Shelton, Stillman College Sign Student Transfer Agreement

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Representatives from Stillman College and Shelton State Community College signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday aimed at creating a bridge between the two schools to address the deficit of certified teachers in Alabama.

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The agreement, according to Stillman, "provides a seamless pathway for Shelton students to transfer to Stillman, while providing Shelton students consistent academic advising and support from Stillman faculty and staff."

This comes after more than 3,000 teachers in Alabama retired from public schools in 2020, with Stillman College Executive Vice President Derrick C. Gilmore saying the agreement with Shelton will strengthen the pipeline to teacher certification through a "hands-on approach" to recruiting SSCC students to Stillman’s School of Education.

“By preparing students at Shelton for the requirements for teacher education and Stillman, while also engaging them and prompting an interest in this career pathway, we’re driving to both immediate and future needs in the state of Alabama,” Gilmore said. “We’re also addressing the critical lack of Black male teachers in K-12 schools.”

What's more, Stillman officials pointed out that roughly 7% of teachers in the U.S. are Black, with an even smaller percentage — approximately 2% — being men.

The transfer agreement is also reportedly aligned with one of the key goals of Stillman’s Black Male Initiative, which seeks to improve teacher education and bolster the pipeline for Black men to become teachers. Officials will seek to accomplish this by providing academic supports and stipends to Black male students who major in teacher education.

“This agreement puts [Stillman] in a unique profile within the sphere of HBCUs, with both a two-year and four-year institution looking to address this issue,” Gilmore said.

SSCC President Brad Newman said the agreement will result in students coming to Shelton and already having the next benchmark set to attend Stillman College.

“[Shelton] is making sure our that all of our capacity is leveraged toward being a good supplier to Stillman, creating a strong team and getting the results that are needed for this region," he said. "We’re honored to be a part of this agreement.”

According to the agreement, Shelton students must have a cumulative 2.0 GPA and a grade of “C” or better in all transfer courses. Stillman College guarantees admissions with up to 64 transferable credits. Students participating in the agreement will have their application fee waived.

Additionally, the agreement allows for reverse transfer credits for students who transferred to Stillman before earning their associate degree. This will allow students to count credit hours earned at Stillman toward their associate degree if they are in good academic standing at both institutions.

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