East Carolina University Interim Chancellor and Provost Ron Mitchelson (left) and ACC President Dr. Algie Gatewood.     (Photo: Rhett Butler, East Carolina University Communications Photographer)

Alamance Community College (ACC) and East Carolina University (ECU) signed a co-admission agreement designed to improve transfer student access and success through a collaborative baccalaureate degree completion program.

The signing ceremony for the Pirate Promise agreement was held Oct. 23 on the East Carolina University campus in Greenville, NC with Dan Gerlach, ECU Interim Chancellor, and Dr. Algie Gatewood, President of Alamance Community College.

Pirate Promise partnership with ACC will:

  • Improve access to baccalaureate degree programs.
  • Improve transfer retention and graduation rates.
  • Provide students with a seamless degree-completion pathway.
  • Improved efficiency to degree completion.
  • Remove student success barriers.
  • Optimize student services and resources.
  • Prepare students to succeed in a global society.
  • Strengthen the partnership between ECU and ACC.

Among the key requirements for ACC students transferring to ECU:

  • Students must be enrolled in an Early College, Career and College Promise program or be in their first year of community college enrollment prior to applying for Pirate Promise.
  • Submit a completed Pirate Promise application for the available entry term.
  • Commit to full-time status (a minimum of 12 semester hours) at ACC unless the student is enrolled in an Early College or Career and College Promise program.
  • Students must complete the degree requirements at ACC for an Associate in Science (AS), Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Fine Arts (AFA), Associate in Engineering (AE), Associate in Applied Science in Early Childhood Education (AAS), or an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) for the B.S. Industrial Technology or B.S. Construction Management programs.
  • Prior to registering for ECU classes, students must submit an admissions application and official transcripts, provide immunization documentation, complete the Campus Safety Questions, and meet admissions requirements as stated in the ECU Undergraduate Catalog (including a cumulative 2.5 minimum GPA).

Benefits for ACC students who participate in Pirate Promise are:

  • Guaranteed admission to ECU (admission to certain degree-completion programs are departmental decisions)
  • Shared electronic records management system
  • Waived ECU application fee
  • Joint academic advising
  • Joint financial aid counseling and micro-scholarship opportunities
  • Access to ECU Libraries
  • Access to ECU Transit
  • Eligible to purchase an ECU One Card (student ID card)
  • Eligible for discounted athletic tickets
  • Eligible to purchase a fitness center pass
  • Eligible to purchase a student parking permit
  • Access to programming through the Office of Student Activities and Organizations at ECU
  • Access to Pirate Promise Event days on ECU’s campus

This agreement follows a number of recent partnerships between Alamance Community College and other four-year institutions in North Carolina, including Elon University, UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Greensboro, Guilford College, N.C. Central University, and N.C. State University.

ACC, East Carolina University Sign Co-Admission Agreement