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December 2, 2020
News
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IUP (left) and Westmoreland County Community College (right) joined forces with a duel admissions agreement.
IUP joins forces with Westmoreland County Community College EVE TILLICH Staff Writer jxsbc@iup.edu @ThePennIUP IUP President Michael Driscoll and Westmoreland County Community College President Tuesday Stanley along with other members of leadership teams signed a dual admissions agreement. The agreement lets students that obtain an associate degree at Westmoreland to complete a bachelor’s degree at IUP. “This initiative is about student success and being student-centered,” Driscoll said. “We want to eliminate potential barriers and help students from Westmoreland to feel that they are a valued member of the IUP family, even before they begin their formal coursework here.” By eliminating barriers, the dual admission agreement is helping student achieve their academic goals. “This is an excellent next step in the ongoing partnership between our two institutions,” he said. “We look forward to continuing to welcome strong Westmoreland students to IUP and helping them to meet their educational goals.” IUP and Westmoreland students will also be able to utilize resources and services from both schools such as counseling and
IUP’s school mascot, Norm the Hawk (left), and Westmoreland County Community College’s mascot, Westly Wolf (right). support programs. Westmoreland students will also have access to transition support and resources from IUP like housing, dining, libraries and more. “This agreement allows the student to transfer seamlessly to IUP with their associate degree,” Stanley said. “We are excited that this agreement also allows our students to have access to many of IUP’s resources, including dining and housing. It is all about the students.” Transferring to a different school can be a huge challenging step for many students. “It’s challenging – and sometimes a bit intimidating – to
progress to the ‘next steps’ in your educational journey,” Executive Director of Media Relations Michelle Fryling said. “With a more streamlined application process, and the opportunity to actually be on the IUP campus and take advantage of IUP resources before you physically are taking courses, we hope that students will feel more comfortable transitioning to IUP from Westmoreland. “It also gives the Westmoreland students access to all IUP resources, which we hope will help them to be successful at Westmoreland as well as be successful in transition to IUP. Then, when
students do transfer to IUP, they will be familiar with IUP resources and opportunities.” To be eligible for this admission opportunity, students must be attending Westmoreland. Additionally, they must meet a grade point average (gpa) of 2.0 or the minimum gpa for the program they are applying for at IUP. Students must have earned less than 30 credit hours and plan to pursue an associate degree as well as a bachelor’s degree. “We also hope that as students begin their studies at Westmoreland, this agreement presents new opportunities to
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new students there, and helps them to make decisions about their next steps by making the process easier,” Fryling said. Westmoreland and IUP have a strong relationship with one another. Fryling said that the presidents of both institutions along with other members of the leadership teams have a “great on-going relationship.” So, the idea of dual admissions grew jointly from those working relationships. Since 2015, around 330 Westmoreland students have transferred to IUP to continue their studies.
