Officials from Richland College and Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT) signed an agreement Thursday allowing Richland students to transfer into OSUIT’s Digital Forensics program.

Richland’s Acting President Kay Eggleston, and Martha Hogan, executive dean of Richland’s School of Engineering, Business & Technology, met with OSUIT President Robert Klabenes and Scott Newman, OSUIT director of Information Technologies, for the signing.

Under the agreement, students completing the Associate in Applied Sciences in Digital Forensics degree at Richland will be able to transfer up to 63 credit hours into the OSUIT Bachelor of Technology in Information Assurance & Forensics degree. This bachelor’s degree is a technology-intensive, application-focused program of study that prepares graduates to protect computers, computer systems and networks from threats such as hackers, viruses, and worms and to investigate and trace illicit cyber activities such as Internet-based fraud, slander, personal identity theft, and information theft.

Faculty members and administrators from Richland  and OSUIT will work together to develop program offerings, schedule student and faculty visits and explore facilities and faculty sharing.

Developing transfer agreements is an important part of Richland’s mission to enable student success. Richland has several transfer agreements for degrees ranging from journalism to engineering to photography with institutions including the University of Texas at Dallas, Texas A&M University-Commerce and the University of North Texas.