Events
Wake Tech's Transfer Program Marks 20 Years
RALEIGH, N.C. (October 20, 2011) - Wake Tech Community College is celebrating two decades of transfer options for students. Wake Tech hosted a reception tonight on Main Campus to mark the 20th anniversary of the College/University Transfer program. The event featured a dessert reception, special tributes, and music from the Wake Tech Chorus. Wake Tech Culinary Arts students created a cake that highlighted the theme of the celebration: 20 Years of Excellence in Teaching.
Dr. Claudia Graham, the first Department Head and later Dean of the College Transfer Division, was the keynote speaker. She stressed the importance of setting high standards. "The goal of Wake Tech's transfer program has always been to help students achieve success at transfer institutions equal to or greater than juniors and seniors who enrolled at those institutions as freshmen," said Graham. "Now the program is one of the top ten transfer programs in the nation."
Wake Tech's transfer program began in 1991. It started small, a single department with five instructors and 18 disciplines, and offered the Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees. The program experienced tremendous growth in the years that followed. Now, under the umbrella of Arts and Sciences, College/University Transfer includes eight departments, with 195 full-time instructors and 89 adjuncts, in 39 disciplines. In addition to the AA and AS degrees, the transfer program now offers the Associate of Science/Pre-Engineering degree as well as the Transfer Core Diplomas for Arts and Sciences.
The program's growth has been tremendous. Twenty years ago, the program had 300 students; by fall 2007, that number had jumped to 5,117, and in 2011, it surged to 8,430 students. "The program seems to grow exponentially every year," says Tonya Forbes, Associate Vice President of Arts and Sciences, "and so does the reputation of Wake Tech graduates who transfer to local universities." Wake Tech transfer graduates traditionally earn higher grade point averages as university juniors, than do the juniors who started at those universities.
The transfer program operates under articulation agreements that allow students to transfer to all UNC System institutions and to private North Carolina colleges and universities. Some of these partnerships also offer transfer options for students who graduate with Associate of Applied Science degrees, technical degrees traditionally designed to provide students with skills for immediate employment. Wake Tech's agreements include partnerships with NC State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University, Campbell University and Mount Olive College, among others.
