FLORENCE, AL - Officials with the University of North Alabama and YMCA of the Shoals have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will benefit all full-time YMCA of the Shoals employees seeking any online or on campus, graduate or undergraduate degree from UNA. Further, the Learning Agreement highlights the opportunity for full-time employees to take part in UNA's New Start Scholarship program. Any full-time YMCA employee who enrolls in two courses will qualify, and the first course will be free.

"This agreement between UNA and the YMCA is a great fit for our (full-time) employees," said Lane Vines, Executive Director of the YMCA of the Shoals, which is on Helton Drive in Florence. "It works well with our mission of providing for the overall well-being of the individual, mind and body."

The agreement is effective immediately and will allow full-time YMCA employees to take advantage of all programs, both online and on campus as well as graduate and undergraduate, at UNA, while receiving a tuition scholarship to do so.

"UNA is a proud partner with the YMCA of the Shoals as this agreement provides the necessary and robust resources full-time YMCA employees will want to take advantage of at all of our educational levels, particularly the New Start Scholarship," said Dr. Ross Alexander, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. "For UNA, this agreement solidifies our role as the workforce development leader in the state of Alabama and a leader in partnering with local organizations to improve our workforce right here at home."

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not

discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/