Navy Announces New Education Partnership with Embry-Riddle

NEWS RELEASE

Cmdr. Anthony Cooper
Special Assistant to the
Chief of Naval Education and Training
Public Affairs Office
250 Dallas St.
Pensacola, FL 32508-5220
Phone: 850-452-4860
E-mail: cdr-anthony.cooper@cnet.navy.mil

Navy Announces New Education Partnerships

Pensacola, Fla., Nov. 27, 2000 -- Responding to sailors' need for greater access to higher education, Navy College Program (NCP) has developed new partnerships with 16 colleges and universities to offer rating-related degrees via distance learning to sailors everywhere.

These new education partnerships provide associate and bachelor degree programs related to each rating, and make maximum use of military professional training and experience to fulfill degree requirements. The program also provides opportunities to take courses through distance learning so that sailors anywhere will be able to pursue a degree. Beginning in January 2001, the college partners can be reached by hotlinks from the Navy College Center (NCC). Although all Navy ratings are paired with at least one degree choice, some ratings need additional options. NCP will seek additional education partnerships in the spring of 2001.

The announcement of the new partnerships was made on Nov. 1, 2000, at the Secretary of the Navy's Presidents Day visit by the educational partner presidents to Atlantic Fleet commands in Norfolk, Va. Their visit culminates a yearlong search for colleges willing to join with the Navy in this revolutionary partnering of technical and management skills with academic courses taken online or through other distance learning media.

The new partner colleges are: City University, Renton, Wash.; Coastline Community College, Fountain Valley, Calif.; Dallas County Community College, Dallas, Texas; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Empire State University, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Florida Community College, Jacksonville, Fla.; Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla; Fort Hays State University, Hayes, Kan.; George Washington University, Washington, D.C.; Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.; Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Rogers State University, Claremore, Okla; Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, N.J.; Troy State University, Troy, Ala.; University of Maryland; University College, Adelphi, Md.; and Vincennes University, Vincennes, Ind.

Partner colleges will offer courses in a variety of formats, such as CD-ROM, videotape, paper, or over the Internet. The new partnerships build on the existing Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges-Navy (SOCNAV) foundation, which supports both the sailors' mobile lifestyle and educational goals. With more than 80 SOCNAV member schools, sailors will have the option to pursue the degree of their choice. Many may want to pursue a rating-related program as the quickest route to a degree; others may choose to pursue other degrees within the liberal arts or sciences. The NCP supports either option.

Over the past year, introduction of the Sailor/Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript (SMART), the NCC, and the virtual Navy College Office have provided easy access and revolutionized the sailors' ability to find out the amount of recommended college credit they have. Additionally, the 64 Navy College Offices worldwide have had staffing increases to better provide academic counseling.

"NCP focuses on helping sailors to voluntarily obtain a college degree while in the Navy, when they are ready, and at their own pace, anytime, anywhere. The response from the fleet has been overwhelming. As of October, the Navy College Center had logged more than 500,000 hits," said Ileen Rogers, the Navy's director of Voluntary Education Requirements and Policy.

One of the most requested items supplied by the NCP is the SMART, a computer-generated transcript that will automatically record the recommended college credit a sailor earns for military training and work experience.

"Sailors can also submit official copies of their SMART to academic institutions of their choice. Every sailor graduating from recruit training and evaluated 'A' and 'C' schools are given a summary SMART," said Barry Nelson, director of the Navy College Center (NCC) at Saufley Field, Fla. "As of October, in just a little over a year of operation, the NCP staff had responded to more than 400,000 requests for the SMART."

To find out about your education opportunities, go to your Navy College Office, or visit the NCC web site at www.navycollege.navy.mil, or e-mail the NCC at ncc@cnet.navy.mil, or call the toll free number 1-877-253-7122, (DSN) 922-1828.