Kwantlen Polytechnic University

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Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Image:Kwantlen2.png
Motto: Through Tireless Effort, Knowledge, and Understanding
Established: 1981
Type: Public
President: Skip Triplett
Students: 11,000 full-time, 6,000 part-time
Location: Surrey, Richmond, Langley, Cloverdale, Newton, British Columbia, Canada
Mascot: Eagles
Affiliations: ACU
Website: www.kwantlen.ca
Not to be confused with Kwantlen First Nation.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (usually abbreviated to Kwantlen) is a degree-granting undergraduate polytechnic university with four campuses located in the South Fraser region of British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.

On April 22, 2008, the Provincial Government announced its intention to amend the University Act at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia to make Kwantlen a special purpose, teaching university, named Kwantlen Polytechnic University. [1] The legislation renaming the University received Royal Assent on May 29th 2008 [2]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings

Kwantlen College formed in 1981, by splitting from Douglas College.

Five community colleges were granted authority to offer baccalaureate degrees following a 1988 government initiative designed to increase access to degree programs in British Columbia. These 5 institutions - Fraser Valley, Kwantlen, Malaspina, Cariboo, Okanagan were renamed university colleges. Initially, they offered degrees under the aegis of one or more of the 3 provincial universities. In 1995 they were awarded the authority to offer degrees in their own right. [3] In 1995, the province of British Columbia enacted legislation changing the institution's name to Kwantlen University College and allowing it to begin granting academic degrees. [4]

The name “Kwantlen” means “Tireless Runner” and is derived from the Kwantlen First Nation tribe that established its home in the regions served by Kwantlen. The name Kwantlen was chosen by Stan McKinnon who won a contest to name the new school.[5]

[edit] Expansion and growth

[edit] Transition to university

In 2005, Kwantlen began lobbying elected officials at the municipal and provincial levels, as well as various key community leaders to support its efforts to become a special purpose university. Removing "college" from its official name would require approval from the government of British Columbia. Many Kwantlen students support the move to drop the word "college" from the Kwantlen name as it will help enhance their credentials and ease their ability to transfer into graduate studies and other endeavours. In its case for special purpose university status, Kwantlen says the change to Kwantlen University would[6]:

  • Enhance Kwantlen's ability to help British Columbia become the best educated, most literate jurisdiction in North America; and
  • Bring multiple benefits to the fastest growing region in BC and help BC achieve long-term growth and prosperity.

In 2007, Murray Coell, Minister of Advanced Education and Minister responsible for Research and Technology was joined by special advisor Geoff Plant, to release the Campus 2020 report that recommends Kwantlen University College become Kwantlen University, a regional university.[7]

On April 22, 2008, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell announced that Kwantlen University would become Kwantlen Polytechnic University.[8]

[edit] AUCC membership

Along with its efforts to become a special purpose university, Kwantlen is also seeking membership in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, also known as AUCC [9].

Although AUCC is not an official government accreditation body, its standardized membership benchmarks and requirements that member institutions must meet indirectly serve to ease a student's ability to transfer from undergraduate to graduate programs across Canada and the world.

[edit] Academics

[edit] Profile

For the 2006 academic year, Kwantlen had an enrollment of more than 16,000 students[10].

Kwantlen's region (Richmond, Delta, Surrey, White Rock and Langley) has a population of over 775,000 [11] and to serve it the BC provincial government funds 8,500 full-time equivalent student spaces (FTEs)[12], which is the lowest level of FTEs per capita in the province, at less than 60% of the provincial average.

[edit] Faculty and employees

Faculty and staff employees number over 1,400 [13]. While some faculty are also involved in research, their primary role is undergraduate education.

In 2007, Kwantlen University College was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine, the only community college in Canada to receive this honour.[14]

[edit] Undergraduate

Kwantlen offers bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, diplomas, certificates and citations across a wide range of programs in fine arts, humanities, science, social sciences, applied communication, business, nursing, as well as a number of technical and trade programs.

[edit] Cooperative education

Several diploma or degree programs in Kwantlen offer cooperative education[15]. Such programs include dedicated work-placement semesters that match their field of study, in addition to regular studies.

[edit] Program transferability

Kwantlen offers many transferable courses to other educational institutions, which often lead to direct transfers into second-year or third-year studies at other post secondary institutions. To aid in this, Kwantlen is a part of the BC Transfer Guide Website, an online resource for planning and understanding transfer in the BC post-secondary education system.

[edit] New program development

Additional major and minor programs are under development in anthropology, business, fine arts and geography.[16]

[edit] Other programs

[edit] CELTA at Kwantlen

Kwantlen offers CELTA the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults - one of the most widely recognized certification in the world.

[edit] Student life

The Kwantlen Student Association or KSA is an elected student body that contributes to community life, and allocates student funds to social, cultural and entertainment programs for students. Through the KSA students and other members of the Kwantlen community are also eligible for special discounts including bus and train passes; discount movie tickets; and other seasonal offers.

In 2005, Kwantlen launched an interactive component of the official Kwantlen website called The Digital Cafe, which features a number of promotional videos, music by Kwantlen students and photographs that highlight Kwantlen programs as well as student life on campus [17].

[edit] Campus

[edit] Campus Locations

The currently operational campuses of Kwantlen are located at: [18]

  • Cloverdale Campus: 5500 - 180th Street, Surrey, BC
  • Surrey Campus: 12666 - 72nd Avenue, Surrey BC
  • Richmond Campus: 8771 Lansdowne Road, Richmond BC
  • Langley Campus: 20901 Langley Bypass, Langley BC

[edit] Campus expansion projects

Kwantlen is currently involved in two major building expansion projects. The first expansion is underway on Kwantlen's main Surrey campus, where constructing a new wing aims to increase the building size by 11,000 m², or by 42% of its current size. [19]

The second project is the construction of a new campus in Cloverdale, a 17,200 m² building designed replace the aging Newton campus, and capable of holding over twice the amount of students[20]. The first phase of this campus opened in January 2007[21].

[edit] References

All information taken from the Kwantlen University College website retrieved in December 2005, unless otherwise specified.

  1. ^ PROVINCE TO ESTABLISH KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
  2. ^ http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th4th/votes/progress-of-bills.htm
  3. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0010058
  4. ^ BC Ministry of Advanced Education
  5. ^ About Kwantlen
  6. ^ University Expansion Proposal
  7. ^ Campus 2020: thinking ahead: the report. Geoffery P. Plant. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  8. ^ PROVINCE TO ESTABLISH KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY. Government of BC. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  9. ^ Mount Royal College: AUCC membership key (Ret. December 22, 2005)
  10. ^ January 2007 REGISTRANT COUNTS BY ACADEMIC YEAR. Kwantlen Office of Institutional Analysis & Planning. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  11. ^ 2006 Community Profiles. Statistics Canada. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  12. ^ Kwantlen University College Service Plan 2006/07 - 2007/08
  13. ^ About Kwantlen: Facts
  14. ^ Reasons for Selection, 2007 Canada's Top 100 Employers.
  15. ^ Co-operative Education at Kwantlen
  16. ^ Kwantlen Governance: Degree Programs Under Development Status Report
  17. ^ Kwantlen University College: Digital Cafe
  18. ^ Campus Locations & Information
  19. ^ Surrey Expansion Project
  20. ^ Cloverdale Expansion Project
  21. ^ Trades and Technology Centre

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Universities in British Columbia
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