Albany State, Albany Tech celebrate partnership

April 1, 2009 - Despite the heavy rain showers and dark clouds, students and faculty from Albany Technical College and Albany State University choose to celebrate Wednesday.
The two schools rejoiced after they had completed a three-year process to make it easier for Albany Tech students to continue their studies at ASU.

The historic and festive Partnership Day at Albany Tech was well attended with more than 150 students on hand to meet ASU representatives. Robert Newton, ASU senior admissions recruiter, said they had 12-15 Albany Tech students fill out applications to attend Albany State and another 20 students who took applications home.

“This is just so awesome,” said Newton, who has worked at ASU for more than nine years. “This is an excellent example of partnership of higher education. Dr. (Anthony) Parker (of Albany Tech) and Dr. (Everette) Freeman (of ASU) have worked together for the betterment of the community.”

Vincent Andrews, the off-campus program liaison for ASU and Albany Tech, said Albany State University already has partnership agreements with Darton College, Bainbridge College, Waycross College and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.

“This is like a calibration process,” said Andrews, who has held his off-campus program liaison position for only a month after working as a chemist at Coca-Cola and Miller Brewing companies. “(We’re) trying to minimize problems, situations and bumps in

the road. (And helping students) know who to talk to.”

Albany Tech student Nikita Thomas-Smith found the Partnership Day informative and enjoyable. Besides meeting with ASU staff, the event also featured free appetizers, drink and jazz music by Rufus and Them.

“I thought it was very interesting,” said Thomas-Smith, who is in her first year in Albany Tech’s medical assistant program. “It got you thinking about getting a career and trying to do it all. I’m trying to receive my bachelor of science (at Albany State).”

Albany State’s Director of Financial Aid Thomas Harris said one of the benefits to the event was cutting down on bureaucracy while improving relations between the two schools.

“Programs like this help students so they won’t have to go through this process on their own,” Harris said. “This helps them to have all the information and (gives them) someone to help them between the schools.”

The two-plus-two agreements allow an Albany Tech student with an associate degree to continue their education at ASU to acquire a bachelor’s degree in one of six majors: accounting, computer information systems, criminal justice, early childhood education, marketing and technology management.