Olive Harvey College and Illinois Institute of Technology

Olive Harvey College (OHC) and IIT have long enjoyed a productive relationship over the last decade. In Fall 2008, representatives from OHC and IIT, convened a meeting to review and accelerate the partnership between Olive-Harvey College 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), 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 OHC
  • 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 to 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 Phi Theta Kappa — attended the afternoon session to learn more the academic programs at IIT. More conversations and information sessions are scheduled for this year. For more information about the programs, please contact Ms. Glasetta Barksale (Phone: 773-291-6362/Email: gbarksdale@ccc.edu) or Ms. Veronica Duron (Phone: 773-291-6405/Email: vduron2@ccc.edu).

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

To view our brochure for transfer students, click on the image to the left.

Students with questions can contact Ryan Nelson, Assistant Director, at 312.567.5192 or nelsonr@iit.edu, or Rishab Malhotra, Senior Admission Counselor, at 312.567.3909 or rmalhot1@iit.edu.

For more information on IIT's partnerships with City Colleges, contact Gerald Doyle, Vice Provost, Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid, at 312.567.5203 or doyle@iit.edu.