CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Oct. 11, 2004 – Southeast Missouri State University is offering the opportunity for St. Louis Community College (SLCC) students to earn a bachelor's degree from Southeast, beginning in 2005, without ever leaving home.
That’s the result of an agreement signed today by officials with Southeast Missouri State University and St. Louis Community College, paving the way for a 2+2 program in which SLCC students may now earn an online Bachelor of General Studies degree through Southeast Missouri State University.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony at SLCC-Meramec. Participating were Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University; Dr. Henry Shannon, chancellor of St. Louis Community College; Dr. Utpal Goswami, dean of Business Administration and Instructional Operations at St. Louis Community College at Meramec; and Dr. John Ganio, vice chancellor of education at St. Louis Community College.
“The idea is that St. Louis Community College students with 45 credit hours can finish their bachelor’s degree without ever setting foot in Cape Girardeau,” said Dr. David Starrett, interim dean of University Studies and director of the Center for Scholarship in Teaching and Learning at Southeast.
Under the agreement, SLCC students take their first 45 hours of coursework at SLCC and then take online coursework through Southeast to complete the requirements for Southeast’s Bachelor of General Studies degree. SLCC students with a minimum 2.0 grade point average will be eligible to participate in the program.
SLCC students who complete SLCC’s 42-hour general education block will be accepted as having completed Southeast’s lower division University Studies requirements. Southeast officials say they will accept a maximum of 64 SLCC credit hours to be applied toward the bachelor of general studies degree.
The program is scheduled to begin in spring 2005.
This is not the first time Southeast has partnered with SLCC on a 2+2 program. Southeast already has an established 2+2 program in industrial technology with St. Louis Community College. Under that program, students earn their associate degree through SLCC. They then take junior and senior level general education courses from University of Missouri-St. Louis, and junior and senior level industrial technology courses from Southeast, all without leaving the St. Louis area.
Southeast officials say more than 30 students have completed the 2+2 program in industrial technology and have earned Southeast degrees without ever taking a course on the Cape Girardeau campus.