SRU, BC3 sign pair of articulation agreements

Butler County Community College President Nick Neupauer and Slippery Rock University President Cheryl Norton signed a pair of articulation agreements Dec. 15.

Dec. 16, 2016

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University and Butler County Community College have signed articulation agreements that will enable BC3 students to easily transition into SRU's undergraduate programs in homeland security and health and physical teacher education: school wellness education.

The partnership provides a curricular plan for students who want to begin their higher education at BC3 and transfer to SRU. Administrators reviewed curriculum at both institutions to create a track that will satisfy general education requirements and major-specific coursework.

Students will transition from:

• BC3's associate degree in applied science in homeland security to SRU's bachelor of science degree in homeland security; and
• BC3's associate in science in physical education: teacher education to SRU's bachelor of science in health and physical teacher education: school wellness education.

"The goal of an articulation agreement is to provide a clear and solid academic pathway for students who choose, for varied reasons, to start their post-secondary education at a community college prior to transfer," said Betsy Stevens, SRU associate director of admissions,who worked with department chairs to facilitate the agreements.

SRU's homeland security program prepares graduates for employment in the areas of corporate security, intelligence, investigations, law enforcement, emergency response and travel security. Coursework topics include: terrorism, risk analysis, physical security and law, ethics and multicultural competence.

"The importance of providing entry-level workers into the field of homeland security is extremely critical given the importance of national security in our society," said Susan Lubinski, associate professor of criminology and security studies.

"This is true even in our own backyard in western Pennsylvania. Western Pennsylvania is a target-rich environment vulnerable not only to attack but to both the theft and sabotage of proprietary information. Corporations and law enforcement agencies are targets in today's environment."

Lubinski said the new emphasis on securing the country requires a strong partnership between government and the private sector.

"That is why SRU also created the bachelor of science in corporate security, so future security management professionals, who secure 85 percent of the critical infrastructure and critical assets in America, can learn how to protect a company's personnel, critical assets, infrastructure and people," said Lubinski.

"In order to effectively secure our country, you must have a strong partnering between the public sector and the private sector. You cannot have one without the other," she said.

SRU's health and physical teacher education: school wellness education program, prepares graduates to be certified to teach K-12 health and physical education with a health and wellness focus. Graduates will advocate the benefits of healthy living and be qualified to coordinate school-wide wellness initiatives.

"Our graduates will still teach what most people would think of as physical education, but with a completely different method," said Randy Nichols, professor of physical and health education. "Our mantra is to create a culture of health and wellness in schools, but one not limited to just in the gym or health class."

With these new pacts, SRU and BC3 now offer 21 program-to-program articulation agreements.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gordon Ovenshine | 724.738.4854 | gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu