August 22, 2006 - 5:00pm
Most students understand what it takes to get a degree. What does it take to give one?
It takes more than 500 hours of concentrated work, said Malaspina University-College Curriculum Committee chair, Dr. Hope Leith, who coordinated the recent development of a minor in language and culture.
"My thesis took less time and got rewritten less often," she said.
Development of new degrees is often a labour of love for faculty, who devote time to the process. Students benefit by gaining more options and becoming more competitive in specific career fields.
For example, the new language minor boosts an education graduate’s application to teach languages, or a business graduate’s application to the bilingual federal civil service.
Since students from many disciplines take languages to prepare for global careers or research, the new minor gives graduates a degree that reflects their language proficiency, in addition to their major area of study.
The language minor is just one of a long list of new degree majors and minors developed at Malaspina University-College. This past year two new degrees were added in Jazz Studies and Natural Resource Protection and three minors in Media Studies, Geography and Earth Science.
"Our greatest challenge when developing degrees is finding the faculty time to work on development," said Steve Lane, Dean of Arts and Humanities.
Leith said creating the language minor required research into similar degrees elsewhere; revision of existing courses; development of 17 new courses, including new general linguistic/cultural courses; and guiding a detailed degree submission through a complex institutional and provincial approval process.
Assuming all milestones are met, the process should take about two years, Lane said. At the outset, potential degree programs must be approved in principle by the Joint Planning Committee and the Management Committee to ensure that a proposed degree fits Malaspina University-College’s strategic plans, meets a market need, and is financially viable. Government initiatives, with dollars attached, can also determine new degree programs.
The Education Council sets the development schedule for each degree, and a Quality Assurance Team is assigned.
One of the strengths of the degree development process at Malaspina is review by an experienced faculty committee during initial development.
"It’s polished at the committee level so we’ve already anticipated and addressed the advising issues, teaching issues, curriculum content, learning outcomes, and prerequisites. Because we do it this way, we get less revision at the subsequent reviews," Leith said.
Subsequent reviews are completed by the Curriculum Committee, the Executive, Education Council, and the Malaspina University-College Board. The degree proposal is then passed by David Thomas, Vice President, Academic, to the provincial level for approval by the Degree Quality Assessment Board, a process which includes review by an external panel. Final approval is granted by the Minister of Advanced Education.
Once approved, the degree can be offered by Malaspina in its next academic year.
Leith noted the language minor was first proposed in 2000, with concentrated development beginning in 2003. The minor is now awaiting final ministerial approval to be offered for the first time in the 2007-2008 academic year, although some qualified students may receive the degree at the June 2007 convocation.
Six new degree programs are now in final development and expected to be offered in 2007-2008. On average, since 1990, Malaspina has added between two and five new degrees or minors each year. The institution now offers more than 30 major degrees.
"It’s a credit to the institution that we have as much curriculum development as we do," Leith said.
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