AMHERST, N.Y. — With the sudden announcement earlier this month by Medaille University that it would close, it's left more than two thousand students scrambling to find places to resume their college careers.
Dozens of them spent part of Wednesday at another university, with an almost identical number of students, with a similar style campus, and less 5 miles from where they previously attended college.
Starting Over
In a way things have come full circle for Tanjiere Adams who, when preparing to graduate from Buffalo's Bennett High School in 2022, was leaning toward Daemen University before choosing Medaille....where she enjoyed her first year of college.
"I got to know everyone and all the teachers and all the students and everyone was super nice. And then it closed," she said.
Seeking a new school to resume her studies in psychology, Adams was among 65 displaced Medaille students who visited Daemen, to meet with faculty, review the transfer process, and over lunch...talk some turkey.
"I had a lot of grants and scholarships and stuff and they are going to be open to accepting those again which is really nice," Adams said.
"I don't know about a lot of people here, but I had I only had one year left so it's been hard," said Alexis Sullivan, an aspiring teacher pursuing a degree in early childhood education. "I have to transfer all my credits over and everything so I have to look at what they might take," she said.
Trying to Make It a Smooth Transition
"We are reviewing every course and we are making sure we can count it in some way shape or form," said Greg Nayor, Daemen's Sr. vice president for strategic initiatives. Noting a so-called teach-out agreement signed between the two universities, Nayor said this allows administrators to be more flexible in accepting credits from Medaille students.
"This (Medaille's closure) is an extraordinary circumstance," said Nayor.
"So, we're making three promises to them. One, we'll make sure they won't pay anything more than they paid at Medaille. Two, we're going to do everything we can to get them out of here in the same amount of time they would have graduated at Medaille. And, three, Daemen will make sure if there's people they want to live with we'll get them in housing."
While acknowledging that there are no absolute guarantees, Nayor said as long as students aren't changing majors and all their credits transfer, they can be reasonably assured that they will not face additional semesters --and therefore additional costs, in order to graduate from Daemen.
"Guarantee is a tough word, but is it highly likely? Yes...they can get out of here in the same amount of time as they would have at Medaille.
"It looks promising...actually very very very promising," said Sullivan.
"I do think they are trying their best to make it like a smooth transition for all of us," said Adams. "And it was very appropriate."
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