WHEELING — Two local colleges that have publicly protested the city of Wheeling’s efforts to bring Bluefield State College engineering programs to the Friendly City are coming together to offer courses and training through an Engineering and Construction Management Program.

Officials from West Virginia Northern Community College and Wheeling University plan to publicly sign an articulation agreement at 2:30 p.m. today to establish this partnership. Wheeling University President Ginny Favede and WVNCC President Dr. Daniel Mosser are expected to participate in the signing and reveal details about the program.

Officials at WVNCC and Wheeling University could not be reached late Thursday for further details about their agreement.

According to the two institutions, the Engineering and Construction Management Program will allow students to obtain an associate in science degree from WVNCC and thereafter will be able to “seamlessly transfer” to Wheeling University to complete their bachelor of science degree.

Favede, Mosser and West Liberty University President W. Franklin Evans have been outspoken in recent weeks against the city of Wheeling’s effort to have Bluefield State open a new Engineering and Manufacturing Center at the former Ohio Valley Medical Center, which was acquired by the city last year. The city signed a memorandum of understanding with Bluefield officials in January.

City officials have maintained that their role is to try to fill space at vacant buildings in the former OVMC campus, not to prevent any competition among higher education institutions in the local market. State board officials from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the West Virginia Higher Learning Commission and the West Virginia Community and Technical College System are expected to decide whether or not Bluefield State can offer its proposed programs and open a new campus in Wheeling.

Officials at Bluefield State College, located at the southern tip of West Virginia, have said there is a need for accredited programs like the ones it offers. According to BSC Provost Dr. Ted Lewis, the institution offers highly reputable programs for certificates, two-year associate degrees and four-year bachelor degrees in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering technology.

Those types of programs cannot be developed and offered without going through years of approval and accreditation protocols, Lewis recently noted, let alone establishing a well regarded reputation for education and training in the industry.

Officials at the three local institutions have expressed confidence that they can provide the educational needs of the region with quality programs that meet the demands of regional employers.

Bluefield officials have said they hope not to compete with the local colleges, but to work with them and jointly provide an array of supporting courses needed to complete their programs.

“Bluefield State’s outreach does not reduce educational opportunities,” officials at BSC said in a statement this week. “It instead increases such opportunities as these accredited programs are not available from any higher educational institution in the Northern Panhandle. We remain hopeful that our offers for a collaboration with other educators in the area will be accepted. With these partners we can coordinate our collective educational resources to ensure that these accredited programs will help build future successes.”