WEST LIBERTY, Dec. 19, 2019 — West Liberty University signed a cooperative registration agreement that is unique and welcomed by students today. WLU joined Wheeling University and Bethany College to partner in a formal consortium agreement that offers students from each school a chance to complete courses at all three schools.
“West Liberty University is pleased to have the chance to work with Wheeling University and Bethany College in this new consortium. The cross-registration agreement is a unique opportunity for students and will help them complete their degrees in a timely fashion. That’s important to all of us and the state of West Virginia,” said Dr. Stephen Greiner, West Liberty University president.
Billed as the first of its kind in West Virginia, the agreement will allow students at any of the three institutions to take one class each semester at one of the others for credit toward their degrees. The agreement takes effect in the spring semester of 2020.
Bethany President Rev. Dr. Tamara Nichols Rodenberg and Wheeling President Ginny Favede, joined President Greiner at a news conference held at Wheeling’s Erickson Alumni Center.
The agreement extends to the fall and spring semesters only, and participating students will pay tuition only to their home school. The collaboration between the leadership of the three schools and their registrars eliminates any extra cost to the student and the need to transfer credits.
“This serves the community as a whole,” Rodenberg said. “We should all be serving Brooke County, Ohio County, and beyond. Bethany College is delighted to be here.”
Favede acknowledged the struggles facing liberal arts colleges across the United States and called the new partnership an innovative solution.
“I’d like to think that this is an opportunity for those of us in West Virginia to show higher education what it means to be innovative and to work with others to benefit everyone,” she said.
“You’ve got three institutions of higher learning with three separate missions, but we all have basically the same mission, which is to educate students. So, the ability for us to come together to work proactively to benefit our community is important.”
“Let’s not make this the last collaboration,” Greiner said. “Let’s make it the first of many collaboratives among the three institutions.”
For more information on this new arrangement, please contact registrars at any of the three schools. WLU’s Registrar’s Office is located in the Enrollment Center, Shaw Hall and can be reached at 304.336.8007.
View the signing on Topperstation.com here.