LOWER GWYNEDD >> Montgomery County Community College students will have an opportunity to live in dorms at Gwynedd Mercy University under an agreement signed by the two educational institutions in December.
Though the agreement was effective immediately, MCCC students are not expected to move in at the Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd Valley, campus, less than four miles from the community college on Route 202 in Blue Bell, until the fall 2017 semester.
Gwynedd Mercy spokeswoman Kelly Statmore said the university has four residence halls on campus, with most rooms housing two students and some, apartment-style, housing four. Though she could not provide a number of available spots, she said, “We anticipate there will be some vacancies for the coming year.
“It will depend on the number” interested in living at the Gwynedd Mercy campus, she said. “We’ll go from there. There will be an opportunity to welcome MCCC students on campus in the fall.
“It will be a nice opportunity to further extend our partnership with MCCC,” Statmore said, “and give community college students who want that traditional college experience to have that on our campus.”
MCCC Vice President for Student Services Philip Needles, quoted in a news release, said MCCC receives inquiries each year, especially from international and culinary arts students, about the availability of student housing.
The college currently has 178 international students from 51 different countries, particularly in culinary arts and business programs, who have had to seek off-campus housing, which can be cost prohibitive. Under the agreement, MCCC students who choose to live at Gwynedd Mercy will pay the same room and board rates university students pay.
Room and board at Gwynedd Mercy ranges from $5,570 per semester for housing and a 10-meal plan to $6,270 per semester for a 19-meal plan for the 2017-18 academic year.
“I think this a winning partnership for both MCCC and Gwynedd Mercy University, and a great example of how local institutions can work together to address students’ needs,” Needles said.
MCCC students who choose to live on the Gwynedd Mercy University campus will have access to all the co-curricular programs offered there, including on-campus events, service opportunities, and the intramural sports and recreation program, according to Cheryl Lynn Horsey, vice president for enrollment and student services at Gwynedd Mercy University.
Under the agreement, any instances of misconduct in the dorms by MCCC students will be handled through Gwynedd Mercy’s disciplinary process, which the community college would support, MCCC spokesman Dan Hanson said.
The agreement will provide an additional revenue stream for Gwynedd Mercy, as well as “an opportunity to further strengthen its relationship with MCCC and attract more transfer students from the local two-year college with which it has an articulation agreement,” the release says. While the housing option will be open to all MCCC students, Gwynedd Mercy “hopes to increase enrollment by providing student housing” on its campus.
It will provide MCCC students with a path to baccalaureate degrees offered at Gwynedd Mercy University, Horsey said, noting students could live on campus for all four years, taking classes the first two at MCCC and the next two years at Gwynedd Mercy.
A shuttle service between the two schools “was discussed, but is not planned at this point,” Hanson said.
Danielle Gross, director of public affairs for the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, said she believes the agreement is unique in Pennsylvania.
“Articulation agreements between community colleges and four-year institutions are common, but we don’t know of any other such agreement related to student housing,” Gross said.
