By John Reed
SC Staff Writer
Thursday, September 25, East Stroudsburg University and Raritan Valley Community College will officially enter into two articulation agreements. These agreements are for the following programs: Sport Management and Exercise Science.
“This agreement provides both institutions with the bridge between the programs in sports management at a time when the sport, recreation, and tourism industries are expanding throughout the region while also building brand value for both institutions in their alignment with these industries,” said Robert Fleischman, Dean of the College of Business and Management.
The intention is to allow for classes taken in these departments at RVCC to seamlessly transfer into their equivalents at ESU. This enables transfer students to carry over all completed course work in either of these majors without the fear of incompatible credits.
“Our two exercise science programs have been working together for many years and Raritan has been an important academic partner. This articulation agreement will formalize this relationship and allow us to continue to strengthen both of our programs,” said Dean of the College of Health Sciences Alberto Cardelle.
For students wishing to take full advantage of the articulation agreement, there is a minimum requirement of a 2.0 GPA and an Associate’s Degree. Once the students transfer to ESU, the GPA requirement is bumped up to a 2.5 in their respective major.
“The new agreement with East Stroudsburg University offers a terrific opportunity for students who are interested in a career in the fitness industry to complete their Bachelor’s Degree and enhance their job prospects in the field,” said RVCC President Michael J. McDonough.
With over 600 transfer students entering ESU for the fall semester of 2014, these articulation agreements come at a time when ESU is seeing a serious amount of students transferring in from other colleges and universities.
“We’ve had Raritan Valley Community College students enrolling at ESU for many years. At present, we have 40 former RVCC students enrolled here,” said Director of University Relations Brenda Friday.
With the close ties between the schools, ESU and RVCC have also decided to enter into a Reverse Transfer agreement.
For the first time, ESU that will allow students transferring to RVCC an opportunity to utilize credits earned at ESU to satisfy the degree requirements for their Associate’s Degree if it has not been previously earned.
ESU’s accelerated program in Exercise Science — four years of coursework in three years — is not designed with transfer students in mind because of the heavy academic load that would be required in a short timeframe. ESU’s agreements with RVCC — and any future community colleges — will involve the specifics of coursework but they will not include any major-specific internships or culminating projects.
Regardless of the articulation agreements, transfer students should be aware that ESU has certain coursework requirements that must be satisfied prior to graduation — such as 30 credits at or above the 300 level. The Reverse Transfer agreement and the two articulation agreements are just the beginning of the two schools working together to improve students’ academic life. ESU and RVCC have plans to add additional program specific agreements in the future.
Currently, ESU is also examining the feasibility of implementing Reverse Transfer agreements, articulation agreements, and dual admissions agreements with the following community colleges: Northampton Community College, Luzerne County Community College, Lackawanna College, Bucks County Community College, Montgomery County Community College, and select out-of-state community colleges.
Also of note, in April 2014, ESU signed five articulation agreements with Northampton Community College and two were signed with Lackawanna College in August 2014.
Email John at:
jreed18@live.esu.edu
