Allegheny College: Off-Campus Studies

Curricular Options

Cooperative Programs (3-3, 3-2 or 3-1 Programs)

Independent Study and the ICIS Program

Cooperative Programs

General Information
Requirements
Fee And Transcript Information
Application Process
Allegheny Approved Cooperative Programs

General Information

Cooperative programs (often referred to as 3-3, 3-2, or 3-1 programs) enable Allegheny students to acquire a solid liberal arts background while accelerating their progress toward professional training and certification. Most of these require the successful completion of 96 semester credit hours at Allegheny before beginning course work at the cooperating institution.

Requirements

Students who want to participate in cooperative programs must complete:

the courses identified for an approved major, including the minor outside the division of the major
Allegheny's distribution requirements
the FS and APL requirements.

There are additional specific departmental course requirements for cooperative programs and students should consult with the appropriate program liaison person about them when planning their course of study. Satisfactory completion of the stated Allegheny requirements and the cooperating institution's requirements earns the student the bachelor's degree from Allegheny and the specified degree or certification from the cooperating institution.

Fee and Transcript Information

There is a maintenance fee payable to Allegheny for each year in which the student is enrolled at a cooperating institution. This fee, payable before final processing of the application can be completed, is $50 for two years at a cooperating institution, or $25 for one year. The maintenance fee helps to offset the costs of special record maintenance, correspondence, and transfer credit.

Because work at the cooperating institution is evaluated as transfer credit, transcripts showing that the student's work at the second institution has been satisfactory must be received before the Allegheny degree is awarded.

Application Process

Students who elect to complete any of the programs that involve three years of work at Allegheny and additional years at a cooperating institution should follow the steps below:

Obtain a "Cooperative Program Approval Agreement" form at International Programs and Services (Reis 200).
See their academic advisor and the appropriate cooperative program advisor to make sure all academic requirements have been addressed (per the form).
Complete the cooperative agreement form (fill in blanks and acquire appropriate signatures).
Early in the final semester at Allegheny, schedule an appointment with Jenny Kawata by contacting Linda Litzinger at the International Programs and Services (332-4891). At that time, students should review the steps to take through the entire cooperative program.
Students interested in cooperative programs at institutions not listed below will need to file an approval petition to the College.

Allegheny-Approved Cooperative Programs

Allied Health

A cooperative program in Medical Technology has been arranged with Rochester General Hospital School of Medical Technology (affiliated with the University of Rochester).
The program involves three years at Allegheny to fulfill basic science requirements and one year at Rochester to complete technical requirements. This arrangement permits students to earn an Allegheny bachelor's degree and certification in medical technology after four years of study.
Cooperative arrangements in any allied health field may be made at other institutions with the approval of the Allegheny faculty. Students in interested in pursuing such programs should first contact Kirsten Peterson, Health Professions Advisor (Reis Hall 102A).

Education

Allegheny has a cooperative program with the University of Pittsburgh to enable qualified Allegheny students to acquire teacher certification.
Up to 20 Allegheny students per year are pre-admitted to the Masters of Arts in Teaching Program.
Students complete four years at Allegheny with a major and minor in academic discplines. After completing four terms (typically, summer, fall, spring and summer) at the University of Pittsburgh, students may earn both Commenwealth of Pennsylvania Instructional Certification and a Master of Arts in Teaching Degree.
Students normally apply during their junior year at Allegheny and must meet the University of Pittsburgh School of Education admission requirements.
Students may specialize in: Elementary Education, English/Communication Education, Foreign Language Education, Mathematics Education, Science Education or Social Science Education.
A substantial portion of the program consists of a year-long internship with a cooperating school district.
Students who are interested in this program should contact the Dean of the College early in their careers in order to coordinate their programs with University requirements.

Engineering

Five engineering programs entail three years at Allegheny and further study -- usually two years -- at a cooperating institution.
At the conclusion of study, the student receives a bachelor's degree from Allegheny and the Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from the cooperating institution.
Programs have been arranged with the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science, Case Institute of Technology of Case Western Reserve University, the School of Engineering of the University of Pittsburgh, and the Duke University and Washington University engineering schools.
Most programs require that students maintain a "B" average overall and in the sciences. For these universities, acceptance to the cooperating institution is contingent upon the recommendation of the student's major department at Allegheny. For some of the engineering departments, enrollment is limited by the engineering school. Similar arrangements may be made with engineering programs at other institutions with the approval of the faculty.
An alternative cooperative program with Columbia provides for earning the bachelor's degree at Allegheny in the usual four years and the Master of Science in Engineering degree after two additional years at Columbia. This program requires substantial academic performance in Allegheny course work and is available in most engineering fields.
Students should consult with their advisor in their major field and with the overall coordinator and physics liaison Professor Daniel Willey of the Physics Department (Carr 119) for specific program requirements. In addition, students could meet with the Chemistry department liaison Phillip Persichini or the Mathematics department liaison Tamara Lakins.

Allegheny College and Carnegie Mellon University Collaborative Accelerated Master's Program (Second Reading)

Nursing

Allegheny has a cooperative program with Case Western Reserve University for students intending to prepare for careers in nursing.
Students must first complete three years of study at Allegheny; they may then be admitted to advanced study at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing of CWRU. The arrangement with Case Western Reserve involves four years of advanced study in nursing
The student is awarded the appropriate Allegheny bachelor's degree after two years of advanced study, and, at the conclusion of the fourth year of nursing studies, s/he receives the Doctor of Nursing degree.
Admission to these nursing programs is competitive and the existence of a cooperative program between Allegheny and the other institution does not assure an Allegheny student admission. Students interested in the programs should consult with Kirsten Peterson, Health Professions Advisor (Reis Hall 102A), in their first year for specific course requirements.

Chatham Cooperative Program

Independent Study And The ICIS Program

With the approval of a faculty sponsor, students may design a course of study to pursue a topic of special interest. It should be noted that some departments limit the number of independent study credit hours that may be included in the major program. Independent study projects which are broad in scope, which may involve more than one department, and which call for the equivalent of several courses are approved through the Individualized Curriculum for Independent Study program.

Individualized Curriculum for Independent Study (ICIS) Program

The ICIS program allows students to receive academic credit for courses of study not described in the Catalogue. The minimum requirements for participation in this program are a 2.75 grade point average and sophomore class standing.

Students meeting these minimum requirements may submit a proposal (available at International Programs and Services) for an ICIS project. Students will design their own programs, which may take place either on or off the campus. The proposal must identify the student's level of preparation for undertaking the study. It should also explain how the study relates to the student's course of study at Allegheny and to a liberal arts education in general.

Finally, the proposal should address the manner in which scholastic rigor will be assured and the academic component of the study will be evaluated.

In preparing the proposal, the student must consult with faculty members and departmental ICIS liaisons (if appropriate) and International Programs and Services. Departmental faculty and ICIS liaisons will establish the guidelines for reviewing and granting ICIS credit. Final approval of all individual ICIS projects will be granted by the Director of International Programs and Services.

Members of the Allegheny faculty will serve as the final evaluators for all work performed in the ICIS program. Work will be evaluated each semester, using criteria established during the proposal process, and will be credited either by letter grade or Credit/No Credit. ICIS projects may be worth up to 32 semester hours of credit; students may apply for and receive permission to undertake more than one ICIS project during their tenure at Allegheny as long as the total number of credit hours received through all ICIS work does not exceed 32, and credit for any internship component(s) does not exceed eight semester hours.