May 31, 2001 - 5:00pm
Registration for courses at Malaspina University-College started on June 8, and demand is exceeding supply for courses in university degree programs.
More than 4,300 continuing students with grade averages of C or higher registered for courses during the first three weeks of June, and more than 1,700 first-time students started registering on June 20.
"Demand for all our university degree courses continues to grow, and students may find themselves on waitlists," said Dr. David Thomas, Malaspina's vice-president of instruction. "We've examined the waitlists to find out where demand is most pressing and have put on additional classes."
This year, Malaspina has added 80 extra courses to try and meet demand and to ensure that students can complete their Bachelor's degree requirements. During summer session, from March 30 to August 3, there are also 35 academic courses and 15 upgrading classes offered.
Thomas said that Malaspina takes in many more students than funded by the provincial government.
"We've done so through the very lean years of the 1990s, and we've only been able to do so through revenues generated by our international education and contract training activities; these revenues create spaces for our Canadian students," he said.
For the past two years, the bulk of new monies received from government has either gone into the creation of much needed new programs and program expansion, such as Nursing, or it has gone to support the offering of more upper-level courses so that students can graduate in a timely fashion.
In the last few years, many first-time students have registered for any course -- not necessarily their first choice -- to give them "continuing student" status, which allows them to register before new students, the following year, and gives them a larger course selection.
"The demand for Malaspina degrees has grown enormously and shows no signs of abating. Provincial and national data support our own local experience: B.C., Alberta and Ontario will all face continued high demand for degree programs. Every university in B.C. has to turn away students and has to limit the seats available in certain programs and majors, and we're no exception," said Thomas.
Malaspina has attempted to both maintain an open door, with a 'first-come, first-qualified, first-admitted' policy, and to attract the very best students through an expanded 'outstanding student entry' program.
"We will, in future, be doing more to ensure that top students can enter Malaspina for a full program of study," he said.
"Malaspina has undergone a period of sustained growth, even though tuition revenues and government funding have been frozen or constrained. We're now engaging in discussions with the new government's team to try to ensure that, together, we can plan and fund our much-needed enrolment growth over the next five years," Thomas said.
Tags: In the Community
