With the state poised to allow the first freshmen at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Tacoma in 2007, a new agreement promising transfer students nearly three-quarters of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT’s undergraduate seats has been signed by ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø President Mark Emmert and representatives from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
In the agreement, which formalizes ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Tacoma’s long-standing commitment to serving as the next academic step for transfer students, the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø promises that at least 1,300 of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT’s upper-division FTEs (full-time equivalent enrollments) and at least 72 percent of available ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT undergraduate seats will be reserved for qualified community college transfer students. The agreement formalizes ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT’s commitment to expand access for upper-division transfer students even as it moves toward adding freshmen and sophomores to the campus, which currently serves only juniors, seniors and graduate students.
Legislation is currently moving through Olympia that would allow ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT to begin accepting lower-division students in 2007. With the addition of freshmen, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Tacoma will be able to help meet the state’s need for expanded four-year opportunities. But the addition of lower-division courses at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT will also be a clear benefit to transfer students, creating richer opportunities for juniors and seniors to round out their major with study in related fields.
The agreement also promises that community college students will have ample information to use for academic planning and full access to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT majors. Partners in the new agreement believe that students attending any of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT’s partner community colleges should be in a position to know that if they succeed well at their community college and meet the high standards for admission to majors at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT, there should be a space available for them at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT when they complete their lower-division studies.
The agreement calls for co-admission and co-enrollment agreements to be completed by December of 2006. It will remain in effect through the 2010-2011 academic year, when it will undergo a review. Text of the agreement is posted on ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøT’s Web site, .