Continuing Studies celebrates 40 years
Helen Wussow, Dean of Lifelong Learning, 778.782.5138
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.3210; marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca
Its mission was to bring education to the community – 40 years later Simon Fraser University’s Continuing Studies is celebrating the success of the bridges it has built between the university and various communities that have enabled thousands to learn.
And as society’s needs change and the Metro Vancouver area surges by another one million people in coming decades, Continuing Studies’ architects are building more.
It’s fitting that a celebration of its 40th anniversary be shared with the community, at an Open House on Saturday, Feb. 5 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at SFU’s Harbour Centre campus in Vancouver.
Learners from all walks of life, from recent high school graduates to seniors have studied in courses and attended lectures, forums and cafés – as well as the hundreds of non-credit, career-benefiting, knowledge-satisfying course offerings, now well-established at all three SFU campuses and venues beyond.
Students range from mid-career professionals and new Canadians to marginalized social groups and the regionally remote, from seniors to the simply curious.
“Our aim has always been to help people to achieve their career goals, and satisfy their need for personal growth and engage with the communities where they live and work,” says Helen Wussow, Dean of Lifelong Learning.
Continuing Studies opened shop in a small Howe Street office before moving into the new Harbour Centre campus in 1989 and later, to Surrey, where after just six years more than 80 courses are offered.
Degree completion programs, 23 certificates and diplomas, more than 200 part-time courses, dozens of public lectures and numerous development initiatives are among offerings. Here’s a sample:
- Over 10,000 adult learners participate in Continuing Studies credit and non-credit programs every year
- More than 3,000 seniors every year satisfy their curiosity about everything from Socrates to opera by taking non-credit courses
- The SFU NOW program, offering courses tailored to better fit working students’ schedules, on nights or weekends, attracts more than 1,400 course registrants a year
- More than 70,000 people have attended Philosopher’s Cafés at 90 different venues across B.C.
- In the past year, the English Language and Culture program has helped more than 650 international students from 38 countries to better prepare for their futures
- Hundreds have filled Continuing Studies’ public lectures to hear experts’ opinions on key issues, from sustainable urban development to disappearing salmon.
Add to that a growing mix of program offerings. Here’s just a taste:
- A new transportation course, offered for the first time at SFU Surrey last fall by Continuing Studies’ City program. The course focuses on Surrey’s transportation picture and among the participants are City of Surrey planning staffers. The course runs again in Surrey later this year.
- A certificate program in Canadian business management fundamentals taught in Mandarin – and run in partnership with Sing Tao newspaper. The goal is to help Mandarin-speaking professionals grasp management concepts and techniques needed to help them succeed in business.
- Offered completely online, a certificate program in restorative justice that helps participants apply age-old principles of conflict resolution to developing safer and healthier communities.Two programs – Stepping Stones, to help improve literacy in remote regions of B.C., and Literacy Lives, to help socially excluded adults gain reading skills – are among examples of community initiatives being developed.
Future plans include creating more degree completion and professional development programs for mid-career workers, as well as programs that create access to education for people from all walks of life.
“Four decades since receiving our original mandate, we are still excited about bringing the power and joy of learning to non-traditional students,” says Wussow. “We’ll continue to act as a bridge between SFU and various communities, particularly those that have been traditionally under-represented in Canadian universities.”
Open House highlights
Nineteen free workshops, lectures, information sessions, and two special courses for seniors will highlight the day on Saturday, Feb. 5 and have already drawn more than 1,200 registrants. They include:
- Sustainability and Vancouver. A lecture on how careful urban planning is shaping the city’s evolution (11 a.m. – noon, rm 1700)
- Careers in Translation. Hear about the challenges of working as a translator or interpreter and learn more about the Interpretation and Translation program. (10 – 11 a.m. rm 1400)
- Art for Social Change. A roundtable discussion exploring how the arts can be a powerful vehicle for social change (2:30 – 4 p.m. rm, 1400)
- Careers in Transition. Career options and changes at mid-life or later in life can be explored in a pair of workshops (1 – 2 p.m. and 2 – 3 p.m., rm 1420)
- Metropolitan Opera Prep: Gluck’s Iphigenie En Tauride and Richard Strauss’ Capriccio (10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., rm 1900, $25) and The Majesty of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (2 – 3:30 p.m., rm 1900, $21)
- Exploring minds. Visitors tour SFU Vancouver’s buildings (2 – 3 p.m. starting in the foyer of the Harbour Centre campus) or sit back and participate in an open Philosopher’s Café in Harbour Centre’s Teck Gallery (2 – 3:30 p.m.)