Oakland University and Oakland Community College (OCC) signed a brand-new transfer articulation agreement on Nov. 8 to ensure a smooth transition for students seeking a bachelor of science in engineering.
The agreement allows students who earn a pre-engineering associate degree from OCC to OU’s School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS) to continue their education in computer engineering, electrical engineering, industrial and systems engineering, or mechanical engineering.
OU President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz said in a press release the partnership between the two institutions strengthens the regional economy.
“Today’s engineering agreement builds on our dynamic relationship with OCC, a partnership that facilitates students’ transition toward the completion of a bachelor degree,” Pescovitz said. “We are extremely proud of our work with OCC and believe we are creating a model of cooperation that further develops the regional talent pipeline and leads to building the Michigan economy.”
The logistics of the agreement have been in development for the past eight years, SECS Dean Louay M. Chamra said. It was largely supported by SECS’s faculty and the administration and faculty at OCC.
To make the transition as seamless as possible for students, OCC’s pre-engineering program and SECS’s curriculum needed to be adjusted.
“Our engineering program is not a traditional engineering program that you have in terms of easy transfer, so we had to work with the chairs, we had to work with the faculty to make sure that everything aligned,” Chamra said.
Given OU is the top public university in Michigan for enhancing social mobility, Chamra said, the transfer agreement is an extension of providing accessibility to higher education. In the SECS, 35% of students are first-generation college students.
“Higher education is getting too expensive,” he said. “[Students] go for two years to community college, and then we want them to have a seamless transfer to our school without losing any credit and make sure they graduate and have access to the job market where the average salary for a degree in computer science right now is about $75,000, which will provide prosperity and transformation for their families.
“Community colleges play an important role in higher education. A lot of our students — 40% of our students — transferred from community college,” Chamra added.
This is the first transfer agreement between SECS and a local community college of its kind. However, Chamra said they hope to collaborate with other community colleges in the region now that a template for the transition has been established.
“OCC is just the beginning,” Chamra said. “It’s a template, but we can tweak it, adjust it to make sure that the community college we’re working with is serving our students. Bottom line, it’s about students. It’s not about me or anybody else. It’s about making sure that everybody has access to higher education.
“We’re here about student success, and we’re here about uplifting the community regardless of their background,” Chamra added. “Whether [our students] start as a freshman at Oakland or OCC, it’s irrelevant to me. As long as they get an education, and especially right now… that four-year degree is extremely important because you cannot replace it with any other experience.”
The transfer agreement runs through Oct. 31, 2028.
