Dickinson College Partnership Programs Offer Distinctive Opportunities

classroom shot of students

Photo by Carl Socolow '77.

RPI, Johns Hopkins and Thunderbird School of Global Management among partner schools

by Tony Moore

Dickinson was founded more than 235 years ago, but the college has always had an eye on the future. And part of that forward-thinking attitude is its network of agreements with graduate, undergraduate and professional schools—a network that helps students launch rewarding careers beyond our limestone walls.

Called linkage or articulation agreements, or graduate and partner programs, these vigorous academic tracks open doors to a wide variety of careers and offer unique opportunities.

Valuable and marketable

“Not only are students gaining the technical skills needed to succeed in the industry, but they are gaining highly valuable—and marketable—skills from their liberal-arts education,” says Laura Kilko, associate director of Dickinson’s Career Center, of the engineering agreements with Case Western Reserve University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Generally, the agreements offer preference in admission, make the graduate application process simpler and/or quicken the pace in earning dual bachelor or graduate degrees or graduate credit for work done at Dickinson. Other agreements are in place with the following institutions (for specific information on each program, click the link):

  • Business: American University's Kogod School of Business, Thunderbird School of Global Management and the University of Rochester
  • International graduate education: Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Network of Autonomous Schools of the Lombardy Region (Italy), the University of Bremen (Germany), the University of East Anglia (England), the University of Málaga (Spain), the University of Maine (global policy) and University of Queensland (Australia)
  • Penn State Dickinson Law
  • Jefferson College of Population Health at Jefferson Medical College

To enroll in these programs, Dickinson students need to contact the Career Center during their first semester of their first year. 

The future awaits

Paige Hamilton ’17, currently at the University of East Anglia, pursuing a master’s in media & international development, sees the partnership program as a great way to expand your horizon.

“I would tell any student contemplating joining the Dickinson/UEA program that the opportunity has great potential to open up your studies and future career paths,” says the former sociology major. “Partnering with another institution like the UEA will offer you the chance to internationalize not only your studies but also your social network, as the institution boasts a diverse student body. And learning from their experiences can be equally as valuable as your lectures.”

And whether it’s international arenas, law or health, graduates have found that the programs pave the way for a fulfilling professional life.

“Having the 3-3 program on my resume has certainly helped my career, not only as an accomplishment that few others could boast but also as a conversation piece in networking and interviewing,” says Janel Gleeson ’10, a former law & policy major who went through the Penn State Dickinson Law track and is now public policy director for the Pennsylvania Homecare Association. “I came out of law school young and determined, and the 3-3 program helped get me where I wanted to go faster.”

Similarly, Charlotte Woody ’14, now a research officer with the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research, went through the Queensland program after her abroad experience in Brisbane made her fall in love with Australia. And she’s never looked back.

“While I was very lucky to have this outcome, it was the program that put me in a position to achieve this,” says the former neuroscience major. “Going into the master’s degree, I knew that I was passionate about mental health, but I didn't have a clear picture of the career that I wanted. My studies at the University of Queensland helped to form a pathway toward an exciting career.”

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Published June 11, 2018