CEI students can jointly enroll at the UI

Students enrolling at the College of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls will soon be able to jointly enroll at the University of Idaho, reportedly the first such partnership in the state.

A memorandum of agreement for joint admissions and joint enrollment between the institutions will be formally adopted at the CEI Board of Trustees meeting today in Idaho Falls.

The agreement allows students who enroll at CEI to automatically enroll at the UI, without subjection to an additional enrollment fee, Marc Skinner, executive officer of the UI-Idaho Falls, told the Daily News.

Skinner, who spearheaded the agreement after a conversation with CEI President Rick Aman, said he hopes the option will increase student efficiency in obtaining a bachelor’s degree.

“We want to eliminate barriers for students in obtaining the highest level of education that they feel like they want to attain, and we really want to make it a seamless transition for students who want to go from a community college to a bachelor’s degree,” Skinner said.

The intent, Skinner said, is that CEI students will be made aware of their option to jointly enroll at the UI as soon as they walk through the door, starting this coming spring semester.

The institutions will share student records and allow joint access to college services, including advising. CEI students who are accepted for joint admission will receive an email address from both schools and pay tuition and fees associated with the institution offering a specific course, according to the press release. The UI will have advising spaces available on the CEI campus for students enrolled in the joint program.

“Offering the option of joint enrollment will provide a seamless transition for students who continue their education beyond their associate degree,” UI President Chuck Staben said in the press release. “This effort will more clearly communicate professional pathways for students and raise the educational attainment rates of the region and the state.”

The agreement will come less than two months after the UI released its fall 2017 enrollment numbers, which indicated a 2.4 percent increase in total enrollment, exceeding 12,000 students for the first time in five years. That increase came almost entirely from dual-credit high school students enrolled in at least one UI class, who made up for enrollment decreases at nearly every UI campus across the state this year, including its headquarters in Moscow.

CEI students jointly admitted to the UI will not be counted in the UI’s own enrollment numbers until they enroll in a UI class, Skinner said.

“That could happen early on, but I think the more likely path would be a little later on, when they’ve gotten through most of their generals,” Skinner said.

The UI has transfer agreements already in place with other community colleges across Idaho, though CEI is the only one in the state to offer joint admission to the UI. Skinner said he hopes the agreement can be a template for partnerships between other institutions.