MURFREESBORO — An agreement signed today between
Middle Tennessee State University and Columbia State Community College will
help students majoring in early childhood education turn their associate
degrees into bachelor’s degrees at MTSU’s Murfreesboro campus.
The agreement brings
more transfer students into MTSU’s 101-year-old tradition of training
Tennessee’s best teachers by easing Columbia State students’ access to the
Bachelor of Science degree program in early childhood education at MTSU.
MTSU President Sidney
A. McPhee and Columbia State President Janet F. Smith formally signed the
agreement today inside MTSU’s Student Union.
"Our continued
partnership with Columbia State takes another step forward with the signing of
this agreement," said McPhee. "This pact underscores our devotion to
student success and our shared resolve to help produce more college graduates
for the state's workforce."
Smith
said the agreement “exemplifies the initiatives of the state of Tennessee, the
Tennessee Board of Regents system and our colleges to increase access to
educational opportunities and degree completion.”
“We are
committed to the success of our students,” she continued, “and this agreement
provides a pathway for students to seamlessly transfer as they pursue their
dreams and future.”
Today’s
effort comes just six months after MTSU and Columbia State signed a pact
allowing nursing students to upgrade their associate degrees to a Bachelor of
Science in Nursing from MTSU. That partnership, announced last November, even
includes special career assistance from the Maury Regional Medical Center in
Columbia, Tenn.
MTSU
and Motlow State Community College signed a similar transfer agreement for
early childhood education majors last month.
Today’s arrangement
provides special advising services for Columbia State transfer students and
encourages academic and administrative coordination between the institutions.
In addition to its
main Maury County campus, Columbia State operates branch campuses in Franklin,
Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton, Tenn., and also serves students from
Hickman, Lewis, Giles and Perry counties.
This new agreement
outlines which Columbia State courses are transferrable to MTSU and lists the
upper-level MTSU courses a transfer student must take to obtain a bachelor’s
degree. Transfer students also must meet normal MTSU admissions requirements,
officials said.
Dr. Kathleen Burriss, interim chair of MTSU’s Department of Elementary
and Special Education, said faculty and staff are “very excited” about the new
opportunity to teach more Tennessee teachers.
“We’re just delighted, because this agreement provides a seamless
transition for our community college candidates to come right into the
university,” Burriss added. “It also gives us a wonderful opportunity to work
with our cohorts at Columbia State. It’s just a reasonable way to do things.”
Marian Warren,
director of Columbia State’s Early Childhood Education Program, said she looks
forward to what students can accomplish with the new agreement.
“I’ve been working
toward this goal since we established our program 13 years ago, and I’m so
excited for our students today,” Warren said. “This will give our students the
venue they need to become great professionals.”
Representatives from
each institution will review the agreement and revise it by mutual consent.
—30—
MTSU is committed to developing a community devoted to
learning, growth and service. We hold these values dear, and there’s a simple
phrase that conveys them: “I am True Blue.” Learn more at www.mtsu.edu/trueblue.
For MTSU news anytime, visit www.MTSUNews.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment