For immediate release - Sept. 8, 2006
(DALLAS) – As students from the Dallas County Community College District finish their associate degrees, they want to explore more options before they transfer to four-year colleges and universities to purse a bachelor’s degree. A new partnership between DCCCD and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville will provide one more option that they can consider – including both Web-based learning and on-campus classes, joint admission to both institutions and a reverse transfer agreement.
Officials from DCCCD and SHSU will cement that new partnership with a transfer (or articulation) agreement signing at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14, at the district’s downtown office, fourth floor, 701 Elm St. in Dallas. Dr. Wright Lassiter, chancellor of DCCCD, and Dr. James Gaertner, president of SHSU, will participate.
“The Dallas County Community College District is excited to add another partner in higher education. Our agreement with Sam Houston State University gives us an opportunity to offer our students more options for their educational and professional growth,” said Lassiter. “We welcome Sam Houston State University as a partner with our district, and we look forward to the additional opportunities for our students that this agreement will provide.”
“We also welcome DCCCD students to SHSU’s family, and we look forward to working with them as they pursue their bachelor’s degrees,” said Gaertner.
DCCCD and SHSU officials anticipate that they will complete more than 30 online transfer agreements linked to more than 40 bachelor’s degree programs at Sam Houston. Those agreements will maximize the amount of course work that students have completed for their associate degrees from DCCCD that can be applied to those SHSU bachelor’s degrees. Students and counselors also will be able to access information about the agreements via both institutions’ Web sites at http://www.dcccd.edu or http://www.shsu.edu.
A reverse transfer agreement between DCCCD and SHSU will allow students to transfer course work from the university to the district’s seven colleges, enabling them to complete some requirements for the associate degree that – in today’s professional job market – is an advantage and that also indicates the student’s commitment to education and a career.
Joint admission will give DCCCD students a value-added experience because they have access to the facilities and programs offered by both the district’s colleges and SHSU; it also provides a seamless transfer of college credits earned for the associate degree to the bachelor’s degree. Under the agreement, DCCCD students can attend both schools simultaneously; hold an SHSU picture ID/bank card; attend SHSU sporting events; have a university e-mail account; have access to the university’s library and to computer facilities operated by SHSU; and enjoy other benefits.
After DCCCD students meet the admission requirements for SHSU and are approved for joint admission, they must continue to meet all of those requirements for both institutions to retain their eligibility to participate in the program. Students accepted under joint admission may simply transfer; alternate enrollment between the two institutions; or co-enroll, based on their individual needs.
For more information about the DCCCD/TSU agreements, contact Gregory Williams, DCCCD coordinator of transfer services, at (214) 860-2185.
Press contact: Ann Hatch, 214-860-2478