Background
Education Plan 2009
The post-secondary sector is experiencing extensive changes. Beside the severe economic downturn which will have a lasting affect, the recent designation of new teaching universities will have an affect on BC Colleges. As the new universities turn their attention to becoming more university-like with a greater focus on degrees, their allocation of resources away from college-type of programming, will create new opportunities for existing Colleges. The new universities, being more flexible and responsive than the traditional universities, will create greater opportunities for partnerships for laddering and transfer of college credentials. The question is how we can take advantage of new changing environment in the BC post-secondary system.
The College’s Strategic plan (2005-2008) was reviewed, adjusted and extended to 2010, in Fall 2008. The change in timing fits with the arrival of the new president, Kathryn Laurin. In Fall 2010, we will be in a position to start the development of the next strategic plan. In the meanwhile, this is a good opportunity to develop the Education plan to span the period (2009-2011). The College has been very successful in developing and delivering new programs and demand is excellent for its programs. It is timely to be engaging the College community in identifying priorities to provide our students with an ever more outstanding educational experience.
The Education Plan will also assist the developers and approvers of curriculum to obtain a better understanding of the relative priorities of new programming initiatives and the likelihood of implementation.
To that end we have struck a Steering Committee to assist in the development of the educational plan. We will start gathering information for the plan by engaging as many groups from across the College, as reasonably feasible. The draft plan will be developed and shared for broader feedback. The intent is to have the plan completed by the end of 2009, in time to be considered for resourcing through the budget development for 2010/11 fiscal year.
Baldev Pooni
VP, Education & Student Services
