Douglas goes both ways

Douglas College
officially a BCCAT
receiving institution

By Dylan Hackett,
News Editor

ast month the
British Columbia
Council on

Admissions & Transfer
(BCCAT) announced
that Douglas College
will formally be

both a sending and
receiving institution

in the council’s
popular BC Transfer
Guide. Traditionally,
Douglas’ role as a
sending institution to
research universities,
largely to Simon Fraser
University (SFU) and
the University of British
Columbia, has made
the college a first step

for many entering

the realm of post-
secondary education.
A recent study
conducted by the BC
government found that
while 4,000 students
moved from colleges
to universities from
2007-2009, a similar
figure of 3,300 did the
opposite. Douglas is
now accredited in the
guide to be a receiving
institution for Kwantlen
Polytechnic University
and Langara College.
Capilano University,
SFU, and others will be
added to the list in the
months to come.

“The path to
completing your
education is no longer
a one-way street,”
said Scott McAlpine,
president of Douglas
College. “More and

more students are
deciding to complete
their education at
college, or are returning
to college to do post-
degree studies. The
change in our status
underscores the new
trend in student
mobility and the need
to streamline the
process for students.”
One popular
program for students
with both degree
backgrounds and
without is the Print
Futures: Professional
Writing program.
Sharon Miki, Editor-
in-chief of The Other
Press, counts herself
among those whose
educational and
career paths took
them to Douglas
after completion of a
bachelor’s degree.

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News.

“T did a
Bachelor’s of Arts in
Communications at
SFU and I graduated
in 2007,” said Miki. “T
worked in corporate
retail for a couple of
years. I was really
unhappy and I quit
and then was trying
to freelance write, but
without any skills from
my degree it was really
hard to find contracts
so I went back to
Douglas.”

While many
students see Douglas
as a step down from
a research university,
Miki encourages
students to ignore the
stigma.

“My advice for
someone coming
back to Douglas after
studying at university
would be to focus

on your career,”
recommended Miki.
“Sometimes there’s a bit
of a stigma in coming
back to a college versus
a university or people
might be like, ‘you're
going backwards!’
‘You've already done
this so-called higher
level of education and
you're ‘downgrading’
to a college?’ You
should focus on what
you get out of any
education you do—not
at how fancy the piece
of paper you get at the
end is. That's really
important and it was a
hard lesson to learn.”
Douglas offers
six programs to post-
bachelor students
looking to enhance their
education, including
two different sales and
accounting programs.

If you haven’t picked up your U-Pass, do it now! If caught without one, TransLink will fine you up to $273 and while mostly
handling collections through ICBC—a method which bars fare evaders from renewing licences if holding an outstanding
balance—TransLink is now granted the use of collections agencies to receive unpaid fines.

U-Pass dispensers are available on the second floor of the New Westminster campus beside the cashier’s office and in the
library. At David Lam, you can find them next to the washrooms in the main foyer. Don’t forget to pick it up, or now suffer a
loss of credit rating on top of the previous licensing embargo. Transit Security now have the ability to issue fines as well, so
keep that little blue card on hand!

Ihe OF is Ihairinmns!

 

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