12 April 2006

Longwood business school signs transfer agreement
with Richard Bland College

The agreement was signed by Dr. Patricia Cormier and Dr. James McNeer (seated), and Dr. Vernon Lindquist and Dr. Evelyn Hume (standing).

Longwood University's College of Business & Economics is offering graduates of Richard Bland College (RBC) of the College of William and Mary an opportunity to transfer more easily into Longwood's business administration and economics degree programs.

Thanks to a transfer agreement signed April 13, RBC students can earn admission into Longwood's business administration or economics programs while earning their Associate of Science degree at RBC. Transfer students previously earned admission into these programs only after they transferred to Longwood.

"This agreement will allow students to transfer seamlessly into Longwood's College of Business & Economics as juniors and be on an equal footing with juniors who began their degree at Longwood," said Dr. Evelyn Hume, dean of Longwood's College of Business & Economics.

Dr. Vernon Lindquist, RBC's provost and dean of faculty, said that "transferring directly to baccalaureate programs is a milestone for the Commonwealth's only junior college. This will tremendously ease the transition for our students transferring to Longwood, the university of choice for many of our students."

In Longwood's College of Business & Economics, students earn admission into the business administration and economics programs by taking six or five required major courses, respectively, and earning a minimum cumulative and major grade-point average. Students must meet this admission requirement before they are allowed to take their junior and senior major courses. RBC students will have already earned up to 18 hours of required major coursework credits prior to attending Longwood.

RBC, just south of Petersburg, is Virginia's only public junior college, and its sole mission is to prepare students for transfer to colleges and universities by providing a liberal arts core and electives in key professional programs. It has more than 1,400 full- and part-time students.

The recent agreement was signed at Longwood by the presidents of both institutions, Dr. Patricia Cormier of Longwood and Dr. James McNeer of RBC; Dr. Evelyn Hume, dean of Longwood's College of Business & Economics; and Dr. Lindquist.

Under an agreement signed in 2001, RBC graduates who earn an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 are guaranteed admission to Longwood, though they are not guaranteed entrance to the College of Business & Economics. Students who pursue transfer under this new agreement will have guaranteed admission to the College of Business & Economics as well.

"We have been very pleased with our relationship with Longwood University and its students, and we look forward to seeing this new initiative enhance our collaboration," said Dr. McNeer.

Longwood's College of Business & Economics is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the premier accrediting body for business programs.