Kathy Denton, President, Douglas College

Louise Legris, Director, Admissions, Simon Fraser University

Douglas College / SFU

Degree Partnership

Program

Program Conception

2007

• BCCAT Degree Partnership Symposium

• Oregon State University partnership program

2008

• Changing post-secondary landscape

• Douglas submits a proposal to SFU

2009

• An MOU is drafted and signed by VPs

• An implementation committee is struck

Program Overview

• Students apply for admission to program

• SFU admission standards must be met

• Eligible students are also granted admission to

Douglas College

• Students can attend either or both institutions

• SFU residency requirements set maximum limit

on “transfer credits”

• Transfer credits processed every semester

Implementation Committees

• An initial implementation meeting

• The cast of characters included:

– Registrars

– Associate Registrars

– Deans

– Managers/Directors responsible for

recruitment/retention, applications,

records, financial aid…

– Managers/Directors of student services,

advising…

• Sub-Committees struck for specific tasks

Guiding Principles

• Admission standards and course requirements

are defined by the degree program

• Revenue follows the student or where the majority

of the work takes place

• Collaboration will guide this initiative

• Seamless transition, minimum duplication will

inform our processes, practices, and policies

• Work with existing processes, practices, and

policies before creating new ones

1. Admissions Sub-Committee

Key principle: Work with existing processes, policies…

• Students apply through ApplyBC

• Applications processed by SFU(fee to SFU)

• SFU Admission standards apply

– 24 UT credits or < admitted based on high school grades

– 25-45 UT credits admitted based on college grades

– Students with 46+ UT credits are ineligible

• Students accepted by SFU are automatically approved at Douglas

2. Records Sub-Committee

Key principle: Seamless transition and minimization

of duplication

• Students agree to information exchange upon

entering the program

• Information will flow back and forth between

institutions each semester to update transcripts

• No action is required on the part of students

3. Financial Aid Sub-Committee

Key principle: Revenue follows the student or

where the majority of the work/activity takes place

• Importance of “home institution”

Students are eligible for financial aid opportunities at

the institution where they are taking the most credits

each term

• The home institution is responsible for processing

government student loans.

• Joint award established for the program

4. Student Services Sub-Committee

Key principle: We will work within existing

processes, practices, policies…

• All student fees “follow the tuition”

• Students attending both institutions will pay two

sets of fees. Note: fees are prorated according to

number of credits.

• U-Pass follows tuition

• Students may opt out of medical/dental

5. Academic Sub-Committee

Key principle: Work with existing processes,

practices and policies before creating new

ones

• Academic policies/practices “follow the tuition”(e.g., grades, withdrawals, appeals)

• No attempt to align academic policies, but

differences noted for information session

• Academic advising critical, SFU advisor assigned

Institutional Considerations

• This type of collaboration increases the workload

of several areas at both institutions:

– Registrar’s Offices

– Academic Advising

– Financial Aid

• Both institutions have to be committed to the

collaboration for it to work

• Guiding principles are critical

• The students’ perspective is useful to take when

problems arise

Successes/Challenges to Date

• Launched in Spring 2010; 47 entered the program

and 24 of those have since graduated

• 472 applications to date, 268 students have

enrolled in the program, 41 graduates

• Admit to registered yield is higher for this group

than general transfer students

• Lower than expected student enrolment in the

program

Contact Information

Louise Legris

Director, Admissions

SFU

louise_legris@sfu.ca

Kathy Denton

President

Douglas College

dentonk@douglascollege.ca