| Kwantlen Polytechnic University | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Through Tireless Effort, Knowledge, and Understanding |
| Established | 1981 |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | Arvinder Singh Bubber [1] |
| President | Dr. John McKendry (Pro tem) [2] |
| Provost | Dr. Anne Lavack [3] |
| Students | 11,000 full-time, 6,000 part-time |
| Location | Richmond, Surrey, Cloverdale, Langley, British Columbia, Canada |
| Campus | Urban, Suburb |
| Colours | Firebrick White |
| Athletics | PACWEST, CCAA |
| Nickname | KPU |
| Mascot | Eagles |
| Affiliations | AUCC, IAU, ACCC, ACU, CBIE, CUP |
| Website | kwantlen.ca |
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (commonly abbreviated to Kwantlen, previously known as Kwantlen University College) is a public degree-granting undergraduate polytechnic university with four campuses located in the South Fraser region of British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. Kwantlen began operation as Kwantlen Polytechnic University on September 1, 2008.[4]
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Kwantlen College was formed in 1981, by a separation of the South Fraser campus from Douglas College. There were more than 200 suggestions in a contest to name the new South Fraser region college. The winning entry “Kwantlen” was submitted by Stan McKinnon. “Kwantlen” comes from the name of the Kwantlen First Nation in whose traditional territory the university is located. Chief Joe Gabriel of the Kwantlen First Nation gave permission for the college to use the Kwantlen name.[5][6]
Following a provincial government initiative designed to increase access to degree programs in British Columbia, begun in 1988, five community colleges were granted authority to offer baccalaureate degrees. These five institutions— Cariboo, Fraser Valley, Kwantlen, Malaspina, and Okanagan—were renamed university colleges. Initially, they offered degrees under the aegis of one or more of the three provincial universities. In 1995 they were awarded the authority to offer degrees in their own right. [7] Also in 1995, the province of British Columbia enacted legislation changing the institution's name to Kwantlen University College. [8]
In 2005, Kwantlen University College began a campaign to convince elected officials at the municipal and provincial levels, and various key community leaders, to support its efforts to become a university. Removing "college" from its official name would require approval from the government of British Columbia. In its case for the university status, Kwantlen's administrators claimed the change to Kwantlen University would:
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.[10]
On April 22, 2008, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell announced that Kwantlen University would become Kwantlen Polytechnic University.[11] 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 polytechnic university, in recognition of its "versatility in providing academic, trades and horticultural training."[12] The legislation renaming the University College to University received Royal Assent on May 29, 2008.[13]
On October 24, 2008, Kwantlen became a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).[14]
Although the AUCC is not an official government accreditation body, its standardized membership benchmarks and requirements for members serves to ease a student's ability to transfer from undergraduate to graduate programs across Canada and the world.
The campuses of Kwantlen are located at:
Kwantlen is composed of faculties in the Humanities and Social Sciences as well as a Division of Science and Mathematics. It has a School of Business, a Faculty of Design, a Faculty of Health Studies, a School of Horticulture, a Faculty of Trades and Technology, and a College of Qualifying Studies. Most of these divisions offer both bachelors degrees and certificates. By September 2011 Kwantlen will offer bachelors degrees in key areas of arts and sciences such as: anthropology, Asian Studies, creative writing, English, history, journalism, music, philosophy, policy studies, psychology, sociology, and visual arts. A bachelors degree in biology is in the works. Applied degrees are offered in fields such as business, criminology, design, horticulture, journalism, nursing, and information technology.[16]
Kwantlen has a library on each of its four campuses. The main library is on the Surrey campus. Smaller collections are available in Richmond, Langley, and Cloverdale. Books are freely delivered between campuses. The collections of the Kwantlen libraries total about 190,000 print monographs, nearly 1000 print journal subscriptions, and access to over 100 different on-line databases.[17]
For the 2006 academic year, Kwantlen had an enrolment of more than 18,000 students.[18] Kwantlen's region (Richmond, Delta, Surrey, White Rock and Langley) has a population of over 775,000,[19] and to serve it the BC provincial government funds 8,500 full-time equivalent student spaces (FTEs). A 1999 Ministry of Advanced Education study found the rate of participation in post secondary education in Kwantlen’s region (22%) to be lower than the provincial average.[20]
Faculty and staff employees number over 1,400.[21] While some faculty are also involved in research, their primary role is undergraduate education. In 2011, for the fifth time in a row, Kwantlen Polytechnic University was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine.[22]
Several diploma or degree programs in Kwantlen offer cooperative education.[23] Such programs include dedicated work-placement semesters that match their field of study, in addition to regular studies.
