Phi Theta Kappa, IVCC’s honors program, is encouraging students to finish their degrees through a “Commit to Complete” initiative.

Started by PTK president Christopher Winn and debuted at New Student Convocation, “Commit to Complete” is a program designed to help students prepare for the transition from a two-year to a four-year school. The program may increase the number of students who earn a two-year degree.

Claire Kunkel, who graduated IVCC in May 2012 with an Associate’s in Science, says that attending IVCC helped ease her into college life.
“The homework is similar [in terms of difficulty], but the tests are harder.  But IVCC really helped me transition from high school to a four-year university,” Kunkel stated.

One of the ways that “Commit to Complete” helps students succeed is the “reverse transfer” option.  This allows a student who transfers to a four-year university without earning an associate’s degree to reverse transfer credits they earn at the university and still complete the associate’s degree at IVCC. Therefore, if a student cannot finish bachelor’s study, he/she will still have earned a two-year degree.

A similar option available is automatic graduation for certificates. This states that if a student does not receive enough credits for an associate’s in applied sciences degree at IVCC, but does receive them at a university, IVCC will automatically graduate them if they have earned a certificate.
IVCC graduate Kendra Carey thinks IVCC was very helpful in preparing for university life.

“I thought IVCC was a very helpful transition step between high school and a university.” Carey said. “ They offered all of the classes I needed to take to becoming a special education teacher. I felt that those classes were interesting, challenging, and taught by knowledgeable instructors. I knew after two years at IVCC that I was prepared for success at Illinois State University.”