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Applied degrees forum calls for feedback

Douglas College isn’t afraid
to blaze a trail. In March,
the College submitted a
proposal to the Ministry of
Advanced Education fora
new Bachelor of Science in
Nursing degree. It was the
first plan received under
the Ministry’s draft plan
for applied degrees.

“The current government
feels there still needs to be
more access to degree
programs for students
beyond what the
universities and university
colleges can do,” said
President Susan Witter at
the Douglas College
Forum on Applied Degrees
on April 30.

The province says the new
bill should be approved in
a few months, said Witter.
When that happens, a new
Quality Assessment Board
will replace the current
Degree Program Approval
Board. Universities that
have been offering degrees
for less than 10 years as

The Douglas College Newsletter

well as all colleges and
university colleges will be
required to undergo the
approval process.
Universities that have been
offering degrees for more
than 10 years will be able
to approve their own
applied degrees.

“They say the delivery of
high quality instruction at
the certificate and diploma
level remains the top
priority for community
colleges,” said Witter. “The
new applied degree
programs will focus on
employment skills and
knowledge directly linked

to a labour market need.”

Douglas College’s
Education Council Task
Force has developed a draft
plan outlining principles
and characteristics of
applied degrees at the
College.

“Much of the framework
will be dictated by
Ministry legislation but we

m= New Westminster Campus and David Lam Campus

have to decide what to do
to put a Douglas College
stamp on the process in
terms of values and things
we believe in,” said
Hudson Andrews, Chair of
the Task Force.

The Task Force based
much of their guiding
principles on the provincial
framework, as well the
framework from the post-
secondary quality
assessment board in
Ontario.

“Applied degree programs
will build on the existing
strengths and expertise of
the institution so that we
look at the character and
personality of Douglas and
take it from there rather
than trying to reinvent
ourselves,” said Andrews.
“The flavour is certainly
industry-based, but we
don’t want to be stymied
by private agendas.”

So far the emphasis is on
strong transfer programs

   

and structured
employment and co-op
terms, as well as developing
private sector funding for
programs.

Hudson says that the
Education Council Task
Force would also like
applied degrees to give
students access to graduate-
level programs, while
Victoria currently views
applied degrees as terminal
programs.

Douglas College is also
preparing to submit
another applied degree
program to Victoria, the
Bachelor of Health Science
(Psychiatric Nursing). Both
programs already have a
curriculum in place, so

resource issues are minimal.

“Douglas College is going
to see very little growth of
funded FTEs from the
government over the next
few years,” said Witter.
“The only exception will
be the government’s New

LS

Era funding commitments,
announced about a year
ago, for areas like medical
schools, nursing, computer
information, engineering
and social work. There will
be little growth beyond
these areas.”

The only way to fund
other new applied degrees
is internal reallocation or
tuition fee increases, she
said.

The two proposed applied
degrees both fall under the
New Era funding, but
Witter warns, “If we don’t
get New Era funding, we
will not be moving
forward.

“There will be very few
new degrees in the next
few years, but beyond that
we don’t know. Three years
from now, things could
change completely.”

While many participants
seemed to view applied

Douglas College

degrees as a positive

development for the
College, a few people
expressed concerns that
applied degrees could
change the culture of the
institution from a two-year
to four-year venue. There
were also worries the
private-sector emphasis of
applied degrees might
narrow the scope of post-
secondary institutions.

Ron Brown, President of
the DCFA, warned, “We
ought to be cautious about
this notion that there's
never going to be any
money for new programs.
Governments come and go
but Douglas College is here
to stay. We need to think
long-term about the
future.”

The Education Council
Task Force invites the
community to provide
feedback and help refine
their guidelines for applied
degrees, which are listed in
detail on localweb/pdf/
events/applied.pdf.

 

Diverting teens from the courts

A research project that will
help police keep troubled
teens out of the courts
using alternative justice
programs is being
supervised by Youth Justice
Coordinator John Fleming
and Criminology instructor
Colin Campbell.

“The new Youth Criminal
Justice Act gives police the
additional responsibility of
diverting non-violent
youths from the courts,”
says Fleming. “But they
need to know where to
divert them to.”

Earlier this year, Fleming
was approached by a

Vancouver Police inspector
about the need to identify
services for youth, and
together they submitted a
proposal to the
Department of Justice
which earned a $23,000
grant.

The end result of the
project will be a database of
alternative services for
youth — covering
everything from
counselling to group

homes to anger
management courses — in
the Greater Vancouver
Regional District (GVRD).

“The police can’t just send

the youth anywhere,” says
Fleming. “They have to
meet all of the objectives
and criteria outlined by the
new Act when they refer
youths to community
services.”

The database will also
contain information police
need for making referrals,
from phone numbers to
protocols for referring

youth to each service.

This project has a fringe
benefit: it created jobs for
Douglas College students.
Fleming hired Sarah Louie,
a graduate of the Youth

Justice Program, to be the

Research Coordinator, and
three others as Research
Assistants. Since there are
so many services spread
across the GVRD, Louie is
using the umbrella
approach ~ starting with
major funding sources and
working her way down.

When it wraps up in June,
a report will also be
submitted to the
Department of Justice.

For more information,
contact Fleming at 604-
527-5309.

 

Graduate Sarah Louie (left) was hired by Youth

Justice Program Coordinator John Fleming to
research alternative justice programs for teens.

 

Quote of the Month

“Governments come and go but Douglas College is here to stay. We need to think long-term about the future.”
Ron Brown, President of the DCFA