PARTNERSHIPS HELP STUDENTS

Thomas Nelson Community College and Old Dominion University are finalizing an academic partnership agreement that makes it even easier for TNCC’s industrial technology students to transfer to ODU. Streamlining the award of credits for prior work experiences, the agreement responds to societal demands for a more technologically prepared workforce.

This agreement is one of dozens the two institutions have signed over the years in areas such as cybersecurity, nursing, dental hygiene, mechanical engineering, information systems technology, human services and criminal justice. In fact, this past fall more than 2,000 students enrolled at ODU had previously taken courses at Thomas Nelson Community College.

Five fundamental values have guided the development of these partnerships. First, and perhaps most importantly, each of the agreements are designed with student success in mind. Before the agreements are signed, faculty and staff spend countless hours reviewing the agreements to make sure that learning outcomes from TNCC’s programs align well with the learning outcomes in ODU’s programs. Without fail, faculty and staff involved in these discussions want one thing: to develop an educational pathway that supports student success.

Second, the academic agreements we develop are driven by a deep concern for keeping the cost of degree programs affordable. When students transfer applied coursework to four-year institutions, students are often asked to repeat courses or take more courses than necessary. Through these agreements, we are able to minimize the costs of a bachelor’s degree and get students into the workforce more quickly. The cybersecurity agreement mentioned above, for example, potentially saves students $15,000 and gets them into the workforce 18 months earlier than if no agreement were in place.

This focus on affordability in our partnerships is key for student success. Typically, those students transferring from TNCC to ODU reflect the demographics of both institutions — roughly 40% qualify for federal aid in the form of federal Pell grants due to their financial situation and about the same percentage come from families making less than $50,000 a year.

Our ongoing partnerships also demonstrate flexibility. Many students taking advantage of these partnership agreements have families and jobs and are unable to maintain the traditional college schedule. Offering courses at ODU’s Peninsula Center, just down the road from TNCC, is one way ODU has accommodated this population. In addition, a wide range of online courses offered by both institutions ensures that all students wanting college coursework have the opportunity to pursue those interests.

A few weeks ago, I was standing in line at the ODU bookstore buying my daughter some ODU swag. I struck up a conversation with a young man and his father, standing behind me in line. The son explained that he is graduating this year from Denbigh High. Standing on the ODU campus in Norfolk, it seemed natural to ask, “are you coming to ODU this fall?”

I could not have been more satisfied with his response. “No, I’m going to Thomas Nelson Community College for my associate’s in cybersecurity and then I’m transferring to ODU to get my cybersecurity bachelor’s degree,” he responded. My satisfaction came from the fact that I knew firsthand that faculty and staff at TNCC and ODU had worked tirelessly to develop a cybersecurity pathway. That high school students on the Peninsula were taking advantage of the pathway confirmed my hope that we would create flexible and affordable options for students.

In addition to student success, affordability and flexibility, the fourth value guiding our partnerships is career placement. The pathway agreements we sign focus on high-demand careers in the region. To make sure the coursework is up-to-date and relevant for the community, each year, faculty and staff review all pathway agreement and make enhancements where needed.

A final value guiding the development of these partnerships is community. Specifically, academic leaders at both institutions recognize that our institutions are a part of and not separate from the community. As a result, we use these partnerships to build community — the community we live in, the community we study in and the community we work in.

Doing so strengthens Hampton Roads. Payne is ODU’s vice provost for academic affairs where he oversees the Center for Advising Administration and Academic Partnerships, the Center for High Impact Practices, the Center for Cybersecurity Education and Research and other academic student success programs.