community College enables BC3 students to transition into 15 additional programs, for a total of 28 transition programs, at SRU.

The agreement provides for smooth transition into SRU’s four communication tracks, information systems, environmental studies, geography and social work majors. Most of the previous transition programs had been in education and business.

SRU President Robert M. Smith and BC3 President Cynthia Azari signed the articulation agreement, hailing it as a partnership for the community. They noted that over the past five years,19 to 23 percent of SRU transfer enrollment came from BC3. 

“Our goal is to have seamless transition between students at Butler County Community College and Slippery Rock University, and we seek the day when all of our programs have a formal transition agreement,” Smith said.  “We respect the students from BC3 for their academic talent and their leadership for our campus.  Of all of our community college relationships, none is as strong as the one we have with Butler County Community College.”

“We are very proud of our relationship with Slippery Rock University; it is a first class institution with excellent faculty and a supportive administration” Azari said.  “Our students move seamlessly into many programs, and we are hopeful that we will continue to develop agreements with additional instructional programs.” 

Two institutions coming together for the benefit of students bucks the competitive trend in higher education and has been spotlighted at a national conference in Las Vegas and two in Harrisburg. In March, SRU will send transfer staff to theAmerican Association of Collegiate Registrars inNew York City to present  “It’s Not a Gamble – Creating a Win-Win Transfer Articulation Relationship with Community Colleges.”

 The institutions work cooperatively to support the best interests of students. BC3 students enroll in two-year programs with curriculums established specifically for transition to SRU. They follow a planner showing them the best possible courses to take for transfer, said SRU’s Betsy Stevens, interim director of admissions for transfer services. Admissions counselors from SRU meet with BC3 students regularly.

 The 15 new transition programs are in communication, emerging technology and multimedia, journalism,  public relations, information systems, environmental geoscience/environmental science, environmental geoscience/general, environmental science, geography/applied geographic technology, geography/environmental studies, geography/general, sociology/criminology, sociology/general, sociology/anthropology and social work.

The 13 others transfer programs are accounting, economics, finance, human resource management, international business, management, marketing, environmental geoscience/geology, elementary education/early childhood development, secondary education/citizenship (social studies), special education, metrology/physics and psychology.