The birth of Capilano University
Critics question whether Capilano will truly be a university
The B.C. government distanced itself from the recommendation that the province’s colleges be stripped of their independent degree granting authority.
Despite the fact that the Campus 2020 report excluded Capilano, the college launched an extensive marketing and lobbying campaign to convince the government to grant it university status. Media reports have noted that Capilano’s vice-president of education management Catherine Vertesi is premier Gordon Campbell’s sister and was also involved in the Capilano U campaign.
Capilano president Greg Lee is confident that the new designation will make it easier to recruit students from abroad. “International students don’t distinguish between institutions from abroad, so anybody can call themselves a college, so it’s very difficult to separate yourself from institutions that aren’t as reputable,” he said.
University degree granting status and quality controls are regulated by provincial governments, and there is no national accreditation agency. In the absence of such a body, Canadian universities have largely come to see the lobby group, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) as a de-facto accreditation body.
Capilano graduates have had problems in the past with their degrees not being recognized by institutions outside British Columbia. In the most famous case, Dave Cryderman graduated from Capilano two years ago with a bachelor’s degree, but his application to teacher’s college was rejected by five Ontario universities, in essence because they did not recognize his Capilano credentials.
Lee says this problem “will be ameliorated by the fact that we are a university.”
Capilano has not yet decided if it will seek AUCC membership, saying that the heavily teaching-focused nature of the college could preclude membership.
“The criteria for AUCC membership involves a stronger research mandate than we see actually being given to us by the provincial government, and it is certainly not our direction to be a research institution,” he said.
Sigh. It’s been one of those weeks.
Again, no slight to Carson.
When I said “few good degree programs” and “level of academic programs” I was referring to the number and range of degree programs, not the quality of the programs, which might be implied from the quote.
Robert is correct, in the context of our conversation he was referring to the range of programs offered by Capilano. I have edited the setup to the quote to make that point clearer.
These smaller institutions are a better choice for many students because of the teaching-focus and emphasis on academic-applied work, which is increasingly important. Most people don’t intend to become profs after they go to school, so why bother with an undergraduate degree that is basically a finishing school for life as a full-time academic? There are so many other possibilities for four years of post-sec!
Capilano I think is in the process of developing several such applied degrees (combining academic and applied work) so the new University status will certainly help to raise the number and profile of these degrees.
Let’s just hope the govt. stands up and puts its money where its mouth is…