Representatives from Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Illinois, and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale signed an agreement Friday the schools say will provide a more seamless entry for Shawnee students into several SIU online programs.

"This new partnership offers one more way that we can open doors of opportunity for our students," said Shawnee president Tim Taylor.

The agreement, called Saluki Step Ahead, offers Shawnee students an opportunity to receive automatic admission to several SIU's online programs, including accounting, business administration, criminology, psychology, health care management and radiologic sciences.

"SIU has been an excellent partner in my own academic journey as a Saluki, and I am confident that the pathways created by the Saluki Step Ahead program will hold great value to incoming students from our region as well," Taylor said.

SIU recently signed a Saluki Step Ahead agreement with the Illinois Community College Board, which represents all the state's 48 community colleges, to provide qualified community college students the option to earn their undergraduate degrees remotely and at a lower cost. Shawnee is the first college to partner with SIU, which is in discussions with several other community colleges throughout the state regarding similar partnerships.

More information about Saluki Step Ahead is available on the Shawnee College website -- www.shawneecc.edu -- or by calling (618) 634-3200.

Looking for more business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.