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Feature

 

 

program, brought to light by 16x9 correspondent
Patrick Brown near the end of the segment, that
perhaps sums up the core of the issue best.

President McAlpine rebuts this point on 16x9,
stating that, “Rectifying the past is not within
our periphery. Can we make progress toward the
future? The answer is yes. Are we? The answer
is yes.” Still, the evidence of past and current
academic dishonesty remains and is no less
concerning for the students of Douglas College’s
Canadian campuses who are left with more
questions than answers.

Speaking to the English competency level of
some of the students enrolled in Douglas College’s
China programs, one former International
Education College (IEC) teacher at the
Heilongjiang Institute of Science and Technology,
Nicole Reader, recalls “T still don’t think that I was
adequate enough to be teaching those students.”
Limited to some extent by the established
curriculum, Reader took it upon herself to push
the students she encountered. Even still, she
admits to feeling as though the program was
not providing the professors—either fellow IEC
teachers or Douglas College professors—with the
necessary resources or the framework to provide
the students the opportunity to learn the language
at a college level.

“These kids would have had a hope and could
have succeeded and thrived and not be where
they are instead of just having these degrees being
pumped out,” Reader said. Later recalling a time
that she remembers Douglas College professors
requesting Douglas College to supply proper
English teachers, to come and teach the students,
Reader remembers the answer being, simply put,
“no.”

“T felt bad for the [Douglas College] professors
and for the students [of the program]. They were
left with the Chinese faculty having to choose
what teachers would be adequate.” Considering
the rate at the time for IECs was 5,000 Chinese
Yuan Renminbi (CNY) per month—or 4,500 CNY
in Reader’s case (or approximately $500 CAD in
07/08, the time of her employment)—you can
imagine this monetary restriction acting as a
limiting factor.

But English competency upon graduation
for Douglas College’s China program students
is only one example of the disparity present
between the requirements enforced in Canada
and China. While there are cultural differences
and idiosyncrasies to be considered—not the
least of which is an educational milieu drastically
different from our own—the fact remains that the
degrees up for grabs abroad are no different from

those obtained here at home.

Consider the following hypothetical situation:
Student A attends classes in New Westminster;
Student B attends classes at David Lam. Student
A is required to meet the minimum entrance
requirements of a grade of aC in English
12; Student B is only required to display a
rudimentary understanding, with no formal
documentation or credential. Student A is put
on a waiting list to gain admittance to a class;
Student B is admitted regardless and without
question. Student A is paying $15,000 CAD for
four years of study (not including additional fees
and textbooks); Student B is paying less than
$10,000 (all inclusive). Student A fails their course
and is provided with little to no options to appeal
or make up; Student B is provided with as many
make up exams as is required for them to pass
their course. Student A passes their program with
a CGPA of 2.5; Student B passes the exact same
program with a CGPA of 4.05 due to academic
tampering and the philosophy that “everyone
graduates.”

Reader comments that, “I had to leave
[China], knowing and hearing stories that my
students’ grades would be changed. Students that
I did fail, would pass.” Though never witnessing
it herself, Reader goes on to say that “they would
make the exams easier, and easier, and easier,
and it would be the Chinese faculty—not the
professors of Douglas College.” This, according
to sources, is the situation in regards to Douglas
College’s China programs.

What does this mean for Student A and
Student B from our example? Student A represents
every student currently enrolled at New
Westminster and David Lam; Student B represents
every student attending classes at SIFT and HIST
as part of Douglas College’s Canadian degree
China program.

With sources saying fewer and fewer Douglas
College faculty are directly involved in the
program in China, with purportedly up to 4/5 of
the instruction being done by Chinese faculty in
Chinese, who stands to benefit from the current
system? It’s certainly not the China program
students who earn their BBAs and are unable to
understand English, and it’s most certainly not
the Canadian students who are left facing an
increasingly competitive post-graduation market.

a

 

 

What does the prestige of a
Canadian degree mean?

 

Being awarded a degree from Canada

(in this case, a bachelor’s in Business
Administration) is evidence that a student
has mastered the skills that any Canadian
undergraduate student would have—
including full English skills. With English
being the second-most spoken language in
the world after Mandarin, Chinese national
students are inclined to learn English as

a business skill in networking and for an
inroad to the international job market. A
potential employer in China would likely
be very impressed by a Canadian degree
because it implies that the graduate has
the English language fluency necessary to
obtain a Canadian undergraduate degree.

 

International education market

 

“International education is worth about $7
billion a year to the Canadian economy. For
Chinese students who don’t have the money
to study overseas, a foreign education inside
China is an affordable option,” reports 16x9
correspondent Patrick Brown.

International education is a great way for
students to become immersed in new culture,
learn, travel, and network. It is actively
promoted countrywide by the Canadian
Consortium for International Education
Marketing (CCIEM). Schools involved in the
consortium send representatives across the
globe to attract students to their institutions.
Douglas College is tied to the CCIEM by
means of membership to the Association of
Canadian Community Colleges.

International education is a financially
lucrative endeavour which is beneficial for
both schools that host international students
and schools that send students abroad—many
conferences are held worldwide with the
purpose of enticing students to study abroad.

Douglas College offers many
field schools for its own domestic and
international students to take part in. Some
field schools, like the Wales Field School, also
link students through to foreign universities
where Douglas Associate of Arts and
Science degrees are accepted to finish their
undergraduate education.

 

What's at risk?

 

As is outlined in the conclusion of the 16x9
segment by former Dean of Commerce and
Business Robert Buller, if the standard of
education for students studying at HIST /SIFT
is not raised to the level of regular Douglas
College students, the student population and
reputation of the college stands to suffer. The
student population of Douglas College has a
vested interest in the enforcement of Douglas
educational standards when the school’s
reputation and the perceived value of their
education is at stake.

As we await the result of the upcoming
external review, as well as seek further
comment, stay tuned for more information
as it becomes available to us.

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