OTC and Drury sign agreement to benefit honors students
Ozarks Technical Community College Honors program graduates who transfer to Drury University will automatically be eligible for honors-program admission and scholarships thanks to an articulation agreement signed today, Nov. 21 at Drury University.
“Many outstanding students attend OTC before pursuing a bachelor’s degree, and the OTC Honors program provides them with challenging curriculum in an atmosphere of scholarship,” said Todd Yerby, OTC Honors program director. “Now, we are thrilled to enter a great partnership with Drury that will provide these high-achieving students with financial and academic incentives to transfer.”
The agreement between OTC and Drury grants the first four OTC Honors program graduates ─ who have been accepted into Drury University and possess a grade point average of 3.75 or higher ─ admittance into the Drury Honors program. These four students will also receive a scholarship of at least $6,500 per academic year that is renewable for up to eight semesters.
The Drury Honors program will admit more OTC Honors program graduates if additional space in the program is available. Students with a GPA below 3.75 may still apply to the Drury Honors program if a letter of recommendation from the OTC Honors program director accompanies their application.
“OTC students will bring a wealth of experience and talent to our program,” said Dr. Richard Schur, director of the Drury Honors program. “We can expect great things from these students as they use Drury’s resources to complete research and service learning projects that will not only enhance their academic journeys but also benefit our local community.”
The OTC Honors program enrolls approximately 50 students each academic year. The program is open to current college students or incoming freshmen. For admittance into the program, students must meet a set of academic standards, complete an essay and provide three academic references. To graduate with OTC Honors program distinction, students must complete honors courses, volunteer at campus and community events, and maintain a high GPA.
Drury’s honors classes ask students to pose solutions to scientific, social, and cultural problems; engage in service learning projects throughout the region; complete research projects; and dig deeply into scholarly literature. The program spans a student’s entire academic career and caps off with an in-depth senior project of their own choosing. Honors graduates have recently been accepted into some of the best graduate schools in the country, including Harvard University, Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Missouri.
This is the third articulation agreement signed between the OTC Honors program and a Missouri four-year university. OTC also has agreements with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Missouri Southern State University in Joplin that provide OTC Honors students with academic and financial incentives to transfer.