Bemidji Pioneer: HIGHER EDUCATION: Anoka Tech, BSU reach transfer agreement

BEMIDJI — Anoka Technical College in the Twin Cities now offers a direct path to three bachelor’s degrees at Bemidji State University.

The college and university entered into a new articulation agreement on Tuesday, Oct. 10, to offer a path in 15 associate degree programs to a four-year degree.

Students at Anoka Tech who complete an associate of science degree may now transfer into one of three related four-year degree programs offered through BSU, with options online and on campus.

BSU President Faith Hensrud and President of Anoka Technical College Kent Hanson signed the articulation during a ceremony held Tuesday afternoon on Anoka Tech’s campus. Administrators, faculty and staff from both colleges were in attendance.

“This is tremendous,” Hensrud said in a release. “It is really exciting for us to share some of these highly technical degrees with students of highly technical programs.”

The new agreement allows students to complete the first two years of an associate degree program at Anoka Technical College, and complete the second two years through a bachelor’s  degree or bachelor’s of applied science degree program at BSU, in order to be granted a four-year degree. The programs are offered either online or on campus.

“I’m really excited to see our technical students have a chance to expand their skills into a baccalaureate degree program,” Hanson said in the release. “We can better serve our communities by training students in our programs who want to advance to a bachelor’s degree and achieve higher earning potential.”

Students may complete a bachelor of applied science degree in applied engineering and applied management after completing two years in various programs.

For more information on the agreement and the specific programs, visit www.bemidjistate.edu.

BSU to host math contest

BSU will host 900 high school mathematics students from across northern Minnesota for the 45th Annual Northern Minnesota Math Contest on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

Registration begins at 10 a.m. in the Gillett Wellness Center’s Hall of Fame lobby, and activities for students begin at 10:15 a.m.. The one-hour test begins at 11:30 and, and the afternoon features an optional campus tour for students and advisers, according to a release from BSU.

The contest is being held by Bemidji State’s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

The contest is divided into two mathematics tests: a lower-division test primarily open to freshmen and sophomores consisting of arithmetic, elementary algebra and geometry; and an upper division designed for juniors and seniors covering higher algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Each test consists of 40 multiple-choice questions, and many of the test problems utilize general problem-solving skills rather than rote memorization and application of formulae. Students may enter a division above his or her grade level, but not below.

Participating schools will compete in class A or AA, according to their Minnesota High School League classification, for team awards. Team awards will be given to the top four teams in Class A and the top two places in Class AA in each division. Team finishes in a respective division and class are determined by a sum of the scores of a school’s three highest-scoring individuals. There will be no awards ceremony and awards will be sent to winning schools after the contest.

Awards will also be sent to individuals with the 10 highest scores in each division without regard to class, and the top three individuals on each team will receive a Northern Minnesota Mathematics Contest T-shirt.