NEWS RELEASE DATE: July 23, 2012 FOR USE: Immediate CONTACT: Steve Quakenbush
GCCC & K-State Sign Reverse Transfer Degree Agreement
Associate degree completion possible for GCCC alums already attending KSU
Garden City Community College and Kansas State University have signed a new agreement making it possible for students to complete their community college associate degrees even after they have transferred to the university.
The reverse transfer agreement was signed by Dr. Herbert J. Swender, GCCC president, and Dr. Kirk Schultz, K-State president, during a ceremony in Anderson Hall on the K-State campus in Manhattan.
The arrangements allow credits earned at K-State to transfer toward an unfinished associate degree at GCCC, meaning that a student who moves to K-State from GCCC can complete his or her associate degree even if he or she didn’t do so before transferring.
“Increasing access to higher education for all Kansans is a vital part of K-State’s 2025 plan, and this reverse transfer partnership with Garden City Community College advances our visionary plan by providing a new opportunity for students to achieve even more with their educational goals,” Schulz said at the July 19 ceremony.
“We are pleased to enter this partnership with the university, because it offers yet another advantage to the students of GCCC,” Swender said. “We strive to provide each student with an educational experience of quality and excellence, and adding this option of the reserve transfer degree is simply an enhancement of that opportunity.”
Under the agreement, students enrolled at K-State who previously attended GCCC, or who are currently enrolled at the community college, meet its resident credit requirements and are able to transfer a minimum of 45 credit hours to K-State, will be eligible for reverse transfer credit.
The agreement takes effect for students enrolling in the 2012 fall semester, as well as for all future semesters.
Under the arrangements, personnel from each institution will stay in close contact, and K-State will notify GCCC transfer students when they’re eligible to use the plan to complete associate degrees.
Among those on hand for the signing, in addition to Swender and Schultz, were Ryan Ruda, GCCC vice president for student services; Nikki Geier, GCCC admissions director; Nancy Unruh, GCCC registrar; and Colin Lamb, GCCC counseling services director.
Ruda noted that a number of GCCC students transfer each year to K-State, and said the agreement adds convenience and flexibility to their degree options.
“This agreement is one more way to give students from all corners of the state seamless access to higher education,” said Pat Bosco, K-State vice president for student life. “Garden City provides an excellent community college experience to many students who will go on to be K-Staters, and we wanted to reward them for their hard work with the option of obtaining their associate degree.”
GCCC and K-State already have prior agreements in place for the benefit of students. The institutions signed a series of two-plus-two arrangements in October of 2011. Those allow students to complete bachelor’s degrees in Garden City by taking two years of community college course work at GCCC, followed by four semesters of K-State course work through distance learning technology, including the Internet, in the disciplines of social science, family studies and human services, business administration, general business, fire science and technology management.
The two-plus-two agreements were signed last fall in Garden City by Swender and Sue Maes, K-State dean of continuing education, who was also on hand for the reverse transfer signing in Manhattan. Others representing the university in the recent ceremony were Bill Disberger and Deana Cone, assistant admissions directors and transfer coordinators, as well as Bosco.
“We truly appreciate K-State pursuing juniors from our student body,” Swender said. “The relationship between GCCC and K-State is a very real one, and this kind of framework shows the transferability of the courses in our programs.”
Schultz, who swapped collegiate lapel pins with Swender at the gathering, is also planning to serve as a primary speaker at GCCC’s fall semester inservice program in August.
