Leaders from Tyler Junior College and Stephen F. Austin State University have signed the Lumberjack Transfer Alliance, an agreement to provide greater opportunities for student success.
The two institutions recently announced their collaboration to increase the economic growth and upward mobility in East Texas by raising the number of East Texans with college degrees through a seamless transition from TJC to SFA.
TJC President and CEO Dr. Juan E. Mejia said, “Our shared values will catapult us forward to innovations and creativity so that we can fulfill our mission of being an axis to those who are pursuing a higher education — and to the state, national and global dilemma about a workforce-prepared economic development and leadership at all levels. We are excited about what the future holds.”
SFA President Dr. Neal Weaver agreed, “It is our job in higher education to create opportunities for our people to embrace not only higher education but the opportunities that come with it. This partnership between TJC and Stephen F. Austin can unlock that potential for our part of the state and for the people in this region.”
The Lumberjack Transfer Alliance benefits TJC students by offering:
• Automatic consideration for SFA’s Purple Promise program, which covers 100 percent of tuition and mandatory fees for incoming first-year and transfer students as long as they maintain their eligibility
• Increased likelihood of seamless transfers and on-time graduations from both institutions
• Opportunities to meet with SFA advisors while completing requirements at TJC
• Invitations each semester to tour SFA and attend recruitment events
• A one-time $500 stipend in addition to SFA’s Lumberjack Transfer Scholarship for students who meet SFA’s eligibility criteria and have completed an Associate of Arts or an Associate of Science from TJC
• Opportunities to connect with other students transferring to SFA
• Opportunities to attend SFA events, such as athletic and fine arts events
Front, from left: : TJC President and CEO Dr. Juan E. Mejia (left) and Stephen F. Austin State University President Dr. Neal Weaver; second row, Bob Garrett, former SFA Board of Regents chair and president and CEO of Fair Oil Company and the R.W. Fair Foundation; Kevin Fowler, TJC executive director of regional community engagement; Kim Lessner, TJC vice president for operations; James I. Perkins, member of the TJC Foundation Board of Directors, president and chair of the board for Citizens 1st Bank; Dr. Lee Grimes, TJC associate vice provost for academic and workforce affairs; David Hudson, president of the TJC Board of Trustees and a graduate of TJC and SFA; Megan Kelley, SFA academic partnership coordinator; Christina Tuell, SFA executive director for program development and evaluation; Courtney Burns, SFA executive director of undergraduate admissions; Dr. Kent Willis, SFA senior vice president for enrollment and student engagement; Damon Derrick, SFA vice president and general counsel; Dr. Judy Abbott, SFA interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; Gina Oglesbee, SFA senior vice president for organizational effectiveness; Jill Still, SFA vice president for university advancement; and Michael Coffee, SFA vice president of information technology and chief information officer.
Weaver added that he hopes the partnership and SFA’s Purple Promise program reverse the trend of fewer TJC students transferring to SFA.
“We want to make this so easy and so possible that no student is told, ‘No,’” he said. “Any transfer student who comes to Stephen F. Austin from a family that earns less than $100,000 a year can come without tuition and fees.”
Three East Texas leaders with ties to both schools attended the signing ceremony, including:
• David Hudson — president of the TJC Board of Trustees and a graduate of TJC and SFA;
• Bob Garrett — former SFA Board of Regents chair and president and CEO of Fair Oil Company and the R.W. Fair Foundation, which supports worthy causes at TJC and in the East Texas community; and
• James I. Perkins — member of the TJC Foundation Board of Directors, president and chair of the board for Citizens 1st Bank; and former SFA regent and the namesake of SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education
“What we’re doing here today is so exciting,” Perkins said. “I know each one of you really feel it here.”
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to witness this historic event and the collaboration between our two institutions,” said Garrett, who emphasized TJC and SFA’s common goal of increasing the number of college graduates in the region by reaching students who normally don’t consider higher education.
“I’m really proud that these two institutions have come together to do that,” Garrett said. “If we’re going to meet the demands of the workforce, we need more four-year college graduates.”
“TJC and Stephen F. Austin share values,” Hudson said. “The second president of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar, once articulated those values when he said that ‘a cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy.’ That’s what Stephen F. Austin State University does, and that’s what TJC does: They cultivate minds.
“So, we are glad to have this opportunity to continue cultivating minds and doing it in a way that enriches both schools and all of the students who pass through these walls and the pine trees down in Nacogdoches.”