Ual Meeting Obusiness Administration Chairs Meeting

Business and Commerce Articulation Committee

Minutes of Meeting Thursday, May 4, 13:00 to 16:00 Douglas College

Chair: Brock Dykeman, TRU Recorder: Nancy Oike, DC

Attendance:

See table on last page.

Approvals:

Agenda. Approved with addition of “Conference Feedback.”

Minutes. Approved. Moved by Alan Chappele; seconded by John Shepherd.

Institutional Reports:

Institutional Reports were distributed. The following brief presentations were made.

CGA. Gunter Eisenberg reported the addition of an integrated case course. The CGA also has a new degree partnership with Laurentian University.

UVIC. The Faculty of Business has changed pre-requisites as follows: reduced economics to micro; eliminated calculus; and increased English to two courses. The intent is to broaden the scope of students who want a business degree. The Faculty will expand to add a fourth cohort next year.

Report from BCCAT Annual Meeting of Articulation Chairs and Co-chairs:

Finola Finlay distributed a report on the meeting, which was held on February 3, 2006. This was the second year of joint College and University articulation.

BCCAT Presentation

The importance of the minutes of the articulation sessions was stressed. The minutes of all articulation sessions are reviewed and followed up, and a 100-word summary of every set of minutes is prepared and posted at the BCCAT web site. Because articulation committees are publicly funded bodies, the minutes should be made public; we are accountable through our minutes. Five to eight million dollars are spent on articulation every year. ;

1 Finola identified four important current issues in the B.C. transfer system, providing background information and implications for the future.

1. Organization of the BC Transfer Guide. Problems exist because of change in student movement and expansion of degree programs.

There have been major changes in student movement. Traditionally, students obtained 24 or more credits from a college and then moved on. Now there is informal transfer among colleges – back and forth. Some is aimless wandering; some purposeful migration. Students have a goal and will eventually reach it. The Central Data Warehouse tracks how they can move through the system. About half are doing traditional transfer. The other half are moving between institutions. Transfer patterns are influenced by geography. There is considerable movement between institutions in the Lower Mainland; many are also using the services of BC Campus. Small rural community colleges don’t receive many students. Movement seems to be from large metro colleges to large universities. Students in non-metro colleges tend to move anywhere. One of the most significant receiving institutions in the system is BCIT – but it has no presence in the transfer guide (except for the Business Management transfer table.) The way the BC Transfer Guide is currently structured doesn’t accommodate this non- traditional movement of students.

BCCAT has managed the transfer guide and restricted the meaning of “sending” and “receiving.” However, with the expansion of degree-granting institutions, the question now arises - Should all institutions now be able to receive designation as both sending and receiving? The implications for BEAC members is that they would have to submit course outlines to additional institutions. Council has not yet considered any recommendations in this regard.

2. Private Institutions. A second issue is how to build bridges between private and public institutions. As transfer agreements have been arranged between public and private institutions, the private institutions have wanted to be included in the transfer guide. Institutions have been turned down because they are not members of the BC transfer system. Students should have choices, but there are concerns about quality assurance.

3. Out of Province Institutions. A third issue is that of out-of-province institutions wanting to be in the transfer guide. For example, Athabasca wants to be a receiving institution. It has been given exempt status and the ability to use University in its name. It wants to be known as a new public university option for B.C. students. The education system is becoming more global. Including Athabasca could be considered as a service to students; however, it could open the floodgates for other out-of-province institutions. The Transfer Guide was designed for BC institutions; it could become an onerous task to keep the guide up to date if it goes outside the province.

2 4. Transfer in Specific Disciplines. Problems occur with pre-majors - required courses in first and second year. Each institution has its own requirements. In addition, institutions change their minds. Improving transfer in programs would be a worthwhile goal.

No recommendations have been made yet on these issues, but they will be coming.

Business Management Transfer Table Committee

Comments: A comment was made that centralized advisors in institutions don’t seem to understand the BC Management Transfer Guide. However, the BC Association of Registrars and Managers of Admission is organizing a transfer advising seminar. Each institution will identify one or two people to be the transfer experts in their own institution. .

John Shepherd and Abbe Nielsen were thanked for their work. John explained that the Business Management Transfer Guide is an easy-to-read table which gives categories of courses. Three main issues were discussed:

1. Table Updates. 2. Third and Fourth Year Courses. 3. Addition of Sprott-Shaw Community College to the Table.

1. Table Updates. There is a serious issue with keeping the table up to date. About five years ago, as the table was getting very out of date, a one-shot update was done. Subsequently, about four years ago, a subcommittee was formed to keep it up to date. Colleges submit updates twice a year, and about 100 changes per year are processed. However, there hasn’t been a wholesale review for several years; the table is being maintained but not overhauled. Updating the table will be unworkable if the system grows (it’s on the edge of being unworkable right now.)

Finola explained that there is money available for “discrete” projects, but grants aren’t very large (up to $10,000). A comment was made that a grant proposal seems short-sighted if it’s not ongoing. Computer course categories are most out of date, but there is no system to determine if they need to be restructured.

A question arose on whether individual articulations could be an avenue for updating transfer for those specific courses Right now decisions aren’t made at course articulations – but they could be. It would make those articulation sessions have a heavier weight. Discussion ensued on requesting funding for updating categories in the transfer table.

