Clatsop Community College
1653 Jerome, Astoria OR 97103
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2006
Contact: Sheila Ruhland, (503) 338-2440

Clatsop Community College and Portland State University Continue Building Partnership to Benefit Students

Earlier this month, Dr. Greg Hamann, CCC President, and Dr. Sheila Ruhland, VP of Instruction, met with Dr. Daniel Bernstine, PSU President, and members of his staff to continue strengthening the CCC and PSU partnership designed to benefit area students. That partnership was outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by CCC and PSU last summer.

During the meeting, the College and Portland State agreed that a primary next step is to complete the co-admission/co-enrollment agreement that will allow students to take simultaneous advantage of CCC’s and PSU’s course offerings and smooth the pathway that students take when transferring from CCC to PSU.

The two institutions also plan to convene a joint meeting of appropriate faculty and staff to discuss and develop and Environmental Sciences program that is fully articulated between CCC and PSU. “This is an especially exciting program,” says Dr. Hamann, “because we already have area high schools with environmental science curriculum and because it is hard to imagine a more natural ‘classroom’ for this kind of study than the environment we have right here in Clatsop County.”

In addition, CCC and PSU also agreed to work together to complete a program articulation in Criminal Justice and to consider potential articulations in other areas, such as Creative Industries and Hospitality.

“Partnerships like this are very beneficial to our students,” says Dr. Ruhland. “We are firmly committed to working together with PSU to provide the best curriculum and smoothest educational pathways we can for our students.”