UNC Pembroke inks transfer agreement with Louisburg College

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The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is partnering with Louisburg College to provide more students access to a high-quality business education at UNCP’s School of Business.

UNCP Chancellor Dr. Robin Gary Cummings and Louisburg President Dr. Mark La Branche signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Pembroke campus Friday.

The initial agreement allows Louisburg College graduates seeking a degree in Business Administration to make a smooth transfer to UNC Pembroke.

“The collaboration brings together two unique North Carolina institutions of higher learning with long legacies of service,” Cummings said. “We are pleased to partner with Louisburg College to provide their graduates a strong pathway to continue their education and pursue career goals.”

“In UNC Pembroke’s School of Business, these students will find engaged, dedicated faculty committed to their learning and future success,” Cummings added.

“This is a wonderful collaboration,” La Branche said. “For our students to know that when they complete their work at Louisburg College they will have an opportunity to transition seamlessly to Pembroke where they can go on to get their bachelor’s degree.”

“We are excited about the collaboration and we think that to accomplish the goals of our state of having more students educated at a higher level, these kinds of relationships are going to be crucial,” La Branche continued.

UNC Pembroke is in the planning stages of building a $36 million state-of-the art facility to house the School of Business. Last week, the university was awarded a $1.89 million matching grant from the Gold LEAF Foundation to provide classroom technology for the new building. Those funds will be combined with the $23 million UNCP received last year from the Connect NC Bond.

The School of Business is internationally accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), earned by only five percent of business schools worldwide.

Among the Louisburg College representatives in attendance were Dr. Jim Eck, provost, and Chad Barefoot, vice president of Institutional Advancement.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Barefoot said they noticed in recent years that a high rate of business students at Louisburg College were continuing their education at UNCP. 

“We thought formalizing that relationship would create benefits for both institutions primarily for the students and what their prospective programs bring to their education and their ability to succeed,” Barefoot said.

Following the signing ceremony, representatives from Louisburg toured Pembroke’s campus.

Louisburg College is located in the heart of Franklin County, about 30 miles northeast of Raleigh. It is the state’s only two-year residential college with some 90 percent of graduates continuing on to four-year schools.

Dr. Cammie Hunt, UNCP associate vice chancellor for Engaged Outreach, said they hope to identify students early in their career at Louisburg College who are interested in UNCP. The plan is to offer specialized opportunities for those students to visit UNCP and interact with the campus community prior to enrolling here.

The partnership, Hunt said, will serve as the foundation to build more collaborative agreements with Louisburg College.

The UNC Pembroke-Louisburg College partnership is the latest of many relationships UNCP has leveraged with fellow in-state universities and colleges to create new “pathways to success” for students.

In January, UNCP established a Veterinary Education Access Scholars Program with the College of Veterinary Medicine at N.C. State providing UNCP students a path to veterinary school. Similar agreements for UNCP students include a 3-plus-2 dual degree partnership with the College of Engineering at N.C. State.

Matriculation agreements are also in place with the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine as well as the ECU Doctor of Physical Therapy program.