WESTMINSTER – On December 7, 2023, in the Rocky Mountain Room, Dr. Colleen Simpson, the President of Front Range Community College, signed a contract with Dr. Paul C. Johnson, the President of the Colorado School of Mines, to establish the Mines Academy, a partnership between both colleges that allow engineering majors at FRCC to eventually join the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.
Rebecca Wolfe, the Vice President of FRCC, read FRCC’s Land Acknowledgement before welcoming Dr. Simpson to the podium to explain the Mines Academy further in-depth.
“[This] is a very innovative and creative transfer model because it provides a very clear, straightforward path for FRCC students who want to complete a four year degree at Mines in engineering or science. It will also give our students access to the professional pipeline for careers in STEM fields. Students accepted into the Mines Academy will begin their program at FRCC pursuing an Associate in Engineering Science degree. The relevant coursework for that degree will also apply for their Mines degree program, allowing the Mines Academy students to seamlessly transfer to the University to complete the second half of their bachelor’s degree program,” Dr. Simpson explained at the event.
The new Mines Academy program at Front Range Community College allows students to be on “a clear and economical path to a bachelor’s degree” from the Colorado School of Mines, boasts a web page about the program. It also claims that students are able to earn an Associate of Engineering Science Degree while enrolled in the program and that these students “can save more than $16,000 by completing your first two years at FRCC.”
“You know, what excites me even more about this agreement is that we are giving our FRCC students a diverse pathway to earning their degree,” Dr. Simpson continued. “And when we got into this work, … it was about access and opportunity, and this kind of agreement really speaks to that philosophical [framework].”
After Dr. Simpson thanked Rebecca Wolfe, Erin Farb, and Christy Wallert and faculty overall for their help on the Mines Academy program, she welcomed Dr. Johnson to the stage.
“First of all, I wanted to echo the thanks to everybody involved in this. Programs like this only happen because of champions, and so I want to thank all of you who have championed to make this possible,” Dr. Johnson said.
“This is something we believe in very strongly at Mines. We know this is a model that works, and we know that it provides opportunities for students in a way that didn’t exist before: to come to Mines, to earn that Mines credential, to have a pathway to a great job which is ultimately what we prepare our students for, and to know that you are part of the Mines community while you are here,” he continued. “And we are eagerly awaiting your arrival on campus … I’m looking forward to welcoming all the students to campus who join us through this program, and I’m really looking forward to shaking the hands when they cross the stage with a Mines degree.”
After Dr. Johnson finished, expressing excitement for the program and a last thanks, Isabel Delgado, a student at FRCC for the past two years, was welcomed to the stage by Rebecca Wolfe, who joined the stage to speak about her experiences with Front Range and on the program.
“Two years ago, I started at FRCC as a part-time student while juggling with a full-time job. Balancing work and studies wasn’t easy, but it was the first step towards my dream. This year, I’ve transitioned to a full-time student here at Front Range, and I’m pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Physics. Now as I’m close to graduating from Front Range, the Colorado School of Mines Academy looms large on the horizon,” she explained.
“Why Mines? It’s simple. They offer a major in Applied Physics, which is what I’m striving towards. And as a first-generation college student, navigating the world of higher education is like exploring uncharted territory. It was intimidating. It was difficult. But this program is gonna open up so many opportunities for people like me,” Delgado continued. “The beauty of Mines lies in its accessibility. It breaks down the intimidating process of transferring to [it], making a world-class engineering education reachable for students who might otherwise be overwhelmed by the complexity of such a move. It’s fast, streamlined, and less intimidating. I’m really grateful for this opportunity, and I’m looking forward to the opportunities that Mines has to offer for students like me.”
After the event, Delgado explained that “[when] I graduated high school, I went through trade school for a year. And I started working as a welder, which I did for six years. And obviously welding is very engineering-heavy. … So I met a ton of engineers. And working in Colorado, I saw a lot of Mines graduates, and a lot of them spoke very highly of Mines and it was very well known that Mines was the place to be if you wanted to be, you know, an engineer.”
