By Jalyn Bolyard, Online Editor
West Liberty University and West Virginia Northern Community College signed an admission agreement on Monday, Oct. 22. With the new agreement, WVNCC students are guaranteed admission to WLU after they complete their associate degree.
WVNCC students who have completed either their Associate in Applied Science or Associate in Arts degree will be guaranteed admission.
“I think it will enhance enrollment,” said WLU President Dr. Stephen Greiner. “We’ve already seen positive results, we’re getting calls. We’re actually getting calls from students who graduated a year or two ago asking, ‘Does this apply to me?’ I think it’s exciting to develop a relationship and collaboration [with WVNCC].”
This agreement does apply to all WVNCC graduates, not only 2018 graduates and onward, as long as they have a degree.
The plan for students will be to transfer to WLU with junior standing, potentially graduating within two years with their bachelor’s degree. This agreement with WVNCC, however, does not guarantee admission into specific programs. Students interested in a specific program will still have to follow those specific admission requirements.
“We’ve had a long relationship with West Virginia Northern Community College. The students who transfer here have done well,” said Greiner.
This agreement takes away stress students may have about applying. “It just cuts out one major hurdle, the trauma of ‘am I going to get accepted into university?’ First of all, you’ve already proven yourself that you can do high quality academic work by having finished your degree,” said Greiner.
WVNCC has campuses in New Martinsville, Weirton and Wheeling. According to its website, students can select from a variety of courses in “the arts and sciences, career-technical education, developmental studies and community service.”
The idea of the guaranteed admission agreement stems way back. Greiner previously corresponded an admission agreement when he was academic vice president of University of Evansville in Evansville, Ind.
“I studied the graduation rates of students who transferred to the university from community colleges. One of the things I noticed was the incredibly high graduation rate for two-year students who transferred to a four-year university and then graduated in two years,” said Greiner. “To me, it just made sense for us to actively recruit graduates of community colleges, which back then led me to developing a guarantee articulation agreement with a community college that was right across the river from the University of Evansville.”
That admission agreement is still going on today.
For WLU, Greiner is already looking ahead at possible collaborations with other community colleges. “It seems like a logical next step is to be able to offer this for other community colleges in the state of West Virginia,” said Greiner. Community colleges nearby in Ohio are also being considered.
The new agreement is automatically in effect and more admission agreements may be coming in the future.
“It just made sense,” said Greiner.
Photo Credit: Media Relations
