Union College & SKCTC Bring Grad Program to Middlesboro

Presidents Bruce Ayers (left) and Edward D. de Rosset (right) formalize a partnership between Union College and SKCTC.

Union College in Barbourville and Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (SKCTC) are joining forces to bring advanced degrees to area residents.

The partnership, announced on Friday, July 27, allows Union College’s graduate studies department to bring programming to SKCTC’s branch campuses. Union will begin the project at the Middlesboro campus, where it will offer a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and a RANK 1 in Supervisor of Instruction. Some classes will be available on SKCTC’s Cumberland, Harlan, and Whitesburg campuses as well.

“We’ve had a wonderful relationship with Union in the past, and this is a way to enhance that relationship,” Dr. W. Bruce Ayers, SKCTC’s president, said during Friday’s announcement. Union’s president, Edward D. de Rosset, noted Dr. Ayers’ history of collaborative work with area institutions and sees the Union - SKCTC partnership as another example of “finding collaborations wherever possible to bring opportunity to people in the mountains.”

Union will begin offering graduate classes at the Middlesboro campus in August. The program’s blended format allows students to take some classes online. Students can complete a Master of Arts or the Rank I within one year if they follow the program’s rotation.

Union representatives will visit Bell county schools over the next several days to provide area teachers with more information about the graduate program.

Union College’s Department of Graduate Studies offers masters’ degrees in education and psychology. To learn more, visit www.unionky.edu or call the graduate office at 606-546-1210.

August 3 , 2007

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