Have a great TCC Day!

Sincerely,

TCC Military Programs Staff

Tidewater Community College is proud to be a Partner in the Navy College Program Distance Learning Partnership (NCPDLP) and is ready to assist Sailors in meeting their education goals.

Tidewater Community College takes its place among some 40 other colleges as a NCPDLP school, a partnership that aligns a select group of TCC degree programs with certain Navy ratings.

            The program encourages the application of Navy ratings and training credits, as evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) and reflected on each Sailor's SMART, toward degree completion. The formal degree evaluation is reflected in a SOCNAV agreement, which clearly indicates how much military and transferred credit has been applied to the degree along with the specific requirements needed to complete the degree. All courses needed to complete the degrees are currently available online. TCC's NCPDLP website offers visitors the ability to view rating roadmaps for NCPDLP approved degrees including Accounting, Management, Maritime Logistics, Industrial Management, and Quality Assurance. When asked why these particular degrees were chosen, Mr. Randy Rice, Director of Military Academic Programs at TCC, said that the Navy and TCC's focus is to reach out to the underserved ratings with degrees that many other schools had overlooked or could not offer. Dr. Bruce Brunson, Executive Director for the Center for Military and Veterans Education at TCC, adds that they are also working on enhancing the transferability of these degrees to other NCPDLP schools though articulation agreements so that students can continue their work towards a Bachelors degree.

            Currently all the coursework for these degrees are offered in an online course format, but Mr. Rice notes that they are working hard at getting much of this material available via DVD and other technology based formats by fall of 2012 so that students deployed in areas without steady internet access can continue to work on these technical and high demand degrees.

            The NCPDLP degrees are currently available to interested students and many students are already enrolled in the programs. TCC counselors and advisors at the campuses and on the bases can supply students with a degree plan and rating roadmap for any of these degrees to satisfy the Navy College Office's requirements for Tuition Assistance. Tuition costs for these degrees are the same competitive rate as traditional in-class courses at TCC.  

            Dr. Brunson says that although TCC is a NCPDLP school and offers rating roadmaps for certain degrees, TCC advisors and counselors will always look at each student as an individual. "It's not always just about getting the student the most credit towards a degree; it's about finding a plan that works for them." Military students are eligible for any and all degree programs that TCC offers and no matter what, the plan and course of action is always up to the student. Dr. Brunson says if a student is looking for a degree and doesn't see it on the NCPDLP website, they should still contact a TCC advisor and see what TCC can do to help them meet their educational goals.

            Being an NCPDLP school is just one part of TCC's overall goal of being as military-friendly as possible. Mr. Rice and Dr. Brunson both regard the newly created Center for Military and Veterans Education as the foundation for these programs. The Center, among other things, will offer NCPDLP students four on-call advisors who can be reached via phone or email for students who are deployed or unable to access the campus. These advisors will be able to help students with technical issues they may be experiencing with their online classes, answer general questions regarding classes and help them get more in-depth counseling and advising. Mr. Rice says "we don't just want to get students into the classes; we want to make sure they have the support they need to successfully complete them."

            Visit the TCC NCPDLP website for information on available degrees, rating roadmaps and more.