New program encourages college-university transition
Kate Ross, SFU Student Services, 778.782.4176, kuross@sfu.ca
Brenda Walton, Associate Registrar, Douglas College, 604.527.5354, waltonb@douglas.bc.ca
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Under a new pilot program—the first of its kind in British Columbia—students will be able to earn a college and university degree concurrently. Inspired by a similar model in Oregon, Simon Fraser University and Douglas College are designing an undergraduate program that co-admits applicants to both institutions.
Students will be able to move easily between the institutions while pursuing a 60-credit Associate of Arts degree from Douglas and/or a 120-credit BA degree from SFU. Their Douglas College credits will count towards their SFU degree. Registrants need only fill out one online application to be co-admitted to both institutions. They will not have to make the usual second application to move from college to university.
SFU and Douglas College will initially offer an undergraduate degree in arts and social sciences through the new program; they plan to eventually add a degree in the sciences. The two institutions hope to have the program ready to accept an initial cohort of 75 students by late 2009.
“We expect that this arrangement will create more flexible options for students, and look forward to expanding the program if the pilot project is successful,” says Jon Driver, VP-academic at SFU.
“This affiliation will assist us with recruiting Canadian and international students,” adds Jan Lindsay, VP-education at Douglas College. “But the real winners are the students. This agreement will enable them to be much better prepared for a successful transition to a university environment.”
SFU and Douglas College will jointly set the new program’s admission and continuance requirements.
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Comments
Comment GuidelinesJust a heads up for any transfer students out there. You're grades from college do not count as university grades... Once you get to SFU, your GPA is basically reset to nothing. If you want to attend university I would suggest just going right away without starting in college. I found this out the hardway. It isn't really advertised...
Having attended 3 institutions (langara, SFU, Douglas) I think this is a major step forward in the integration of academic studies. In the lower mainland virtually only douglas and langara are the only institutions having not received "university status" as Capilano, kwantlan and even emily carr have. Nevertheless, that probably means a hike in tuition fees for douglas students which may not be for their benefit. I guess we'll see
As a former successful Douglas-to-SFU student, I support this initiative. However, as a mom to a son who will be attending Douglas because he does not have SFU's second language requirement (common for dyslexic students by the way). I worry that it may be a way to boost entrance requirements for Douglas for university transfer students. Other than the second language, he is a highly successful student at secondary school.
This is just another way of SFU scamming more money from students. Wow, you have one less application to fill out, thats it. I don't see any difference from the old way of applying.
Re: mrnngg - there are numerous colleges without university status in the Lower Mainland, including VCC, Langara, Douglas, Sprott-Shaw, Selkirk and a ton more
Re: Westwood Jean - I am assuming if you are co-admitted, you must have met the admission req for both institutions (at least most of it) and hence second lang. would probably be required.
This degrades the status of SFU as a university.
Sai Omkaram
I would greatly appreciate a bridge between Douglas' Comp. Sci. & Information Systems (CSIS) and SFU's CS program.
The only thing deterring a student like me (enrolled in CSIS at Douglas) from attending SFU is the incompatible programs.