Strategic Partnership Links BVU, Ottumwa Community Schools
BVU partners with Ottumwa Community School District to offer discounted tuition to employees. This Strategic Partnership strengthens Ottumwa School's workforce by providing educational opportunities to its employees and families.
Buena Vista University’s Strategic Partnership with the Ottumwa Community School District is the first of its kind linking BVU and a local school district.
BVU Strategic Partnerships are aimed at growing organizations while benefiting their employees, allowing employees, spouses, and dependents of partner organizations to take BVU classes at a discount. Grant funding is available for those who take classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus, while discounts per credit hour are offered to students enrolling in BVU’s convenient online and hybrid undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership online graduate program courses.
BVU professors and staff members are also available for training programs, workshops, and more should officials in the Ottumwa Community Schools seek those services and expertise.
“Through 17 partnerships like this across Iowa, BVU continues doing all it can to ensure that our students and their families keep growing, positioning themselves, their communities, and their employers for an even brighter future.”
Katie Smith, Director of Strategic Partnerships
“The Strategic Partnership with BVU represents a wonderful benefit for our employees and their family members, an initiative several of our employees have begun utilizing,” says Ottumwa Superintendent of Schools Mike McGrory. “Any step that can make it easier and more affordable for one of our employees, or persons in their family, to continue their educational journey is a step worth taking. We’re very excited to be the first community school district working with BVU in this Strategic Partnership.”
The Ottumwa Community School District, which has a certified enrollment of 4,782 students in grades PK through 12, employs 350 certified staff members, making it one of the top five employers in a city of approximately 25,000 residents. The Ottumwa district opened a new preschool in 2018, a site featuring 20 classrooms in a state-of-the-art facility. The district is now adding 10 classrooms to the facility.
The University has enjoyed an educational presence in Ottumwa for decades through BVU’s landmark degree-completion programs offered in partnership with Indian Hills Community College. BVU has staff on the Indian Hills campus to assist individuals who are searching for information, or current students who seek student success support. BVU also offers education programming through a hybrid delivery, which means students may attend one or two evening sessions per week via Zoom, complemented through online coursework throughout an eight-week period.
The connection shared by BVU and Ottumwa will only grow stronger thanks to the Strategic Partnership initiative.
“We’re extremely excited to be working with the Ottumwa Community School District, thrilled to see the district’s employees and family members grow through BVU’s convenient online and hybrid programs as well as those found on the main campus in Storm Lake, all of which can be made even more affordable through tuition discounts,” says Katie Smith, BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships. “Through 17 partnerships like this across Iowa, BVU continues doing all it can to ensure that our students and their families keep growing, positioning themselves, their communities, and their employers for an even brighter future.”
For more information about BVU’s Strategic Partnerships and partner opportunities, please visit our website at bvu.edu/strategic-partnerships or contact Katie Smith at SmithK@bvu.edu.