Agreements have been approved for students at West Virginia Northern Community College to transfer seamlessly to West Virginia University to pursue bachelors degrees in nursing or multidisciplinary studies through WVU s Extended Learning program.

A third agreementbetween West Virginia Northern and WVU Institute of Technology for students who want to transfer to WVU Tech to earn a bachelors degree in accounting, was also approved.

All WVU course work will be available online, enabling WVNCC students to stay in their own communities to earn bachelors degrees, officials from both institutions explained.

The articulation agreements were signed Thursday (April 2) by officials from WVU and WVNCC on Northerns Wheeling campus. Commonly called two-plus-two agreements, details on the new opportunities for Northern students have been studied and advanced by academic officials at WVU and Northern for several months.

West Virginia Northerns transfer arsenal has been expanded greatly by this significant partnership with WVU ,said Martin J. Olshinsky, WVNCC president.Such online flexibility should appeal to our students.

The number of online courses being taken at Northern has expanded greatly in the past few months, so these additional options come at the right time,said Vicki Riley, vice president of academic affairs at WVNCC .The nursing agreement also fits perfectly with Northerns recent initiative to expand opportunities in the health sciences.

Students who choose to major in multidisciplinary studies can tailor their own undergraduate degree program by choosing three online minors to complement their career goals. In the Nursing R.N. to B.S.N. program, online classes will enable registered nurses to earn a bachelors degree while working in their own communities.

Similar two-plus-two agreements with other institutions approved by Northern have helped to further define career pathways for two-year graduates. WVNCC already has an existing articulation agreement with WVU for a bachelors degree in social work.

Northern is partnering with many higher education institutions to assist our students in their quest for a bachelors degree,Olshinsky said.

Attending the articulation-agreement signing ceremony were Olshinsky, Riley and other Northern administrators, faculty and staff. Participating from WVU were Sue Day-Perroots, dean of WVU Extended Learning; Georgia Narsavage, dean of the WVU School of Nursing; Stephen Brown, dean of WVU Techs College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences; and Julie J. Whiteman, recruitment coordinator for WVU Extended Learning.

Northern will host WVU personnel during an open house from 3-6:30 p.m. April 23 in the B&O Building auditorium on the Wheeling campus to provide interested students further information.