Cameron University will honor Western Oklahoma State College President Randy Cumby, who is retiring on June 30, by naming Cameron’s tuition waiver scholarship for WOSC students the “Randy Cumby Tuition Waiver Scholarship.” The scholarship, first awarded during academic year 2003-04, is for WOSC students who earn an associate’s degree with a 3.0 GPA or higher who transfer to Cameron. To date, 27 students have received almost $25,000 through the scholarship. Eleven of those recipients have graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and 10 are currently enrolled at CU. The award amount ranges from $500 to $1,500, depending upon the recipient’s GPA at Western Oklahoma State College.

“Randy Cumby has impacted the lives of thousands of students at Western Oklahoma State College during the past 33 years,” says Cameron President Cindy Ross. “President Cumby developed partnerships with Cameron and other institutions that enable WOSC students to continue their higher education. His passion for helping students is abundantly clear to the citizens of southwest Oklahoma. It is with great pleasure that Cameron University acknowledges President Cumby’s contributions to higher education by naming this scholarship in his honor.”

President Ross attributes the successful partnership between Cameron and WOSC to President Cumby’s commitment to student success and economic development for the region. Providing ITV courses to WOSC gives students the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree in business administration from Cameron without leaving the WOSC campus. In addition, the partnership between the two institutions provides educational opportunities in the areas of nursing, multimedia design, and agriculture.

WOSC’s nursing program can be completed at Cameron’s Lawton campus, as the two institutions work together to meet the demand of qualified health care practitioners. Students take the required pre-requisite classes from Cameron, earn an Associate in Applied Science degree from WOSC, and are then eligible to apply to the WOSC nursing program.

WOSC students who earn an Associate in Science degree with an emphasis in agriculture have the ability to transfer their hours to Cameron, ensuring a seamless transition to Cameron’s baccalaureate program and allowing them to complete a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree in just two years.

Through a cooperative alliance with WOSC and the Great Plains Technology Center in the multimedia design areas of Game Design, 3D Animation and Multimedia Services, high school students taking classes at GPTC can apply those courses for collegiate credit at Cameron toward an Associate in Applied Science degree.

Ross noted, “It is fitting and appropriate to name a Cameron University scholarship for WOSC’s retiring President Randy Cumby in recognition of his extraordinary and unequalled commitment to students. President Cumby’s influence lives on through this scholarship, and most importantly, through the students whose lives he has immeasurably changed.”