TIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGE FINALIZES TRANSFER AND ADMISSIONS AGREEMENT FOR QUALIFIED GRADUATES WITH NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA - (May 8, 2003) - Tidewater Community College and Norfolk State University signed a Transfer Agreement yesterday to guarantee admission of qualified TCC graduates to complete their 4-year degrees at Norfolk State University. The agreement was executed by NSU President Marie V. McDemmond and TCC President Deborah M. DiCroce at Norfolk State University. Both presidents praised the new agreement for offering new pathways for transfer of TCC's students to complete their baccalaureate degrees. They promised additional enhancements to the TCC-NSU partnership over the next year.

An overview of the agreement is as follows:

· This new agreement takes an already strong relationship between the two institutions and moves it to new level to support seamless transfer for community college students.

· The agreement provides, for the first time, guaranteed admission to NSU of TCC students in transfer programs who meet the applicable requirements.

· The agreement is particularly notable for providing a designated transfer track to the baccalaureate degree for students who are in one of TCC's occupational/technical programs (such as information technology, health professions, hospitality management, and industrial technologies).

· Students completing an Associate in Applied Science degree will now be able to meet NSU general education requirements by taking additional specified TCC courses (usually no more than 20 credits).

· This arrangement is part of a larger statewide strategy to effectively link workforce development and community college education with opportunities to obtain a baccalaureate degree.

· Specific articulation agreements for designated programs will be developed and updated under the umbrella of the general transfer agreement.

· Five articulated programs, ranging from pre-law to tourism and hospitality management, are already approved and in place.

Tidewater Community College (TCC) is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia, enrolling more than 34,000 students annually. It is the 37th largest in the nation's 1,600 community college network and among the 50 fastest growing large community colleges. Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, a regional Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne, Portsmouth and the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district in downtown Norfolk. Forty-three percent of the region's residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall are enrolled at TCC.

Norfolk State University (NSU) was founded in 1935. It is Virginia's largest public historically black university and the 7th largest in the nation. The university's mission focuses on "providing an affordable, high quality education for an ethnically and culturally diverse student population" of approximately 7,000, "equipping them with the capability to become productive citizens who can effectively contribute to the global and rapidly changing society." NSU's faculty, staff, students and alumni are actively engaged with surrounding communities in volunteer and civic efforts to enhance the quality of life for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.