St. Joseph’s College and Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) announced an agreement Thursday that will let SCCC graduates earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees at SJC Long Island in just three years.
The new articulation agreements give students the opportunity to earn either a master’s degree in forensic computing or human services leadership at SJC Long Island — all just five years after getting their start at Suffolk. And they add to a growing roster of articulation agreements between the two institutions.
“These programs are about helping the students save time and money,” St. Joseph’s President Donald R. Boomgaarden, Ph.D., said before formally signing the contract in the McGann Conference Center. “The (programs) are about the bottom line — graduating with as little debt as possible and starting in a wonderful career.
“At St. Joseph’s, the students are coming to a school where they’re a name, not a number,” he continued. “They’re coming to a school where they will receive the kind of attention and personal care that I know their professors and mentors at Suffolk would want them to have.”
Joining Dr. Boomgaarden was SJC’s new Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Robert Riley, Ph.D., as well as SCCC Interim President Louis Petrizzo, J.D., and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Beaudin, Ph.D.
A Strong Partnership
Dr. Petrizzo thanked Dr. Boomgaarden for making the programs available.
“Our institutions recognize the challenges faced by today’s students — the financial limitations, family obligations, transportation problems,” Dr. Petrizzo said. “We understand the importance — even the necessity — of keeping higher education accessible and affordable to as many of these students and communities as possible. Agreements like these are important steps in promoting and insuring student success.”
As an economist who likes to look at numbers and data, Dr. Riley was interested in learning more about the students who transfer to SJC Long Island and about their academic success.
“I found that they are, here at St. Joe’s, very successful students,” he said. “So thank you to our colleagues — the faculty, staff and administration — at Suffolk for preparing your students to do well here.”
Kathleen Magistro, director of undergraduate admissions at SJC Long Island, is glad to see this partnership blooming.
“Here at St. Joseph’s College, we all strive to uphold our mission to support and serve students with the best educational opportunities,” she said. “We do that by incorporating the mission of our founders — the Sisters of St. Joseph — by welcoming the dear neighbor as we collaborate with those in our community. Today, we are fortunate to do exactly that by partnering with our dear neighbor Suffolk County Community College (SCCC).”
