Top: Southern Illinois University Carbondale Chancellor Austin Lane (center) cheers a Saluki Step Ahead agreement with John Wood Community College on Sept. 18 during a virtual ceremony with (from left) Wendell Williams, vice chancellor for enrollment management; Sarah Jiter, director of undergraduate admissions, and Josi Rawls, associate director for transfer relations. Bottom: John Wood Community College President Bryan Renfro (left) signs the agreement as Shelley Barkley, vice president for academic and student affairs, looks on. (SIU photo by Russell Bailey; JWCC photo provided)
September 19, 2024
SIU Carbondale inks agreement to improve access for John Wood Community College students
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale strengthened its commitment to students in western Illinois with an agreement to bring the expertise of a doctoral research university to qualified John Wood Community College students by providing the option to earn their bachelor’s degrees remotely and at a lower cost in 12 academic programs.
SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin A. Lane and John Wood Community College (JWCC) President Bryan Renfro signed the agreement for the Saluki Step Ahead program on Sept. 18 during a virtual ceremony.
Established in 2021, the program enables students who graduate with an associate degree from partnering community colleges to complete their SIU bachelor’s degrees online in accounting, business administration, criminology and criminal justice, early childhood, elementary education, health care management, history, industrial management and applied engineering, information technology, nursing (RN to BSN), psychology and radiologic sciences.
“We are pleased to collaborate with John Wood Community College to provide another option for place-bound students in this region,” Lane said. “If these students cannot come to Carbondale to complete their education, we will bring the experience and resources of a doctoral research university to them.”
Lane added that this Saluki Step Ahead agreement fits well with the university’s strategic plan, Imagine 2030, and its pillars of student success and partnerships.
“Signing the Saluki Promise transfer agreement with Southern Illinois University Carbondale is an important step in our mission to provide clear pathways to higher education,” Renfro said. “With the Saluki Step Ahead program, SIU is coming directly to our students, offering the unique opportunity to complete their baccalaureate degree entirely online in select programs. This partnership not only ensures a smooth transition but also allows our students to stay in Illinois while accessing top-tier research-level degree programs at a lower cost.”
Founded in 1974 and admitting its first students in August 1975, JWCC has about 1,900 students this fall. The college has more than 25 associate degree transfer programs and offers more than 50 certificate and applied associate degree programs. The college has a main campus and workforce development center in Quincy, with education centers in Baylis, Mt. Sterling and Pittsfield.
JWCC’s district is nearly 2,400 square miles and encompasses all of Adams, Brown and Pike counties, and portions of Calhoun, Cass, Hancock, Morgan, Schuyler and Scott counties. About 93,100 residents live in the college district.
The John Wood Community College agreement brings SIU Carbondale to about 50 Saluki Step Ahead partnerships the university has with community college campuses in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. That includes pacts with 44 of the 48 community colleges in Illinois.
Students in the Saluki Step Ahead program pay the community college rate for their first two years. In the third and fourth years, they receive annual $4,000 scholarships.
