LCCC students transferring to UW benefit from new agreement

CHEYENNE — Students transferring from Laramie County Community College to the University of Wyoming may now count more of their community college courses toward their bachelor’s degrees, thanks to new articulation agreements between LCCC and UW.

LCCC and UW now have more options for community college students who want to continue their education in pursuit of bachelor’s degrees. These options include “2+2 articulations,” which are clear, coherent pathways for students beginning in community colleges and transferring to universities. They map the entire programmatic requirements from day one at a community college through graduation at the university.

And now, thanks to strong collaboration between LCCC and UW, students also will benefit from an innovative “1=1 articulation” allowing students who complete a general education core at LCCC to transfer to UW having satisfied comparable curricula to UW’s University Studies Program (USP).

The 1=1 articulation will help more LCCC students who move on to UW without an associate’s degree, says LCCC President Joe Schaffer.

“Many students come to LCCC just for their general education courses before transferring, and they will see the most benefit,” Schaffer says. “Because of our close proximity to UW, especially with our Albany County Campus, we have students who transfer early with just their general education. Historically, though, when they transferred, if they didn’t have the 60-plus credit associate degree, they couldn’t demonstrate they met the UW university studies program, making them susceptible to the requirement of retaking general education courses.”

The 1=1 articulation will fix that gap, while also giving students a recognizable “completion” to celebrate and take with them to UW. Both of these aspects have been proven by research to make students more successful in completing their bachelor’s degrees.

“The students who come to UW from LCCC generally are well prepared to succeed in their studies toward bachelor’s degrees,” UW President Dick McGinity says. “We’re delighted that our collaborations with LCCC are making possible a smoother transition for these strong transfer students.”

Faculty and administration at LCCC have been working over the past two years to redesign LCCC’s general education programs, focusing on student learning outcomes – what students can do with their education, rather than simply what courses they have taken. Serendipitously, the same work had been occurring, at the same time, at UW.

With the agreement, Schaffer says, “If an LCCC student completes the LCCC general education core, this will be placed on his or her transcript, and when the student transfers to UW, the USP requirement is satisfied, as long as the student takes one additional upper-division communications course at UW.”

“The university’s new USP was a product of several years of intense effort by our faculty and administration, and we are quite happy with the result,” says Anne Alexander, UW’s associate vice president for undergraduate education. “It’s wonderful to see that our revised program is right in line with one of our excellent community college partners.”

It isn’t just the proximity to UW that makes this type of agreement appealing to LCCC students. In some cases, coursework for a second year in a specific field of study simply cannot be offered at community colleges. With the 1=1 articulation, students can begin their coursework at LCCC, then transfer all their completed courses to UW, without being penalized for not completing a degree at the community college.

“This agreement still allows those students to complete a valuable program at LCCC and transfer to UW without having to retake general education courses,” Schaffer says.

The formal signing ceremony will now take place at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8, in the Petersen Board Room in the LCCC Administration Building.