She also explained that “The range of engineering programs that they have is a lot bigger than most universities. … It’s always helpful to have mentors and advisors, which is what Mines Academy is providing for you as a student from Mines.”
After Delgado spoke about her experiences at the event, Steven Armenta, a student who was in his first semester at Front Range Community College, was next: he was welcomed by Wolfe to also share his journey and experiences.
“Ever since seventh grade, I’ve been interested in the field of engineering, roughly around computer, mechanical, electrical, and software engineering. These have been the fields that I’ve seen and have found [the] most [interest in]. I was interested in Mines from my freshman year through the Precollegiate Development program at CU Boulder [which provided me information about Mines]” he explained.
After the event, he further explained that his love for engineering was fostered by a event in the seventh grade, saying “[there was the] FutureForward [event] at Bollman, in which one of the classes was engineering … and I was interested in what they were showing off.” He also explained his hopes and dreams at Mines as hoping “to be able to just continue pursuing my dream of being a computer engineer, specifically through Mines as that has been one of the universities that has always been on my radar … [Mines appealed to me because of] Mostly their quality of engineering.”
Finally, he explained that the Mines Academy appealed to him because “the way they [Mines] had described it had sounded the same [as the Pathway to Mines program] with the only exception being that the Mines Academy would have more communication and more events to be able to go to and have a much easier sense of like being a part of Mines rather than just something you ended up transferring [to].”
At the event, Rebecca Wolfe then provided final comments on the program. “We are so excited about what this means for our students,” she said. “Their ability for them to do their first two years at Front Range in an environment where they have small classes, where they have wraparound support services and lots of support, but then in that same timeframe, also spend time at the Colorado School of Mines campus doing co-curricular activities, meeting with the Mines advisors – it’s a fabulous opportunity for them to demystify our four-year partner.”
Dr. Simpson and Dr. Johnson then found their way to the signing table, where they signed paperwork to officially establish the Mines Academy. They welcomed both Delgado and Armenta to their sides as they signed the paperwork, before exchanging each other’s documents. The two Presidents then finished signing the paperwork, officially cementing the Mines Academy as a fixture for FRCC, shaking hands and, at the same time, swapping plush toys of each college’s respective mascots: Blaster the Burro (for Mines) and Apollo the Wolf (for FRCC). Finally, Dr. Johnson provided both Delgado and Armenta pins from the Mines, before staff from both institutions took group pictures.
But what can engineering students do if they want to join the Mines Academy?
Jessica Peterson, the Director of Public Relations at FRCC, said that, for those who would like to join, “we have a web page and there’s an interest form … that students would fill out in order to see if they qualify for the Mines Academy.” If students want to join, these students must have graduated high school, have taken or are taking Calculus I, and have declared an Associate in Engineering Science degree, according to the FRCC web page about the program.
Peterson also explained the program came about because “what we were able to do probably two years ago now is actually create a degree that could transfer [the Associate in Engineering Science].”
Lori Kester, the Associate Provost for Enrollment Management at the School of Mines, echoed the same sentiment of the Mines Academy being a more direct, helpful way of helping FRCC students transfer to Mines. She said that “it makes transferring hopefully a lot less intimidating, if that makes sense. And it gets the students comfortable with being on the Mines campus and really helps them see themselves there in the future. … As soon as they know that that’s where they want to go, we make it as easy as possible on the students – making sure they don’t lose time, credits, or valuable resources – money – in the transfer process.”
She explained that “Mines is a quirky school so we don’t have some classes like English One and Two. So students had to take it to get their Associates of Science, but [it] never would transfer. … Associates of Engineering Science allows for that to kinda stop, so that every credit will transfer and not get lost.”
As for why Mines collaborated with FRCC for this program, Kester said, “we already know there’s a lot of students from Front Range coming to Colorado School of Mines. So why not make it as easy as possible?”
Corrections:
- January 31st, 2024: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the Colorado School of Mines was located in Boulder when it is actually located in Golden.
