KANNAPOLIS — Rowan-Cabarrus Community College students with an Associate in Fine Arts degree can now smoothly transfer their credits to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

The Rowan-Cabarrus Community College board of trustees met on Monday at the college’s South Campus in Kannapolis.

During the meeting, President Carol Spalding and UNC Charlotte Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Joan Lorden signed an articulation agreement between the two schools for the fine arts program.

With the new agreement, the associate in fine arts degree program at Rowan-Cabarrus will transfer into the four bachelor of fine arts tracks at UNC Charlotte.

The associate in fine arts degree program was not previously included in the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement signed in 2014 by the 16 state colleges and universities and the 58 community colleges in the state.

Under the direction of Spalding, the school was able to partner with UNC Charlotte to make transferring credits from Rowan-Cabarrus to UNC Charlotte easier.

RCCC worked with UNC Charlotte to review every relevant syllabus, student learning outcomes and how RCCC teaches every course in order to develop the agreement.

“It’s one of the things that I think is very, very important, is that the students and the taxpayers don’t have to pay twice for the same course,” Spalding said.

Spalding also said the articulation agreement signed Monday by RCCC and UNC Charlotte is the first in the state for fine arts.

“When you think about our strengths, you don’t think about fine arts as being our strength, but, surprise, it is,” Spalding said.

Students are required to graduate with their associate in fine arts degree before transferring into one of the four tracks at UNC Charlotte.

RCCC is working on other similar agreements with other transfer institutions.

“Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is one of (UNC Charlotte’s) major feeders … and one of our goals for the next few years as part of our institutional planning is to make transfer articulation as seamless as humanly possible. And so, this is a great start,” Lorden said.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.