By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Officials with Northern Maine Community College and the University of Maine at Presque Isle signed two articulation agreements last Thursday that will ensure students experience a smooth transition when they opt to transfer between institutions.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
HISTORIC SIGNING — Two articulation agreements were signed last Thursday that will ensure that Northern Maine Community College and University of Maine at Presque Isle students experience a smooth transition when they opt to transfer between institutions. Officials on hand for the signing were, from left: Dr. Dottie Martin, NMCC academic dean; NMCC President Timothy Crowley, UMPI President Linda Schott and Michael Sonntag, UMPI provost and vice president for academic affairs.
NMCC President Timothy Crowley and UMPI President Linda Schott led the official signing of the documents, which now can be utilized by students who are preparing for the 2013-14 academic year.
“This agreement creates an important benefit and facilitates the way for our students whose goal is to attain a four-year degree,” said Crowley. “Not only will this agreement make it easier for students to move from one institution to the other, but this is very symbolic of a relationship that’s developing that allows NMCC and UMPI to continue to work closely to provide opportunities for higher education for people in Aroostook County, and we’re excited about that.”
Schott also saw the signing of the agreements as an important step forward.
“One thing that we know about students today is that they tend to move around a lot more than they used to. When I went to college it was common to go someplace, stay there for 4-5 years, and finish,” said Schott. “These days that’s much less common. Students tend to take credits here, take credits somewhere else, and look for creative ways to combine those. We also know that students change their minds about what they want to do as they grow and mature and work through their secondary education. These kinds of articulation agreements acknowledge those realities and will make it much easier — and less costly — for students.
“Both of these articulation agreements provide students with clear pathways to achieving their higher education goals, whether they want to transition from NMCC to UMPI, from UMPI to NMCC, or leverage their associate’s degree in early childhood education into a bachelor’s degree,” she said. “We are delighted to make the process easier for them and to be a leader in the state in terms of increasing transferability.”
The first articulation agreement ensures that students at either institution are able to transfer their general education courses easily between schools. General education courses are defined by each institution but are generally in the areas of English, math, science and the humanities, which students must take in order to graduate. The agreement is especially timely considering statewide efforts to increase transferability between Maine’s public universities and community colleges are ongoing.
“Since general education courses are a core group of classes that all students must take at the university and the college, it makes perfect sense for our institutions to standardize and accept credits seamlessly from transferring students,” said Dr. Dottie Martin, NMCC academic dean. “Today’s agreement will allow students to more quickly complete their degree and save money.”
The second agreement allows for transition between NMCC’s early childhood education associate in applied science degree program and UMPI’s bachelor of science in elementary education degree program, which has an early childhood education concentration option. Not only does this agreement allow students who complete their two-year ECE degree at NMCC to efficiently transfer to UMPI, it also allows UMPI elementary education students doing an ECE concentration to take ECE classes at NMCC that then transfer back to their UMPI degree.
In addition, a new UMPI faculty member has been hired to provide greater support for students participating in this program. Wendy Ross serves as the new assistant professor of early childhood education and as the director of UMPI’s early childhood education program.
“This agreement strengthens a partnership that UMPI and NMCC began back in 2010 to help early childhood teachers meet state requirements to have or move toward a bachelor’s degree,” said Michael Sonntag, UMPI provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We’re very pleased to get the different early childhood degree paths from NMCC to UMPI mapped out so students know exactly what classes they need to complete in order to earn their four-year degree. I’m especially delighted to welcome a new full-time faculty member to serve as instructor and adviser for this program to ensure students have all the support they need to be successful.”
