Signing event creates collegiate bond

Apr. 26—Northwest Missouri State University and a two-year college that sends students on to it each year have decided to join hands on enrollment.

Traditionally, students who decide to go from one collegiate campus to another need to arrange a credit transfer. While denial of earned credit is rare, it is a bureaucratic step that takes time. In recent years, four-year universities and their two-year peers, recognizing that many of the latter's students do not stop education at the two-year level, have done away with complex credit transfers.

"Our university and North Central Missouri College are working together to create a seamless pathway for students," said Jamie Hooyman, Northwest provost, who worked at the college from 2006-2016 is a native of Trenton, where North Central is based.

Cooperating institutions can organize their classes together or go a step further and establish all two-year students as simultaneously part of the four-year's operations. This is called dual enrollment, and North Central committed to it on Wednesday with Northwest. The two have a long history of education in agriculture, and so they completed the signing at the R.T. Wright Farm north of campus in Maryville. The farm is the site of Northwest's Agricultural Learning Center.

Northwest Interim President Clarence Green signed for the university, while Lenny Klaver, North Central president, represented his side. Green will be replaced by incoming permanent president Lance Tatum on July 1.

"This joint agreement automatically causes North Central Missouri College students to start their Bearcat Pathway as soon as they start at North Central," Hooyman said. "And so what that means is, they'll be students at North Central, they'll finish their associate-level degree there and then seamlessly transfer here. While there, they can actually come over here and move into our dorms, attend athletic events and other things like that."

North Central signed an agreement like this with Missouri Western State University last year. Klaver said it remains a mostly unknown concept in higher education, and it falls to each participating institution to sell its benefits. In the fall of 2022, North Central transferred 44 students to Northwest, up from 32 in the previous year, according to the university.

"It will take a while for all of this to take effect," Klaver said. "I think the awareness of it is pretty new. We've been fortunate because of good recruiting, and were up 20% in enrollment over this time last year. Our recruiters out on the road will spread awareness of this, and our students will become more aware of it as they talk to recruiters at their high schools. It's not something that is traditionally thought of, being enrolled in two institutions at the same time."

Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem