ONONDAGA — Students at Onondaga Community College (OCC) pursuing degrees in liberal arts & sciences: mathematics and science now have a “seamless pathway” into 18 different bachelor’s degree programs at ESF. OCC and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) on Jan. 30 signed a transfer agreement involving those degree programs. OCC President […]
ONONDAGA — Students at Onondaga Community College (OCC) pursuing degrees in liberal arts & sciences: mathematics and science now have a “seamless pathway” into 18 different bachelor’s degree programs at ESF.
OCC and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) on Jan. 30 signed a transfer agreement involving those degree programs.
OCC President Casey Crabill and David Amberg, interim ESF president, inked the pact in OCC’s Gordon Student Center.
Students who complete work toward an associate degree in mathematics and science with a 2.8 grade point average or higher will be eligible to transfer to ESF with junior status.
It is “not new” for OCC and ESF to work together,” Crabill said in her remarks during the signing ceremony.
The schools have had previous agreements in which students would take some classes at both institutions before moving on to ESF to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
“But that wasn’t drawing a lot of students,” Crabill noted. “So, I’m really pleased to announce this morning that our partners at ESF have done wonderful work to clarify pathways and fully map transfer programs in 18 different baccalaureate degree programs at ESF.”
These transfer “pathways” will assist students in OCC’s biological sciences, math and science, general studies, and architectural technology programs to make a transition into 18 bachelor’s degree programs at ESF, per OCC. Those programs are in the departments of chemistry, environmental and forest biology, environmental health, environmental science, environmental studies, sustainable resources management, and sustainability management (online).
“We at ESF recognize that OCC is frequently an entry point for first-generation college students, economically disadvantaged students, veterans, underrepresented minorities, students from our large immigrant and refugee populations, and students returning to the educational system,” Amberg said in his remarks at the event. “Providing an opportunity for these and all OCC students to obtain one of the best environmental educations in the country is precisely our goal with this new [memorandum of understanding].”
In discussing the significance of the agreement, Crabill noted that students have always transferred, but the “devil’s always been in the details.”
“When students are financially dependent, as so many of our students are, they need clarity from the very beginning about the courses involved in achieving their degree in order to maintain their financial aid eligibility. So, this supports the transfer but it also supports the clarity that allows students to carry their financial aid all the way through a bachelor’s degree,” said Crabill.
About three-quarters of OCC students rely on some form of financial aid, she added.
“One of the strong drivers for student debt across the nation is a failure to complete in four years. And so, this … has that aspect of opportunity as well to make sure that extra debt is not accrued by students,” said Amberg.