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They’re not being dramatic or exaggerating when graduates of University of Northern Iowa 2+2 degree programs say it is a ‘dream come true.’ People who cannot attend an Iowa Regents’ institution because they are unable to relocate for family or other reasons are enrolling in several degree programs offered through 2+2. Arithmetically speaking, it means two years at a community college plus two years in a UNI program equals the chance to earn a B.A. degree. UNI faculty members teach all classes, either live at the community college or through Web-based instruction and videoconferencing over the Iowa Communications Network. 
The program partnership started in 1994 when community leaders from Carroll, Iowa, asked UNI College of Education faculty to offer an elementary education program at the Carroll Campus of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC). Spurring the request was a growing need for elementary education teachers in rural Iowa. Roger Kueter, 2+2 project director, said, “The UNI/DMACC/Carroll 2+2 partnership became the working model for matching a community’s educational need with UNI’s programs and ability to deliver courses at community colleges.” Thanks to community support, 88 elementary teachers have graduated from the UNI/DMACC/Carroll program. Ninety percent of them teach within a 50-mile radius of Carroll. The 2+2 program is now self-supporting from student tuition and community college participation. Diane Royer (B.A. ‘99) enrolled in the 2+2 elementary education program in 1996 after working in a law firm for 20 years. Her original intent was to go to law school. “But first I knew I needed an undergraduate degree,” Royer explained. “I’m married to a farmer and the DMACC/Carroll campus is geographically close, so I started there. I thought an elementary education degree would be good since I wanted to work with kids and families.” Royer continued, “Education grabbed me and I said ‘maybe I should spend my time here.’” She found her calling—working with kids in elementary education—through the many classroom field experiences the UNI program provided. “Dr. Richard Hawkes (who was the initial 2+2 program coordinator) and Dr. Pat Holthaus (an on-site UNI faculty member) were wonderful teachers and mentors. They instilled in me the belief that the more you learn, the better teacher you are.” Like many 2+2 students, Royer was a nontraditional full-time student with a part-time job and four children at home. “The beauty of 2+2 is that it allows all of those things to happen,” she said. “The UNI courses are tailored so that students can fit employment around them.” Kueter said the DMACC-Carroll program has expanded over the years and now offers three education degree choices (elementary education, early childhood education and technology education), and one non-education choice (technology management with a general business concepts minor). 
Royer taught 6th grade at Holy Trinity in Templeton for four years until the school was absorbed into the Kuemper Catholic School System in Carroll. She is now head of the math department at St. Lawrence Middle School and working on a middle school endorsement. UNI’s 2+2 project began growing in earnest in 2003, when it received the first of several U.S. Department of Education grants to plan more 2+2 opportunities for other Iowa community colleges. Today, UNI programs are serving an increasing number of rural Iowans who are place-bound or interested in changing careers. Funding helped begin a program in technology management and general business concepts for students at DMACC/Carroll. The first cohort of students in that program graduated in May 2004. Another project milestone occurred in 2004 with a rare joint appointment between an Iowa Regents institution and a community college. Steve Schulz was hired to coordinate all UNI 2+2 partnership activities with Des Moines Area Community College campuses. In addition, the 2+2 presence on the UNI campus grew when Charles Johnson, coordinator of the technology management program, began working with all of UNI’s community college initiatives under the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. The newest 2+2 teaching degree program in elementary education with a special education emphasis began this summer. Support for this and other 2+2 programs came from a U.S. Department of Education grant (Fund for the Improvement of Education) and from Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), ranking member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Graduates of the 2+2 Instructional Strategist/Elementary Education (ISEE) teaching degree will receive regular Iowa classroom licensure and earn the Instructional Strategist I endorsement in special education. Like all UNI 2+2 programs, the curriculum is the same as the program on campus, but is arranged to meet 2+2 students’ schedule needs. The ISEE program is also delivered live by UNI faculty teaching at the community colleges as well as via ICN and Web-based instruction. Participating community colleges include DMACC, Western Iowa Tech Community College, Eastern Iowa Community College and Northeast Iowa Community College. Tina Buhrman from Sioux City signed up on the spot when she saw a brochure about the ISEE program at a Western Iowa Tech college fair. 
“It was just a lucky thing that happened,” said Buhrman, an instructional assistant with Sioux City Community School District, Office of Indian Education. “I always wanted to be a teacher, but when I finished my first B.A. in human and social services administration it took me away from the classroom. I wanted to be a teacher the first time, so now I feel like I’m getting back on track.” Buhrman is one of 35 students in the first cohort for this new degree program. For her, the ISEE program is an opportunity to get a degree through an accredited, affordable university. “I’ve received good communication from UNI,” she said. “I felt I’ve been listened to as an individual.” Buhrman said the ISEE degree will fit nicely with her human/social services degree and she looks forward to being in a classroom. UNI’s 2+2 project continues to grow rapidly, Kueter said. While the ISEE program gets off the ground under the direction of faculty members Rick Traw, Curriculum and Instruction, and Frank Kohler, Special Education, Kueter continues to listen to other community colleges about rural Iowans’ education needs. He is working with UNI faculty and other community colleges to explore program possibilities in criminology, gerontology, biology, math education and health promotion.
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