The University of Tennessee at Martin has made leaps and bounds in its amount of students who have been notified of their eligibility to earn associate’s degrees through the Tennessee Reverse Transfer Program.

Ever since its launch in spring 2013, the program has allowed students who have transferred from any in-state community college to earn an associate’s degree while at UT Martin.

Transfer Specialist Mary Beth Fortner is the individual who oversees the program at UT Martin and has made recent efforts to promote the program to the student body.

“The purpose of it is to allow transfer students who are currently attending a four-year university to combine it with the community college credits to receive an associate’s degree from the community college,” Fortner said.

Before applying to the program, students have to fall under a specific list of criteria to be eligible. Fortner said that students had to have earned at least 15 credit hours from a community college and have to maintain a 2.0 GPA between both academic institutions. They also have the option to apply during a fall cycle and a spring cycle, so students have plenty of opportunities to opt in.

Fortner also made it clear that the community colleges ultimately decide the degree students get, even if it is mostly general associate’s degrees.

“The community college decides what degree they get, whether they get an associate’s of science, or in general studies, or in nursing, or in math, or in accounting; that is determined by the community college,” Fortner said.

Fortner believes that the program is beneficial for students, helping them earn the certifications they deserve after putting in all of the hard work.

“By doing the reverse transfer program, they get to complete that associate’s degree just in case their progress towards a bachelor’s degree is interrupted or disrupted,” Fortner said.

Fortner just recently took over the program and has helped make sure more students will apply for it.

“I actually volunteered to take it over since I am the transfer specialist and promote it more,” said Fortner. “I got Jenny Killebrew, manager of the One Stop Shop on campus, then University Relations, then student success and brought all of them together so we could do a big push.”

Since 2015, interim registrar Kiara Castleman, who oversaw the program before Fortner, reported that 270 students had earned associate’s degrees through this reverse transfer program. This school year, 301 students were notified for their eligibility, and about 351 have opted into the program.

Castleman believes that this is a good sign that the program has caught the eye of so many students and thinks that its updated processes that allow students to pre-opt-in has benefitted them.

“Having that pre-opt-in as well as those increases in the communications, I think has absolutely just been like the magic bakery of the best chocolate chip cookie ever being reverse transferred,” Castleman said.

Castleman credited Fortner for this milestone in student opt-ins, thanking her for now representing the program on the UT Martin campus.

“Mary Beth [Fortner] taking the lead on this project has been awesome because she’s the guru on transfer work. So, who better than to be the forefront, be the face and get everything out there, than Mary Beth,” Castleman said.

Due dates for the Tennessee Reverse Transfer Program spring cycle application have yet to be revealed, so transfer students who are interested in earning an associate’s degree are encouraged to wait and listen for updates.