
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 5, 1991                   TAG: 9103050475
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER/ SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

PACTS WILL AID LAW ENFORCEMENT STUDENTS

Four community colleges in Southwest Virginia have signed agreements with the Eastern Kentucky University College of Law Enforcement to allow their corrections and police science students to transfer with no credit loss.

Wytheville Community College President William F. Snyder and Truett A. Ricks, dean of Eastern Kentucky's college, signed their agreement in a brief ceremony last week.

"We believe that it provides another excellent opportunity for our students to transfer and receive a bachelor's degree," Snyder said.

The Richmond, Ky., university signed similar agreements with Southwest Virginia Community College near Richlands, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge and Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria.

Two other community colleges - Mountain Empire at Big Stone Gap and Virginia Highlands at Abingdon - signed up last year.

Robert L. Swanagin, a counselor at the university, expected more agreements with other Virginia community colleges once they are convinced their credits will transfer into the university program.

"They can't believe that we're going to take everything," Swanagin said.

Five men and one woman from Wytheville Community College enrolled in the College of Law Enforcement last year, he said.

"Wytheville Community College sends us a finished product," he said. "What we do is we put on the options; we put on the luxury items."

The College of Law Enforcement has about 1,300 of the university's 15,000 students. It is the third-largest college at the university, Ricks said.

It offers bachelor's degrees in such areas as police administration, corrections and administration of justice, loss prevention and safety, and fire and safety engineering technology; and master's degrees in criminal justice education, police administration, corrections and loss prevention administration.

"Recruiting students is important to us, but getting them jobs is also important," Ricks said. The school has career development and placement programs and information. It also holds a two-day program each April bringing in representatives of police, fire and security agencies from across the country.

Swanagin said 77 agencies, offering 2,600 positions, already are confirmed for the April 5-6 career program at the university.

The agreements allow credits from courses passed at the community colleges for two years to transfer to the university for students going on to degree programs.

by CNB