HACC, Shippensburg University sign agreement to make earning degree easier

The presidents of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, and Shippensburg University recently signed a reverse transfer agreement that will allow HACC students enrolled at Shippensburg to earn their associate degree while attending Shippensburg.

Participating in the signing were HACC President John J. “Ski” Sygielski, Ed.D., and Shippensburg President Jody Harpster, Ph.D. Also in attendance from Shippensburg University were Dr. Tracy Schoolcraft, associate provost and dean of graduate studies, and Dr. Rick Ruth, vice president of enrollment management, technology and library services. In addition to Dr. Ski, also attending from HACC were Cynthia A. Doherty, Ph.D., provost and vice president of academic affairs; Rob Steinmetz, Ed.D., vice president of student affairs and enrollment management; Shannon S. Harvey, vice president of HACC’s Gettysburg Campus, and Kathleen T. Doherty, Ph.D., associate provost.

 “We are pleased to be able to partner with Shippensburg University and provide opportunities for their students to earn an associate degree from HACC. Our partnership allows former HACC students to meet their educational goals – and that is our purpose as colleges,” said Sygielski.

“Shippensburg University has a long-standing and very successful relationship with HACC and its students,” said Harpster. “This new agreement will allow students who transfer to Ship from HACC to earn their associate degrees from HACC while continuing their work toward earning their bachelor’s degrees from Ship. We look forward to helping even more students from Central Pennsylvania fulfill their academic and personal dreams.”

Under the new agreement, students who transfer from HACC to Shippensburg before earning their associate degree will now be able to transfer Shippensburg credits back to HACC to apply toward completion of their HACC degree.

As part of the agreement, Shippensburg will each year contact its current students from HACC who have earned at least 45 credits at HACC and offer them the chance to have their credits evaluated by HACC for possible application toward an associate degree. Interested students will then be asked to complete a form to have those credits reviewed by HACC officials who will then inform Shippensburg of those students who receive the associate degree as a result of the reverse transfer program.

The agreement is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2016.

Shippensburg and HACC already have several other agreements in place to make it easier for HACC students to transfer to Shippensburg, such as the dual admissions agreement that provides HACC students with seamless enrollment to Shippensburg.

Those interested in more information can contact call HACC admissions at 800-ABC-HACC or email Shippensburg University admissions at admiss@ship.edu.

Caption information
Participating in a reverse signing agreement between HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, and Shippensburg University were from left, front HACC President John J. “Ski” Sygielski and Shippensburg President Jody Harpster; back row, Kathleen T. Doherty, Ph.D.; Shannon S. Harvey, MPA: Rob Steinmetz, Ed.D., and Cynthia A. Doherty, Ph.D., all from HACC, and Dr. Tracy Schoolcraft and Dr. Rick Ruth, both of Shippensburg University.

About HACC
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, offers more than 120 career and transfer associate degree, certificate and diploma programs to approximately 19,000 students.  Also, the College serves students at its Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York campuses; through virtual learning; and via workforce development and continuing education training. For more information on how HACC is uniquely YOURS, visit hacc.edu. Also, follow us on Twitter (@HACC_info), like us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HACC64) and use #HACCNews.