STATEWIDE–Ivy Tech and Purdue University are teaming up in a collaboration for a new program called Green2Gold. On Wednesday, leaders of both institutions announced that they would offer a combined Associate of Science (AS) in engineering from Ivy Tech and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in engineering from Purdue.
The goal of it is to grow Indiana’s engineering workforce and create another way for people from Indiana to become Purdue engineers.
Participating students will be co-enrolled at both institutions for their first two years. After getting their associate degree from Ivy Tech and meeting course and GPA requirements for their major, Green2Gold students will be eligible for direct admission to Purdue’s College of Engineering—-one of the nation’s top engineering schools.
“Green2Gold creates an opportunity for Indiana students to achieve their dreams of a world-class Purdue engineering degree, starting at Ivy Tech,” said Dr. Sue Ellspermann, president of Ivy Tech Community College. “As Indiana’s engine of workforce development, Ivy Tech is proud to partner with the Purdue College of Engineering to meet employers’ needs for highly skilled engineers prepared to grow Indiana’s economy and emerging industries.”
It also has the approval of Steve Ferdon. He is the Director of Materials Science Engineering at Cummins Inc.
“It’s designed specifically to train and develop students along an academic path that will lead to real-world locally available careers,” said Ferdon.
Green2Gold classes will be held in small cohorts. Students will remain with their cohort throughout the program, providing a built-in support network to help with both student persistence and retention.
The Ivy Tech Columbus campus will be the first to offer the Green2Gold program starting this fall. Plans call for Green2Gold to expand to other select Ivy Tech campuses in subsequent years.
In addition to co-enrollment at Ivy Tech and Purdue, the Green2Gold collaboration will allow both institutions to jointly recruit K-12 students to the program, collaborate with regional employers to expand internship and co-op opportunities, and share faculty for instruction, advising, employer engagement and more.
