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Douglas College

 

New Board Chair anticipates degree development

Douglas College's newly
elected Chair says she
expects the College will
soon be offering new four-

year degrees.

Elected on February 20,
Diana Miles is a resident
of Coquitlam and Human
Resource Manager, Pacific
Region, for Sears Canada.
Looking to the future, the
new Chair believes
Douglas College is well-
positioned to meet the
changing needs of the
community and the

province.

“The provincial
government wants to
increase the number of
qualified nurses being
trained in BC and
Douglas College has one
of the largest and best-
established nursing
programs in the province.
Since new nurses are now
required to complete a
bachelor’s degree, we have
to take the next logical
step and ensure that
nursing students can

finish their degree here.

“As the new Board Chair
I'm committed to
supporting the President
so we can work with the
Ministry of Advanced
Education to offer the
Bachelor of Nursing

degree soon. The Ministry

has indicated that they
will enable colleges to
offer applied degrees, so
we are just waiting for the
green light,” Miles says.

Douglas College has the
only Psychiatric Nursing
program in BC., she
added, and that program
is also likely to be
expanded from a three-
year advanced diploma to
a four-year bachelor’s

degree.

Over the years, Miles has
been active as a volunteer
in community
organizations and now
finds herself very busy
with her professional life
and College Board

activities.

“T’m very happy to have
been elected Chair. I’m

lucky to be following in
the footsteps of Harbinder
(Kainth Jassal). She has
done an exemplary job
chairing the Board since

September 1999.

“T accepted this position
confident in the diversity
of experience that other
members bring to the
Board and the high level
of expertise in the College
administration. I have
been impressed with the
involvement of employees
and students through
forums and other means.
The College has a well-
developed process of
consultation — I’ve seen
that demonstrated,” Miles

says.

She also noted the region
Douglas College serves,
from Burnaby and New
Westminster through the
Tri-Cities to Maple Ridge,
is the fastest-growing
college region in British
Columbia, so the
institution will have to
work hard to ensure access
and add more programs
and seats as the

population grows.

Along with the new four-
vear degrees in
development at Douglas
College, Miles says she
looks forward to seeing
the existing two-year
Associate Degrees become
more well-known.
Associate Degrees involve
a specific mix of first- and
second-year courses that
combine breadth of
learning with in-depth
study to prepare students
for work or for transfer to
a bachelor’s program at a
university.

Associate Degrees are
gaining in popularity as
employers recognize the
need for employees with
well-developed
organization, critical
thinking and
communication skills. As
well, the number of
Associate Degrees granted
at the College has
increased six-fold since
1996 as students recognize
the many advantages such
as ease of transfer to SFU
and other universities.

 

Diana Miles was elected as the new Chair of the
Douglas College Board at the February 20 meeting.

“Associate Degrees
provide a great route for
developing valuable
professional skills and
letting students who are
university-bound go
straight into third-year

courses,” Miles says.

“Post-secondary education
is a challenging and
exciting field. I’m really
glad I’m involved.”

 

Positive feedback follows College-wide PD day

re

Ce

Ashifa Manji, Ass

     

ociate Registrar (centre) takes

part in roundtable discussions with colleagues
during the afternoon session of the second
College-wide PD Day, held February 12.

It was a day of
educational rejuvenation
for the almost 400 people
who attended the second
annual College-Wide PD
Day, held February 12.

“Preliminary feedback
indicate that three-
quarters of the hundred or
so respondents found the
day ‘very worthwhile,”
says Lin Langley, part of
the team that brought PD
Day to the college.

As might be expected,
perceptions of the day are
varied, says Langley.
“Some people rated a
particular afternoon
session highly, while
others were less positive
about that same session. A
number of specific
suggestions for improving
an already good event are
emerging from the data.”

One respondent wrote
“Having speakers of the

quality that you did is very
important. They were well
prepared and well
regarded. Thank you for
making the day such a
great social justice
refuelling.”

Another stated, “The
employee arts and crafts
event was the perfect end
note to an intellectually
intense day. Can ‘brown
bag’ follow-up groups be

arranged?”

One employee
summarized the day by
saying “An all-employee
PD event is a great idea. It
is Our one opportunity for
the College community to
come together, to give us
common points of

rs
reference.

Employees can still
complete the on-line
evaluation form at
www.douglas.bc.da/
instres/pd_2003_srv.htm.

 

Quote of the Month

“Not a day passes that I am not grateful for the opportunities I have been given, those that
have allowed my dreams to become reality and have given me a second chance at life.”

Excerpt from a thank you letter to the Douglas College Foundation from Stacey, a Business graduate