CORDOVA, Tenn.— Middle Tennessee State University signed an agreement Tuesday, Nov. 6, to extend the MTSU Promise to Southwest Tennessee Community College, the third such pathway established for students with associate degrees to move seamlessly to the four-year university.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and Southwest President Tracy D. Hall signed the documents at Esplande Memphis in Cordova as MTSU started the West Tennessee leg of its True Blue Tour, a 14-city, four-state caravan to recruit prospective students.

Southwest is the third community college to join the MTSU Promise program, in which the university pledges support to help students at partner schools complete their associate degrees, then move forward in seeking a four-year degree.

McPhee signed agreements earlier this year with Motlow State and Cleveland State community colleges.

Presidents Sidney A. McPhee, left, of Middle Tennessee State University and Tracy D. Hall of Southwest Tennessee Community College sign an agreement marking the MTSU Promise to Southwest, the third such pathway established for students with associate degrees to move seamlessly to the four-year university. The signing occurred Nov. 6 at Esplande Memphis in Cordova, Tenn., where MTSU held its True Blue Tour to recruit prospective high school and transfer students. (MTSU photo by Randy Weiler)

“Extending the MTSU Promise to Southwest strengthens our already strong ties with this terrific community college,” McPhee said. “It will allow our advisers to help their great students transition to our campus.”

Calling it “an absolutely fabulous day that has been a little while in the making,” Hall said the signing was “a wonderful way to formalize our partnership and a wonderful opportunity for the two institutions.”

“At Southwest, we are all about student success and opportunities, and to be able to transfer to a high-quality, well-run university that has a beautiful campus with all the academic opportunities is a plus,” she added.

The agreement calls for Southwest to share directory information of its students with MTSU so they’re included in tailored communications of emails and hard-copy mailings to help them plan for a bachelor’s degree after they successfully complete an associate degree.

Also, the agreement says Southwest students who agree to participate in the MTSU Promise will sign a “reverse transfer” agreement, meaning if they fail to complete their associate degrees before they transfer, they would automatically receive their associate degree from Southwest once they’ve completed sufficient credits at MTSU.

MTSU is No. 1 in the state in transfer students and is the top institution using the reverse transfer process.

Through its existing Guaranteed Transfer Scholarship Program, MTSU will provide aid for Southwest students who transfer to MTSU in the amount of $3,000 per year for two years, or a maximum of four semesters, based on their earning a 3.0 GPA.

Presidents Sidney A. McPhee, left, of MTSU and Tracy D. Hall of Southwest Tennessee Community College shake hands Nov. 6 after signing an “MTSU Promise to Southwest” to ease the transition from college to university at Esplande Memphis in Cordova. Through its existing Guaranteed Transfer Scholarship Program, MTSU will provide aid for Southwest students who transfer to MTSU in the amount of $3,000 per year for two years, or a maximum of four semesters, based on their earning a 3.0 GPA. (MTSU photo by Randy Weiler)

Students transferring to MTSU will not be eligible to apply for the Guaranteed Transfer Scholarship until they complete 45 credit hours at Southwest.

Dr. Debra Sells, MTSU’s vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment services, said the application deadline is Feb. 15, which means the majority of participating Southwest students will have completed 60 credits before they transfer.

Sells also said MTSU will revise letters of rejection for students in the Southwest service area who apply to MTSU for freshman admission but aren’t admitted.

The letters will also say the student is being placed in a “deferred admission” category and that MTSU recommends that they enroll at Southwest for two years of study under the Tennessee Promise, the state-funded scholarship that pays tuition and fees for two-year colleges.

MTSU will also guarantee to those students that if they complete 60 credits with a 3.0 GPA at Southwest, they will be guaranteed admission and a scholarship to attend MTSU for their last two years of study, Sells said.

Hall said she and Southwest “appreciate the partnership and I appreciate the friendship (with McPhee and others) through the years and I look forward to our students being even more successful at MTSU.”

“This represents efforts on both parts to make sure students have a good experience once they transfer,” McPhee added. “We want students to complete the necessary requirements to not only get their degree from MTSU but also their (associate) degree from Southwest.”

McPhee said Memphis-area students who do not meet MTSU’s high admissions standards will be referred to Southwest “to get back up to speed,” and if they meet the requirements, they’ll be guaranteed admission to MTSU.

— MTSU News (news@mtsunews.com)