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Purdue, Ivy Tech offer opportunity to co-enroll

By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Officials with Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College hope to make it easier for more students to get a four-year degree in agriculture from Purdue.

The Pathway Program will allow Ivy Tech students to co-enroll at Purdue and simultaneously take classes at both institutions. Once their two-year community college program is over, the students will receive an associate of science degree in agriculture from Ivy Tech and then be enrolled full-time at Purdue to finish working toward their agriculture degrees.

The program is open only to full-time Ivy Tech students at the Lafayette campus.

“This will help students who aren’t prepared after leaving high school, who don’t have the course work or who aren’t strong enough to succeed in their first year of college,” said Dale Whittaker, associate dean and director of Purdue’s Office of Academic Programs in Agriculture. “Some might be overwhelmed by the Big 10 environment so this will give them a chance to dip their toes in the water.

“We want to make sure that kids who are at a disadvantage out of high school, who might not have enough support, really have access to a Purdue College of Agriculture degree. It allows students who want on that track to get on that track.”

Under the program, Ivy Tech students will take one course each semester at Purdue in addition to their Ivy Tech classes, Whittaker said. The students will have access to all of Purdue’s facilities and may be able to live in the university’s residence halls, space permitting.

“Purdue’s ag students have the benefit of four years of study on campus,” he said. “The program is very freshman focused, and has a history of retaining students. Transfer students normally don’t get the benefit of all that. Hopefully, having already spent time on campus as a part of the Pathway Program, that transition would be minimized.”

Unlike traditional transfer students, Pathway participants would be guaranteed a full-time spot in Purdue’s agriculture program once they finish at Ivy Tech, said Mary Ostrye, Ivy Tech’s vice chancellor of academic affairs.

That guarantee is good as long as students meet minimum grade point average requirements, she said.

“This provides Ivy Tech students with an avenue to meet their four-year career objectives,” she said. “There’s so much academic support and that makes for a better overall student. Success is assured if they put any effort into it at all.”

Students will have one-on-one contact with advisers from both institutions to help plan their courses and time while in the program, Ostrye said.

“We have something that we think is unique,” she said. “Not only will they be working with advisers on academics, but they will also be looking at social events, such as football games. We’ll want them to make an effort to do things with both institutions Students are retained if they feel connected.”

The advisers will work with students to combine what skills they may need with their interests, Ostrye said.

“Let’s say there’s a student who can’t write well but is interested in livestock judging. Our advisers may suggest a writing lab, but also suggest they participate in livestock judging, and maybe also go to the fair, if that’s something they’ve never experienced.”

Students will meet with advisers from both institutions at the same time to make planning easier, Whittaker said.

“This will give the students a chance to engage in defined learning and social development activities,” he said. “Some of these students might be less prepared financially, academically and from a maturity level for college. We’re going to have to work our tails off.”

Scholarships available
Purdue will offer three scholarships specifically for students enrolled in the Pathway Program, Ostrye said. The program is geared for a maximum of 30 to 35 students and will start in fall 2010, she said.
Students will pay each school for the cost of their education from that school, Whittaker said.

Information on the program is expected to be available later this month, and interested students should apply as soon as possible, Ostrye said.

The program will be closed once enough qualified students have been accepted.

“Purdue has gotten inquiries and we‘ve gotten inquiries,” she said. “This is just another chance, another opportunity.”

Purdue provost Randy Woodson sees the Pathway Program as a model for other areas of the university, Whittaker said.

“We would like to see this expand,” Whittaker said. “We have several colleagues watching us.

My personal criteria for success is that the students in this program graduate at the same or higher rates than students who begin as freshman at Purdue.”

9/2/2009