Flint, MI—Mott Community College (MCC) and the University of Michigan-Flint have entered an agreement that aims to ensure a smooth transition process for MCC’s associate degree students looking to earn their bachelor’s at UM-Flint.
On Friday, June 30, 2023, officials signed the MCC to UM-Flint Transfer Pathway Agreement.
“Higher education is the best opportunity for anybody in this country to achieve the American dream and to achieve the full potential that that individual, their families, can hope to achieve in this great country,” UM-Flint’s Chancellor Deba Dutta said. “So I think in that framework, this partnership makes a big, big opportunity for students in Flint and Genesee County.”
Officials said the agreement will allow students to access both MCC and UM-Flint’s services, such as tutoring, career development and academic advising. Students will also be able to attend the two institutions’ events, which may involve faculty speakers, according to officials.
Joe Vainner, UM-Flint’s director of admissions, said MCC and UM-Flint’s shared services are critical and explained that the goal of the agreement is to encourage MCC students to work with a UM-Flint advisor as early as possible.
That way, Vainner said, “We make sure they’re both taking the classes they need for their associate degree and the classes they need for their bachelor’s degree and make it as likely as possible they can transfer to UM-Flint while they’re still on a 4-year track.”
As part of the agreement, the two institutions will also “jointly admit” students.
According to Vainner, these students may be select individuals, like Genesee County residents, whom UM-Flint determines to be inadmissible but will encourage to begin their education at MCC. They will then undergo MCC’s application process.
Jason Wilson, MCC’s vice president of student academic success, said the shared services and events will give MCC students a head start in acclimating to UM-Flint’s environment.
“What I hear from students quite a bit is even though we’re five minutes apart, it feels like I’m going to another universe,” Wilson told Flint Beat.
He later added that MCC students do not need to sign up in order to take advantage of the new agreement. Instead, they can tell their current adviser of their plan to transfer, and the “agreement ensures that if they transfer to UM-Flint, they will automatically have all their MCC credits transfer over, no matter what their degree program.”
Beyond shared services, UM-Flint officials said that the newly-signed agreement will also help minimize loss of class credits and duplication of coursework when MCC students enter UM-Flint to complete a bachelor degree.
MCC has anywhere from 100 to 200 students with an associate degree who go on to attend UM-Flint for their undergraduate studies each academic year, according to Kevin Asman, MCC’s assistant vice president for academic affairs.
He said MCC hopes the new agreement will help double that number.