The Wayne State College and Northeast Community College agreement, signed August 3, 2021, looks to strengthen the region’s industrial technology programs, according to Jeff Allen.

WSC and NCC signed this agreement to make it easier for students to have new choices and an extension to their associate degree, according to Allen, a technology and applied sciences professor at WSC. If a student wants the option to obtain their bachelor’s degree, this agreement allows NCC students to transfer up to 80 credits over to WSC. Allen said any student that completes a two-year degree can more than likely obtain a four-year degree with little trouble.

The applied science professors from both colleges were able to meet September 10, 2021, and discuss how this agreement would work for each college and how the transfer process would work. “We got introduced to the people…we usually email and all of a sudden we were able to say, ‘Oh, here’s that person’,” Allen said.

Allen believes the agreement gives students an opportunity to be placed in their field of study right out of college. “Our students in safety and construction are going out and getting jobs anywhere from fifty to seventy-thousand-dollar jobs a year right off the bat,” Allen said.

Allen said at WSC, students are getting internships during the summer and are immediately receiving job offers to come work when they finish their degree.

With the expansion of the industrial technology, the classes at WSC are packed with students. There is potential for an additional staff member to teach some of the classes.

When students transfer their credits to WSC from NCC, staff will be able to see where that student stands academically. This will help professors know what upper-level classes the students need to take.

A student majoring in drafting and design and safety management, Jacob Cech, said he is excited about the increased interest in applied sciences at WSC. “I will be able to get more experience in different classes…and learn different styles which will allow me to figure out how I want to do my own thing one day,” Cech said.

Allen is happy with the growth of the program and is excited about the expansion. “A shrinking program is a terrible thing to go through…growing is actually kind of fun.”