CMU, Delta College sign reverse transfer agreement

Central Michigan University signed a reverse transfer agreement with Delta College, allowing transfer students to finish their associate’s degree while attending CMU.

The reverse transfer agreement will give community college students who have completed at least 24 college credits a chance to finish what is left of their credit hours at CMU for an associate’s degree. Earlier this year, CMU signed a reverse transfer agreement with Mid-Michigan Community College.

“It’s not something for CMU as a constitution,” Registrar Karen Hutslar said. “We hope it helps the students specifically.”

The credits earned at CMU will count for the university, as well as Delta — if students were to transfer back.

“The student has to earn a certain amount of hours from a varying degree,” Hutslar said.

There is a minimum of 24 credits required from Delta for transfer, whereas MMCC requires a minimum of 12 credits, and West Shore Community College requires 32 credits. Each school sets residency requirements in order to earn a degree, Hutslar said.

Delta’s transfer agreement was signed on Nov. 19 between Hutslar and Delta’s Emily Clement.

“Universities across the state this year have been doing this due to influence from legislation,” Hutslar said.

WSCC was also sent a reverse transfer agreement from CMU on Oct. 22 and the university is just waiting for confirmation.

However, this particular agreement has always been available to students, just in varying degrees.

“Students could always have done this,” Hutslar said. “(Signing reverse transfer agreements) makes them more aware, and (by) having a better process in place, hopefully more students will do this.”

This particular agreement is aimed at transfer students looking to earn their associate’s degree from CMU.

“I see this as a benefit to CMU students who have transferred from Delta College in the fact that if they did not receive or earn a degree at Delta,” said Virginia Przygocki, dean of Career Education and Learning Partnerships.

Przygocki said this is another credential a CMU student can use to gain employment while they are pursuing their bachelor’s or master’s degree.

“There are a lot of statistics that are going out that are talking about the fact that associate-level certificates are what students need for entry-level positions, and people are receiving jobs offers doing that,” Przygocki said.

Once a student is looking for entry-level employment, they will be able to use this degree on their resume in order to gain an interview or access to salaried positions.

“So, it’s a benefit to a CMU student to be aware of the fact that they can transfer their credits back to Delta from CMU as long as they have earned a minimum number of credits and types of courses,” Przygocki said. “Then, they can be issued the degree if they are working on their bachelor’s"