Kent State President Lester A. Lefton and Stark State
President John O’Donnell signed an institutional articulation
agreement on July 7.

Ohio’s second largest public university is partnering with an associate degree college to simplify and guarantee the transfer process between the two institutions. Recognizing the need to facilitate the transfer of students from Stark State College to Kent State University to pursue and achieve their educational goals, Kent State President Lester A. Lefton and Stark State President John O’Donnell signed an institutional articulation agreement on July 7.

The articulation agreement eases the transfer process and promotes the closer coordination of academic courses, programs and degrees offered by the two institutions. The agreement guarantees admission to Kent State, a four-year university, for any Stark State student who has completed an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree with a minimum grade point average of 2.0. The qualifying students will be admitted to Kent State as juniors and can transfer up to 60 credit hours. Based on the number of credits they earned, they will be accepted, admitted and given the same junior class standing and privileges as Kent State students who began their college careers as freshmen at the university. The transfer students can pursue their bachelor’s degree at any one of Kent State’s eight campuses located throughout Northeast Ohio.

“This is a great collaboration between our two institutions that helps our students,” Lefton says. “The articulation agreement encourages Stark State students to think about obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the beginning of their college careers. We’ll be offering guidance and advising to these students, and this agreement outlines the specific requirements to transfer from Stark State to Kent State. When Stark State students complete those requirements, they are automatically admitted as Kent State students and afforded junior standing should they decide to continue their studies at Kent State.”

“The establishment of an articulation agreement between Kent State University and Stark State College, partners in the University System of Ohio, allows our common students to climb the degree ladder and to make themselves more viable in an ever-changing economy,” O’Donnell says. “This agreement is a major action in the economic and social development of our region and of Ohio.”

With the signing of this institutional articulation agreement, a transfer guide will be developed that will include an equivalency table showing the classes at Stark State that are equivalent to classes offered at Kent State. In addition, advisers and ongoing communications about the transfer process and transfer guide will be available at Stark State.

For more information on Kent State, visit www.kent.edu.

For more information on Stark State, visit www.starkstate.edu.