N.Y. College of Dentistry, Tuskegee University Sign Historic Agreement

NEW YORK

New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) and Tuskegee University have entered into an historic agreement to conduct a combined B.A.-D.D.S. program. This marks the first time that Tuskegee University has collaborated on a B.A.-D.D.S. program, and the first time that NYUCD has done so with a historically Black institution.

The agreement gives strongly motivated Tuskegee students whose primary goal is dentistry a virtual guarantee that, if they maintain an honors grade point average at Tuskegee and fulfill NYUCD's admission requirements, they will be accepted. Tuskegee students will be eligible for the joint program as early as the second semester of the freshman year. Once accepted by NYUCD, they will be eligible for financial assistance for students from underrepresented minority groups.

Dr. Ralph V. Katz, professor and chair of NYUCD's Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, and Novella Jones, NYUCD's assistant dean for student affairs and admissions, led the effort to secure this agreement.

"The dental profession is challenged to create opportunities for African Americans to learn about and join the profession," Jones says. "This agreement enables NYU and Tuskegee to make a profound contribution in that area. We look forward to a long and rewarding partnership with Tuskegee."

Discussions with Tuskegee officials are under way to set up a "grandfathering" mechanism that could result in the first combined degree-program student entering NYUCD as early as fall 2003.

The NYUCD-Tuskegee agreement bolsters the two institutions' mutual commitment to increase the number of African American dentists in the United States. African Americans represent approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population today, but only about 3.5 percent of the dentists.