CALAIS – It was a new day for higher education Friday as two local college presidents signed a historic agreement that will allow Washington County Community College students to enter the University of Maine at Machias as juniors.

University of Maine at Machias President Cynthia Huggins and Washington County Community College President Bill Cassidy made it official when they signed what is being called “The Calais Connection” at the WCCC campus.

WCCC offers two-year associate degrees, while UMM offers four-year degrees. Studies indicate that transfer programs result in an overall increase in postsecondary degrees over time, the colleges said in a jointly issued news release. “The collaboration between WCCC and UMM will facilitate and encourage a significant number of students to pursue higher education, which should translate into a more highly educated work force, a stronger economy for Washington County and higher income for Washington County residents,” the release read.

The agreement allows those students who meet the minimum requirements and who complete their community college associate of arts, science or applied science degrees to be guaranteed admission to UMM as a junior. The students will gain admission to UMM through a streamlined application process and will not have to pay the university’s application fee. They also will receive early advising to help them in their UMM major. In addition, the agreement allows them to participate in the university’s advance course registration.

UMM will have an office on the Calais campus.

Huggins said although community colleges and universities have signed articulation agreements in the past, this one was unique. “I am not aware of this particular type of blanket agreement,” she said. She said the agreement was important because Washington County has a low number of residents with college degrees. “One way to [get more students] is to not ask them to come to us but we go to them,” she said. “And UMM is doing that by coming to Calais.”

Cassidy praised Huggins and said when she accepted the university president’s position a little more than a year ago she made it clear she favored a strong connection between the two campuses.

Although miles may separate them – the two institutions are about an hour apart – Huggins said this was her effort to reconnect the university with local communities. For the past three years, the university has been in transition because of short-term interim presidents.

“So we are making a number of different efforts to reconnect with Washington County and Charlotte County across the border into New Brunswick,” she said. Although the university reaches out to students beyond Washington County’s borders, Huggins said, the institution’s foundation was built on educating local high school grads.

Because of limited resources, she added, it was important that the two colleges work together. “This is not the summit, this is another step in our efforts to synchronize our resources, our classes, our scheduling, our faculty, everything including degree programs, so that people in Washington County can get a college degree and get it as easily as possible,” she said.

Cassidy said the agreement also was important to the students of the community college. “This agreement between UMM and WCCC further expands a longstanding relationship between the two institutions in which they work collaboratively to maximize the educational opportunities for Washington County students,” he said.