(Adelphi, MD) – University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) of the National Defense University are establishing an agreement to enable JFSC graduates to earn a new online Master of Science in Management – Joint Military Strategy, Planning, and Decision Making degree at UMUC. University Provost Nicholas Allen and JFSC Commandant Roosevelt Mercer, Jr., Brigadier General, US Air Force, will sign the agreement tomorrow, Sept. 10, at JFSC in Norfolk, Va.

The partnership will enable students currently enrolled in JFSC’s Joint and Combined Staff Officer School and Joint and Combined Warfighting School, as well as those who have already completed either program, to earn the new UMUC degree. To be eligible, students must be able to complete necessary coursework in seven years, starting from the time they began at JFSC.

"We are entering a new era as we embark on this venture between UMUC and the Joint Forces Staff College," said Mercer. "Such a partnership is revolutionary, not evolutionary, in its input for civilian/military relationships as we join to support and defend this great nation. This is a win-win for the civilian community and for the military."

JFSC graduates will transfer 15 credits from the college, then complete six more UMUC management courses and two end-of-program courses for a total of 39 credits. After completion, those who wish may pursue a UMUC Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree by taking only three more six-credit courses. The UMUC portion of the new program is available completely online, though students who wish may take classes at appropriate sites throughout northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., or Maryland.

"We are most pleased to extend UMUC’s graduate programs to students and alumni of the Joint Forces Staff College," said Allen. "Both UMUC and JFSC share synergies in effective management principles, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork, that are fundamental both in military and for-profit arenas. The credentials of a UMUC management degree, gained through our expertise in online delivery, will enable JFSC graduates the added benefit of being more marketable when they retire from the military."

In addition to its wealth of online academic offerings, UMUC online student services, including library/information services with about 90 databases, will be accessible to JFSC graduates at UMUC.

This is UMUC’s fourth Graduate School partnership with US military organizations since August 2001. Other recent agreements are with the Army Signal Center at Ft. Gordon (Ga.), the US Naval War College (Newport, R.I.), and the Army Management Staff College (Ft. Belvoir, Va.). UMUC partnered with the Information Resources Management College of the National Defense University in 1995.

The university is the leading educational provider to the US military, last year enrolling more than 47,000 US active-duty military and their dependents in 28 foreign countries, under contract with the US Department of Defense. JFSC is the US Armed Services' premier educational institution for joint and combined operational-level planning and warfighting.

For more information about the new degree program at UMUC, call the university at (240) 684-5151, or JFSC at (757) 443-6194 or 443-6192. Or, simply visit either organization’s Web site at www.umuc.edu/mil or www.jfsc.ndu.edu.

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