But it wasn’t seamless. The courses didn’t necessarily count toward a teaching degree, causing students to take additional credits and potentially extending the time and cost needed to get them to their goal.
A new transfer agreement between the two schools is designed to make that journey much clearer for aspiring educators.
By creating a credit-for-credit transfer from CVTC’s foundations of teacher education associate degree program into UW-Eau Claire’s education studies program, the two institutions hope to remove unnecessary steps and time for students while strengthening the region’s educator workforce.
“I am really hopeful that it’s going to get more students to continue in a teaching career,” says Dr. Abby Hemmerich, professor and chair of the education studies department at UW-Eau Claire. “This is an opportunity to recognize a student’s prior coursework and help them move into a bachelor’s degree pathway.”
Beginning in September, students who complete the CVTC associate degree can transfer directly into UW-Eau Claire’s program with 62 completed credits, allowing them to stay on pace to earn a bachelor’s degree and teaching licensure.
Even though the two higher education institutions are neighbors, seamless program-to-program transfer hasn’t been an option for students in the past.
Shalyn Gagnon, a foundations of teacher education instructor with CVTC, says both institutions had some apprehension when considering credit transfers for this program, but in the end, the goal of eliminating hurdles for students helped drive the new agreement.
“The CVTC faculty just said, ‘We’ll add content to our courses for better transfer alignment to the university. We’ll do whatever it takes,’” Gagnon recalls. “We needed to work together.”
The turning point was during the annual Reaffirmation Day this year between CVTC and UW-Eau Claire. The day is set aside each year for the institutions to discuss their continued partnership, including transfer opportunities.
Instead of negotiating individual classes to transfer, CVTC and UW-Eau Claire faculty worked at finding a way to transfer CVTC’s entire program to UW-Eau Claire. Gagnon says the university’s willingness to think big fundamentally changed the discussion in the best way.
“We were in this together, as partners.” Gagnon says. “They sat at the table with us. Together, we took a deeper look at our curriculum, strengthened alignment and focused on what would best support students. The result was an even more cohesive and student-centered learning experience.”
It wasn’t without effort.
Faculty at both institutions had to discuss barriers, compare programs, find curriculum alignment and create some pathways that weren’t clear cut.
“We were working toward similar outcomes in both of these programs, but you really have to make the time and space to see where courses align,” Hemmerich says.
Nichole Miller, post-traditional program manager at UW-Eau Claire, completed much of the detailed comparison work by pouring over every course, looking for existing equivalencies and identifying any missing pieces.
“UW-Eau Claire has recognized that the quality of teaching at CVTC is great, and the information that students are learning is great,” Hemmerich says. “Once we knew we could make (the credits) work, everybody sort of felt like, why wouldn’t we do this?”
Stephanie Esser, CVTC executive dean of business, arts & sciences, says she’s proud of the way faculty came together to solve the problem for student success.
“This agreement reflects the heart and dedication of our faculty at both institutions,” Esser says. “Their deep passion for education, commitment to preparing well-qualified future teachers and focus on removing barriers are creating stronger opportunities for students and helping ensure our school districts have the educators they need.”
The transfer agreement fits into both institutions’ strategic plans. At CVTC, that includes transfer as a part of student success. And at UW-Eau Claire, it’s finding pathways for people to access the institution, says Dr. Carmen Manning, dean of UW-Eau Claire College of Health and Human Sciences.
“Aligned with our Vision 2030 goal of providing multiple doorways to student success, this partnership removes barriers, strengthens access and supports a shared commitment to developing the next generation of educators,” she says.
Now that the hard work is done on the administrative end, it’s up to the students to put it to good use.
“Together, our institutions are building a stronger talent pipeline and helping ensure that schools throughout the region and state have the dedicated teachers they need for years to come,” Manning says.
Gagnon agrees.
“This is such a win for students,” Gagnon says. “When CVTC and UWEC come together, we create more opportunities for students to pursue a teaching career and make a difference. As a CVTC instructor and a former K-12 teacher, I couldn’t be more excited to see what this partnership will mean for the future of education in our region.”
This story was created by the communications teams at Chippewa Valley Technical College and UW-Eau Claire.
