Siena Heights-Center-Bachelor Degree

The new Siena Heights Center at HFC offers a distinctive opportunity for students to complete their bachelor degree. Assistant Director, Jennifer Dickey, of the center describes how, at Siena, students are particularly focused on fulfilling the requirements for a bachelor degree. The Siena Heights Center’s bachelor degree program is different from the general college articulation transfer agreement.

The way it works is that students can complete 90 credit hours while in the process of attaining their HFC associate degree; 30 of these credits are then applied toward their Siena Heights bachelor’s degree. Dickey works with students in assessing what courses will work best for their desired career paths. “The way we (Siena Heights University and Henry Ford College) interact... is, students who have finished an associate’s degree at HFC, or have taken some classes at HFC can transfer to Siena Heights to finish a bachelor’s degree,” Dickey said. “Typically, we want a student to finish 90 credit hours and transfer those to us, and then do an additional 30 credit hours with us or 10 classes and get their bachelor’s degree.” She said that this helps HFC because students are enrolling for more classes at HFC beyond the associate’s degree, and it helps Siena Heights enroll students who are ready for the next step.

Preparing for the Next Step
Students are better able to tailor the classes and the completion of their degree according to their individual situations and needs. During the interview, Dickey pointed out that some students may have job specific reasons for completing four year degree requirements. For example, a work promotion may just require a four year degree not designating a specific major. The student may not be pressured to finish the degree immediately and opt to pace themselves over time.

With a bachelor’s from Siena Heights University students can go on to other colleges to address career specific opportunities and goals. Another example Dickey gave was that some students may want to accumulate credits for a bachelor degree in order to qualify for a master degree training program. The example she gave for the latter was the physician’s assistant program. Dickey went on to say, “Some students may be returning to school after a life hiatus and may want to complete their goal to have a bachelor’s degree with no specific career goal identified.”

Siena Heights Centers- State Wide

Siena Heights has centers around the state of Michigan and students can go to any one of the centers to complete their degree. Siena even presents the option of taking online classes. At each center, Siena Heights staff works with the students to develop and maintain their direction in completing the classes and course work to finish the bachelor degree. “The people that staff the offices at the centers ... are recruiters, we are academic advisors, we are everything. [Our] job is to meet with students who are interested in a bachelor’s degree, advise them on what courses they can take, review the courses they have already completed to determine where they stand.” The best way to see just how Siena Heights can work for you is to visit the Siena Heights Center at the Welcome Center. Their doors open at 9:00 AM.