Alliance continued....Five Alliance programs are currently offered for Maricopa students: honors, nursing, teacher education, Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) in Organizational Studies, and Associate of Applied Science to Bachelor of Applied Science. Programs such as nursing and education were included in the program to address current workforce shortages. “I enrolled in it in the fall because of all the benefits,” says Melissa Rose McLean, who transferred to ASU recently as an education major from Chandler-Gilbert Community College. McLean cites the ease of transferring, workshops, scholarship availability and focus on her major as factors that have contributed to her Alliance success. The program also made McLean feel good about making the transition to a major state university from a community college. “I feel a lot more comfortable and more confident,” she says.
Additional benefits of the Alliance include:
- Early links to the ASU community of academic support services, transfer orientations, and social events are intended to improve academic retention rates upon transfer. ASU has designated advisors assigned to each partnership.
- United efforts between ASU and community colleges address current workplace shortages for professionals such as nurses and teachers. Nurses who go on to study at ASU are more likely to earn advanced degrees, enabling students to become nurse practitioners or nursing faculty who hold doctorate of nursing degrees.
- Nursing and BIS Organizational Studies Alliance students may transfer up to 75 lower-division credit hours to ASU, more than the standard transfer rate of 60 to 64 credit hours.
- Honors Alliance students are eligible for a 2-year ASU scholarship, valued at $2,000 per academic year. To date, 212 Maricopa Community College students have been awarded the Honors Alliance scholarship for their academic excellence.
The Alliance will be publishing a quarterly e-newsletter Growing by Degrees later this fall semester. The publication will feature announcements, new statistics, a spotlight/feature topic, a student highlight, and other current events and successes. It is anticipated that the first edition will be available in early November. For more information on these partnership programs, or to be added to the distribution list for the e-newsletter, please contact Alliance Program Manager Kelly Gwilliam at 480-731-8138, or go online to http://www.maricopa.edu/alliance.
* * * * *
In the Spotlight.... Since 2004, the College for Professional Studies (CPS) at Regis University, which was specifically designed for the adult student, has maintained an articulation arrangement with Maricopa that allows students to complete their associate's degree plus 30 hours of additional coursework at the community college and complete their bachelor’s degree through online courses at Regis. Under Regis University’s Associates to Bachelors Program, or A to B, students are able to complete a baccalaureate degree online or in the classroom by transferring up to 90 semester hours, or the equivalent of three years of study, from any Maricopa Community College. The remaining hours can be taken online at Regis. Regis offers several services to transfer students including a free unofficial transcript evaluation in less than 48 hours. Students can email their request to AtoB@regis.edu. Furthermore, students are assigned to a personal enrollment counselor who will walk them through the admissions process. Once admitted, students are assigned a faculty advisor who will be their mentor until they graduate. Regis encourages students to apply early so they can obtain an official degree plan and receive guidance from their faculty advisor. Contacting Regis early often saves students from taking courses that will not transfer into one of the many degree programs. Regis puts a high value on its partnerships, and its advisors strongly encourage all students to finish their associate’s degree and to take the third year of classes at the community college. Additionally, Regis and Maricopa are looking for ways to extend the current partnership to students pursuing an Associate in Applied Science degree by articulating with the Regis Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree. Fire science and law enforcement are two other programs being examined. To learn more about the partnership between Regis and Maricopa, visit http://www.transfertoregis.org/az/maricopa/ or contact Don Sutton, Regional Representative at dsutton@regis.edu or 480-231-0406.
* * * * *