News

Program to be discontinued

By Scott Wagar

05/07/2013

An academic program started between Dakota College at Bottineau and Minot State University is going to be discontinued, but will continue in a specific way through a new state-wide program brought together through the North Dakota chancellor’s office.

The program being discontinued at the two colleges is the Passport program, which allows students who pick Minot State University as its first college of choice, but are denied admission due to low ACT scores, are granted the opportunity to gain acceptance at Dakota College at Bottineau and take their course work on Minot State’s campus.

The students have to take 24 transferable credits via Dakota College in one year, and if they meet all requirements they can be accepted into Minot State University as sophomores and continue on from there.

However, with a new program from the chancellor’s office, the program between Dakota College at Bottineau and Minot State will now cease to exist. To a point that is.    

“Under the chancellor’s Pathways to Success plan, the need for a formally titled program like Passport is no longer as significant as it had been. Through Passport, students who were under prepared to succeed at Minot State were registered for DCB classes,” said Dr. Ken Grosz, dean of Dakota College at Bottineau. “The intent was for these students to connect with the MSU’s culture and environment, since MSU was their first college choice, but to have them enroll in DCB preparatory coursework to enhance their chance for academic success. These students were to spend their freshman year with us, as DCB students on the Minot campus, and then be ready to advance their academic careers and enroll at MSU as sophomores.

“Passport was a distinct initiative between DCB and MSU with its principles set forth in a memorandum of understanding.  Now, with the advent of Pathways to Success, our Passport program has been prescribed statewide in that students who don’t meet admission requirements for North Dakota University System’s four-year schools will be directed to NDUS’s two-year schools,” Grosz added. “So, we will continue with those students who are under prepared to gain admission to MSU just like we did previously.  The only difference is that we will be doing it under the name Pathways to Success instead of under the Passport name.”

The North Dakota University System stated in a press release that the Pathways to Success program is to focus on granting its students the best education possible.

“Originally introduced under the working title of the “Three-Tier System Access Plan,” the plan is grounded in a mission-driven university system whose 11 institutions work efficiently and transparently to make students’ educational goals their highest priority,” stated the NDUS press release. “The final name “Pathways to Student Success Plan” more accurately reflects the focus of the plan, which is to ensure that North Dakota students are effectively prepared to be successful during their academic preparation and in their chosen careers.”