Bellevue University Celebrates New Premier Partnership With Santa Fe Community College

Bellevue University recently celebrated the start of a new Premier Partner relationship in New Mexico during a grand opening event held Oct. 17, 2019, at the Santa Fe Community College campus.

Bellevue University President Dr. Mary Hawkins attended the grand opening and spoke to attendees about the University’s commitment to its community college partners and the communities and students they serve.

“Bellevue (University) is good at accepting as many credits as possible,” said Meghan McGarrity, the Higher Education Center’s interim director. “We find students pick up steam by finishing community college and want to turn their associate’s degree into a bachelor’s. But then they hit a wall when not all of their credit hours are taken.”

Bellevue University Relationship Manager Mark Wood will be located at the Higher Education Center to assist students who are interested in pursuing their bachelor’s degrees. Once a student completes their associate’s degree at SFCC, they will have the option to apply for transfer to Bellevue University and to take online courses offered by BU.

In addition to Dr. Hawkins, several other BU team members attended the grand opening, including: Jim Nekuda, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships; Amy Cox, Director, Organizational Performance; Todd Lardenoit, Director, Premier Partner Network; and Kory Troutman, Assistant Director, Premier Partner Network.

The new partnership brings the Premier Partner network size to just under 50 community colleges.