Gateway administrators on Thursday announced the next steps for the two-year associate’s degree programs that place a strong emphasis on the general education requirements that are common at four-year universities.

“It’s really about access for our students,” said Zina Haywood, executive vice president and vice president for university and campus affairs. “It’s about creating that path to the baccalaureate that we couldn’t do before. “

Beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year, Gateway will offer an Associate of Science degree with an emphasis on the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM. The college will also include in its catalog a separate Associate of Arts degree that will focus on different fields of study, including the humanities and social sciences.

Gateway officials announced their intention to introduce the pair of university-friendly programs at the start of the year, and several milestones had to take place, including local district council approvals, as well as approvals at the university level. State officials from Wisconsin Technical College. System and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

Students taking either of the associate degree programs will be able to seamlessly transfer their 60-credit degrees to four-year schools within the University of Wisconsin system and apply them to bachelor’s degrees.

While Gateway has long had a close working relationship with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside through 14 separate articulation agreements, Haywood said the new degrees are essential for students interested in continuing their graduate studies after graduating. technical college diploma.

UW-Parkside will continue to play an important role with the new programs. In some cases, students enrolled in the program pair will take classes at UW-Parkside, rather than Gateway, to reduce the need to launch full-fledged programs.

Haywood cited physical education, which is not currently offered at Gateway, as an example. Rather than creating a program and staffing a department from scratch, Haywood said students will be able to take classes at UW-Parkside.

R. Scott Pierce, Chairman of the Gateway District Board, expressed satisfaction with the progress made.

“This is something that we have been insisting on for years,” he said. “I know it was a lot of work.”

Also on Thursday, the district council gave final approval to Gateway’s 2021-22 school year budget, which was initially passed in June, but has been amended as more data became available.

The college is reducing its property tax, which is a reversal from the plans initially implemented.

The total drawdown is $ 38.14 million, which is a reduction from the $ 40.18 million forecast in the June version of the budget. The college received more funding than expected from the state, which resulted in lower taxes.

The bulk of the levy, $ 23.37 million, will bolster the operating budget. The remaining $ 14.76 million will be used to repay existing debt.