Olive Harvey College and Illinois Institute of Technology

Olive Harvey and IIT have long enjoyed a productive relationship over the last decade. In Fall 2008, at the recommendation of Mr. Lovetta Houston (OHC — Director, Community Education), and Mr. Kevin Smith (OHC — Associate Dean of Instruction), Ms. Glasetta Barksdale, Assistant Dean at OHC, convened a meeting with Mr. Gregory Robinson (OHC — Dean of Student Services) and Mr. Gerald Doyle (IIT) to review and accelerate the partnership between OHC and Illinois Institute of Technology. Since the meeting in early October, ongoing conversations have led to a completely revamped spirit of cooperation between the two institutions, and the two institutions have moved significantly forward in extending relationships among a variety of offices including financial aid, admission, international student centers, and minority student affairs as well as academic units.

The development of a comprehensive recruitment and transition program will allow OHC faculty and staff to identify highly qualified students for transfer to IIT. This partnership will allow IIT to enhance its orientation and academic advising programs for these students, ensuring the highest level of success.
Our goal is to develop a unique partnership among our institutions which will serve as a model program for other urban community colleges and universities; a partnership which provides a strong and confident message to secondary school students, resuming students, international students, immigrant students and undocumented students that there are strong, vibrant and developed pathway programs to support an individual's goals and aspirations.
As institutions of higher education on the South Side of Chicago, we have indicated a strong interest in finding mutually beneficial avenues to provide opportunities to secondary school students through targeted workshops and day-long programming over the summer.
Our goal is to develop an institutional partnership built on the foundation of a community of strong professional and personal commitments by the staff and faculty at each institution.
At IIT, the Office of Admission is committed to partnering with our lead colleagues — Ms. Glasetta Barksdale (OHC), Ms. Lovetta Houston (OHC — Director, Community Education), Mr. Gregory Robinson (OHC — Dean of Student Services) and Mr. Kevin Smith (OHC — Associate Dean of Instruction) — on a number of initiatives, including but not limited to:
- A series of one-stop admission and review sessions at HWC
- An OHC day at IIT's two annual IPRO days on campus
- A reserved number of Undergraduate Research Summer Scholarships with a $5,000 stipend for OHC students (an idea first proposed by the OHC staff)
- Merit-scholarships of up to $12,000 per year for OHC students
- Phi Theta Kappa Scholarships of $5,000 per year for OHC students who are members of PTK
- An annual symposium of OHC, other City Colleges and IIT to explore further initiatives to enhance our relationship

A final note: At IIT, we very much value the contributions that the OHC faculty and staff make in the education of their students who matriculate at IIT. OHC students have successfully matriculated after completing their Associates degree or after completing a semester or two at OHC. Each of these students in their essays mentions the specific role that OHC has provided in their transition to IIT.

In Spring 2009, the OHC faculty and staff welcomed IIT Office of Admission staff Jerry Doyle (Vice Provost for Undergraduate Enrollment and Financial Aid) and Carolyn Schoen (Assistant Director of Admission) for an afternoon of conversation about the transfer admission process and financial aid process including the significant merit-based scholarships available at IIT. Over 20 outstanding students — many members of PTK — attended the afternoon session to learn more the academic programs at IIT.

A forthcoming visit is planned for July 2009 to continue the conversation about enrollment opportunities for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010.

For information on the transfer process to IIT, visit our Transfer Students page.