Motion: To submit a request to BCCAT under the transfer innovations fund for reviewing and updating the BC Management Transfer Guide. Moved by Al Fukishima; seconded by John Shepherd. Carried

3 2. Third and Fourth Year Courses. Should third and fourth year courses be listed as a separate category? Doing so would be very complicated. A suggestion was made to work within the same system, but expand it. Keep working with categories and articulate all the way from first through fourth year. Go by course content; it all comes down to really good course outlines in sufficient detail. When trying to add in third and fourth year, be open to the idea that the same content could be offered in first or second year. Therefore, look at the course based on the course content – not on what year it’s offered in. Currently, institutions can simply opt out if they don’t want to accept transfer from lower level courses.

3. Addition of Sprott-Shaw Community College to the BC Management Transfer Guide. The private institutions, University Canada West, Lansbridge, and Sprott- Shaw Community College, have had degrees approved by the Degree Quality Assessment Board and are also included in the BC Transfer Guide as receiving institutions. Sprott Shaw is the only one so far to express interest in being included in the BC Management Transfer Table.

There was considerable discussion on the following points:

 The issue of quality. At OLA, the Canadian Learning Bank was approached several years ago by Sprott-Shaw to have courses articulated. A group went there to review and found that texts and course outlines all seemed fine and equivalent to others. However, it was noted that qualifications of instructors were not up to stated standard and evaluation methods were too easy: every exam was either definition, short answer, or t/f – all open book. Barry Gibbs of Sprott-Shaw reported that the evaluation has changed, and all faculty have accounting designation, MBA, MA, or PhD. He invited BEAC delegates to “come on down” for a site visit. The degree is site specific – just offered at the Burnaby campus at present. Students are viewed as customers. Half of students are EASL and there is a fairly high failure rate. However, course success is guaranteed – everyone who gets an “F” gets a chance to take the course again at no additional charge. Sprott-Shaw wants a chance to be articulated by this group because it is an assurance of quality.

 Degree Quality Assessment Board. Sprott-Shaw’s degree has been approved by the DQAB, which assesses all degrees, public and private. All new degrees (other than institutions with exempt status) go through an institutional review. Criteria (available on the DQAB website) are very rigorous. Institutions which are approved are also approved to go in to the BC Transfer Guide. A review is conducted by the DQAB every five years.

4  Process. John Shepherd pointed out that there is currently no process to include a new institution on the Business Management Transfer Table. The point was made that if an institution has passed the degree quality assessment, they shouldn’t have to go through any more hoops. The Business Management Transfer Table is done with multilateral agreements. Therefore, if Sprott-Shaw is accepted by this committee, it should be listed in the table. An institution which disagrees would have to withdraw itself from the Transfer Table.

After additional discussion, the following motion was made:

To accept Sprott-Shaw’s request for articulation in the Business Management Transfer Guide for a trial period of three years. Moved by Al Fukushima; seconded by Alan Chapelle. Motion carried.

Report from Business Competition at Malaspina University College.

Okanagan College was the overall winner; Capilano did very well in the individual competitions.

Conference Feedback.

Feedback on the 2006 BEAC Conference can be given through the “Contact Us” button at www.beac06.biz. Constructive feedback is welcome and will be sent to the next host institution.

5 Host Institutions – Past and Future

Year Host Chair Co-Chair 2002 UBC UBC 2003 Okanagan University Northern Lights UBC College 2004 University College of the Okanagan University Northern Lights Fraser Valley College 2005 Thompson Rivers University College of the Okanagan University University Fraser Valley College 2006 Douglas College Thompson Rivers University College of the University Fraser Valley 2007 Royal Roads (*see note) Douglas College Thompson Rivers University 2008 Kwantlen University Royal Roads Douglas College College 2009 College of the Rockies Kwantlen University Royal Roads College 2010 Vancouver Community College of the Rockies Kwantlen University College College

*Note: As Royal Roads was not present at the meeting, Malaspina University College volunteered to act as backup host for the 2007 BEAC Conference if Royal Roads is not able.

Douglas College’s new associate dean will chair next year’s meeting.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:00.

6 BEAC Attendance – May 4, 2006

Name Institution E-mail Finola Finlay BCCAT [email protected] Tiffany Snauwaert Selkirk College [email protected] Chris Graham University of Victoria [email protected] Leelah Dawson Camosun College [email protected] Gunter Eisenberg CGA – BC [email protected] Don Carter CA School of Business [email protected] Tammy Kiss College of the Rockies [email protected] Bill Giglio Camosun College [email protected] Vladimir Dvoracek UCFV [email protected] Lana Stowe IIG All-Nations Institute [email protected] Terri Walker IIG All-Nations Institute [email protected] Terry Kosowick College of New Caledonia [email protected] John Shepherd CNC [email protected] Bob Barron Kwantlen University Coll. [email protected] Barry McGillivray Okanagan College [email protected] Barrie Gibbs Sprott-Shaw Comm.College [email protected] Ron Lakes TRU [email protected] John Bryant TRU – OL [email protected] Dave Sale Kwantlen University Coll. [email protected] Abbe Nielsen Langara [email protected] Anthony Sealey Columbia College [email protected] Keith Murray Langara [email protected] Dianne Morgan Vancouver Community [email protected] College Michael Conyette Northern Lights College [email protected] Al Fukushima Nicola Valley Institute of [email protected] Technology Matt Pasco Nicola Valley Institute of [email protected] Technology Alan Chapelle Malaspina University Coll. [email protected] Tracy Gillis Malaspina University Coll. [email protected] Russell Currie UBC Okanagan [email protected] Gordon Lee System Liaison Person [email protected] Richard Stride North Island College [email protected] Katriona MacDonald University of B.C. [email protected] Pam Lim University of B.C. [email protected] Ellen Hamer Langara College [email protected] Gregory Krabes Northwest Community [email protected] College Dave O’Leary Northwest Community [email protected] College Nancy Oike Douglas College [email protected]