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.
Additional major and minor programs are under development in anthropology, business, fine arts and geography.[24]
Kwantlen offers CELTA the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults - one of the most widely recognized certification in the world.[25]
In 2005, Kwantlen launched an interactive component of the official Kwantlen website called The Digital Cafe, which features a number of promotional videos, music and blogs by Kwantlen students and photographs that highlight Kwantlen programs as well as student life on campus.[26]
The Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) is an elected student body that contributes to community life, and allocates student funds to social, cultural and entertainment programs for students.[27] The KSA was founded as the Kwantlen College Student Society under the Society Act of British Columbia in August 1981.[28]
Since the early 1980s the KSA has also been affiliated with the Canadian Federation of Students as one of its founding members. For a brief period of time in the late 1990s, the KSA was the only Student Association in Canada to have held membership within both the Canadian Federation of Students and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations at the same time. In March 2008, the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) organized a referendum to disaffiliate from the CFS. One of the reasons given for disaffiliation was media coverage in 2007, alleging corruption within the Douglas Students' Union of the CFS.[29] The KSA also criticized the financial transparency of CFS-BC and argued that the CFS was ineffective at lobbying for students.[30]
At a Special General Meeting held on November 30, 2011 Kwantlen students voted 352 to 0 to remove 13 directors of the KSA and place them into "bad standing" where they would be unable to run for future office. The vote was held over allegations of conflicts of interest in settling litigation, abuse of student funds, a 40% pay raise to the elected officials on their first day of office among other things.[31][32][33]
The highest authority within the Kwantlen Student Association lies with the membership (who are the students of Kwantlen Polytechnic University). Membership is mandatory. The membership delegates its authority over the day to day operations of the society to an elected Board of Directors (Council), which is bound to operate under a Constitution and a set of Bylaws.[34]
The Kwantlen Student Association's first constitution was adopted on August 10, 1981, and the society at that time was known as the Kwantlen College Student Society or KCSS. Minor amendments to the constitution were later made in 1982, and the society also changed its name to the Kwantlen College Student Association or KCSA. The Kwantlen Student Association's current constitution was adopted by the membership on April 25, 1995, and the society also changed its name to its current name, the Kwantlen Student Association otherwise simply known as the KSA.
Each year in February Kwantlen students may run for and elect a Council to a one year term of office that spans April 1 to March 31.[35] The Council is responsible for, and exercises full control over the affairs of the Society while the executive members assist with the management of the day to day operations of the society. The Council holds regularly scheduled meetings at least twice each month, excluding the months of July, August and December.[36]
The membership has empowered the Council to create Regulations, which govern the day to day operations of the society. The Council may also create Policies, which represent positions, views or opinions that the society may take from time to time on various issues Council feels are relevant to the membership.[37] Standing Committees of Council assist the executive members in shaping the general direction of the Society, as well as advising Council on a variety of issues relevant to students.
The KSA operates a cafe, a fitness centre and a social justice centre on campus. It employs an ombudsperson, distributes day planners, and provides advocacy services as well as funding for campus clubs, events, conferences, and political special interest groups. 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. Finally, full time students who do not have comparable coverage elsewhere, are automatically eligible to receive benefits from a health and dental plan.
The organization's main office is located at the Surrey Campus of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. The society also has offices and provides services at Kwantlen's three satellite campuses in Cloverdale, Langley and Richmond. The KSA does not own a student union building.
The Runner is the institution's independent student newspaper. It is a member of the Canadian University Press.[38] Since early 2009,[39] The Runner has added to Kwantlen student life by providing the community with "a freely distributed, year-round, multi-campus, student-owned, student-run news and campus culture publication".[40]
It receives some of its funds from the Kwantlen Student Association under a levy; however, it is run as separate, autonomous incorporated B.C. non-profit society, Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society (PIPS), with its own Kwantlen student board of directors.
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