Students from West Virginia Wesleyan College will be able to earn a bachelors of science degree in engineering from West Virginia University, thanks to an agreement officials from the two schools signed Tuesday (May 10).

WVU Provost Gerald Lang, WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources Dean Eugene Cilento and Wesleyan President William Haden signed the historic agreement at WVU s Morgantown campus. The terms of the agreement will become effective July 1.

The agreement will establish a 3-plus-2 program between WVU and West Virginia Wesleyan, whose campus is in Buckhannon, 60 miles south of Morgantown.

Students will go three years at Wesleyan and then transfer to WVU for the remainder of their education. Students completing the program will graduate with a bachelors of arts degree in physics from Wesleyan and a bachelors of science degree in either civil or mechanical engineering from WVU .

The agreement is part of WVU s goal to make academic programs available to citizens of West Virginia and the region when needed. It formalizes the educational equivalents received for courses taken at Wesleyan and identifies the remaining class work needed to complete a bachelors degree in engineering at WVU .

WVU s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, or CEMR , already has in place similar pre-engineering programs at Potomac State College at WVU , Marshall University and Shepherd College. Students may also earn their engineering degree at the WVU Institute of Technologys Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering.

We are very excited about this agreement and the opportunities it provides to students across the state,said Warren Myers, CEMR s associate dean for academic affairs.WVU is committed to making an engineering education available to all who wish to pursue one and the agreement will further our efforts beyond the established offerings at the Morgantown and regional campuses.

CEMR s mission is to prepare students to practice their profession and contribute to the well-being of society through academic study, research, extension and service. The college offers 11 accredited bachelors of science undergraduate majors in seven departments and masters and doctoral degrees in nine programs. It also offers accredited graduate programs in industrial hygiene and safety management.

West Virginia Wesleyan challenges its students to a lifelong commitment to develop their intellectual, ethical, spiritual and leadership potential and to set and uphold standards of excellence. Firmly rooted in the liberal arts tradition and closely related to the United Methodist Church, the college is a community of learning based on fundamental principles formed at the intersection of Christian faith and liberal education: intellectual rigor, self-discovery, human dignity, mutual support, social justice, self-discipline, mental and physical wellness, the appreciation of diversity and the natural world, and the judicious use of resources.