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VCCS News Releases |
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For more information, please contact: Susan
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • Sept. 21, 2005
Virginia Tech’s
College of Engineering and Virginia’s community colleges RICHMOND – Students who graduate from engineering programs at Virginia’s community colleges now have a guaranteed place to continue their education: Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. Last fall, Governor Warner presided over the signing of the first statewide guaranteed admissions agreement for community college students with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “This second statewide, guaranteed admission agreement with Virginia Tech once again illustrates that Virginia’s community colleges are the on-ramp to opportunity for many Virginians seeking a bachelor’s degree,” says VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois. “This agreement adds engineering to the fields in which students can be assured, based on success at a community college, a place to continue their educations.” “We find that VCCS engineering graduates assimilate very well in the varied engineering curricula at Tech, and bring with them a stronger engineering background than many transfers who are not part of an articulated program,” says Mike Deisenroth, acting associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering. The new agreement specifies that students who complete an engineering associate degree at a Virginia community college with a grade point average of not less than 3.0 are guaranteed admission to the general engineering program at Virginia Tech. The agreement builds on a previous transfer agreement with the Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering that has been in existence for some time. However, the new agreement is substantially revised in that it includes a guaranteed admissions component that was not in place previously. “The systemwide nature of the agreement, coupled with the guaranteed admission component, makes this new agreement significant,” says Dr. Monty Sullivan, vice chancellor for academic services for the VCCS. “These are the pieces that reflect the Commonwealth’s commitment to boost seamless transfer throughout the state as directed in the higher education restructuring bill approved by the General Assembly and the Governor in 2005.” “We are pleased to enhance the relationship with VCCS engineering students, and provide the additional incentive of guaranteed admission with strong performance in the first two years,” says Dr. Deisenroth. “VCCS students typically have a strong background and continue to excel at Tech as they pursue junior and senior level courses.” The terms of this agreement go into effect this fall. Interested students should contact their counselors at their community college to ensure they take the core engineering courses at the community college level. ### The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college’s 5,600 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a “hands-on, minds-on” approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. The State Board for Community Colleges is the governing board for the Virginia Community College System, which is made up of 23 community colleges located on 40 campuses across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia’s community colleges serve more than a quarter-million students in credit courses and more than 325,000 in credit and noncredit courses combined. Visit the website at http://www.vccs.edu |
