As the new facility for L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College goes up on La. 311 in Schriever, Nicholls and Fletcher are working together to form a closer bond to make the transition for transfer students an easier process.
The Master Plan adopted by the Louisiana Board of Regents in August 2011 states that it wishes to keep Nicholls a four-year college and make Fletcher the community college of the region.
The state wants four-year colleges to keep their duties separate from that of two-year colleges. Louisiana’s Master Plan states that four-year colleges should not award associate degrees. This will become part of the duties of a two-year college, though some associate degrees will remain at the University.
According to Renee Hicks, executive director of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, the John Folse Institute will keep its associate degree at the University, because it would cost Fletcher too much money to take it over.
Remedial courses have been removed from the University’s curriculum. There is now a program called “Fletcher at Nicholls” which allows students to take remedial courses taught by Fletcher professors on the Nicholls campus. Tuition from students taking remedial courses will be split between the University and the “Fletcher at Nicholls” program, Hicks said.
Students can find a list of transferrable courses from Fletcher to Nicholls at nicholls.edu/transfer/for-louisiana-community-and-technical-college-students. The website also compares the University’s curriculum for each degree program to Fletcher courses and specifies what courses count in each curriculum.
The University works with Fletcher advisors to ensure students wishing to come to the University will have the knowledge they need. The advisors have the degree programs from the University when they are helping students choose their paths.
“We are trying our best to communicate as much to the students as we can so there is no wasted effort,” Hicks said.
Fletcher is now constructing a two-story building to house the community college courses, while the technical programs will likely remain in the original facility, according to Hicks..
Hicks said there is hope that the move to a new building will bring more of an academic feel to the facility.
“I think their other campus looks like a technical school. I think this new building grows them to a community college,” Hicks said.
The facility is expected to open for the fall 2012 semester. Now that the University is attracting higher-end students, the relation between the University and Fletcher has become important for borderline students.
“The University has a lot of borderline students who are just on the edge of being eligible, and Fletcher supports and keeps the path open,” Hicks said.