Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Portland Community College, OSU Forge Partnership Agreement

Photos and story by James Hill

PORTLAND — Portland Community College and Oregon State University are launching a dual admission and enrollment program focused on easing the way for student success in higher education.

OSU President Paul Risser and Portland Community College President Dan Moriarty will sign the admission and enrollment agreement at 2 p.m. on Monday, March 6 in the Amo De Bernardis College Center Conference Rooms A and B on the Portland Community College Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W. 49th Ave.

"This new enrollment program promises great things for students at both PCC and OSU," said Moriarty. "It will make the process of enrolling at one or another school virtually seamless and give both institutions a new avenue for preparing students for advanced education."

Dual admission and enrollment agreements help in providing a smooth transition between the campuses, said Guy Sievert, dean of Academic Services at Portland Community College.

"This partnership gives PCC students opportunities that may not have been within their reach in the past," said Sievert. "It also will provide opportunities for PCC and OSU faculty to work together on curriculum and joint offerings."

The agreement is part of a trend in higher education to streamline application and enrollment procedures to best meet the academic goals of students, said Leslie Burns, OSU director of undergraduate academic programs.

"The partnership will be mutually beneficial for OSU and PCC as well as for students," she said. The agreement allows students to be admitted to both PCC and OSU with a single application. Students start their work at PCC, but can take classes at both institutions and make an easy transition to OSU. Students will also pay regular tuition and fees at OSU and PCC.

This is OSU’s first dual admission and enrollment agreement in the Portland metro area. The university already has programs in place at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany and Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay.

"Portland Community College approached us regarding starting a dual admission and enrollment program," Burns said. "They had learned about the program OSU has in place with Linn-Benton and were interested in starting a similar program."

Initially, the agreement will cover programs in business, engineering, computer science, and pre-health professions, including pre-medicine, pre-pharmacy, pre-veterinary medicine and pre-physical therapy.

Two PCC students will attend the ceremony and be the first to sign up for the new program: Dan Lippis from Lake Oswego, a second-year mechanical engineering student, and first-year student Aleisha Helbig of Aloha, who is majoring in electrical engineering.

Lippis said, "I will miss PCC but I am very excited to go on to OSU. I’ve been completely impressed with PCC and the entire engineering department. There is a sense of pride and the instructors are constantly improving the department and the mix of classes … I think it says a lot about Portland Community College and about the program that OSU wants to do this."