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S.07-145

CONTINUING STUDIES

MEMO

ATTENTION ?

Senate ?

TEL

Office of the Dean

FROM ?

John LaBrie, Dean of Continuing Studies

2006/07 Senate Committee on Continuing Studies Annual Report to Senate

Please find enclosed for Senate's information the Senate Committee on Continuing Studies

Annual Report for 2006/07.

This report concerns the continuing studies activities sponsored and offered by University

departments and, as such, is not a report on the Continuing Studies administrative unit.

. ?

The statistics on the credit programs are complete and further details can be obtained from the

Office of Analytical Studies. Statistics on community and professional (non-credit) programs are

based on reports from departments and may not include all courses and public lectures organised and

sponsored by the departments. However, most of the non-credit programming offered by the

University—particularly those directed to the broader community—is represented in this report.

John LaBrie, EdD

Chair, Senate Committee on Continuing Studies

Dean, Continuing Studies

cc:

CS Management Group

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

THINKING OF THE WORLD

SIMON F1ASER UNIVERSITY

CONTINUING STUDIES

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

SENATE COMMITTEE ON CONTINUING STUDIES

ANNUAL REPORT TO SENATE FOR 2006/2007

Composition and Mandate

The current membership of the Senate Committee on Continuing Studies (SCCS) is the Dean of

Continuing Studies (chair), Librarian, five faculty members, one at-large member, one lay member and

two students (see appendix A). The SCCS meets twice each year: once during the fill semester and once

in the spring and is responsible to Senate for policy with respect to the overall development of the

University's continuing education credit and non-credit programs. The Committee also reviews, at

regular intervals, existing and proposed non-credit programs; develops procedures for the approval of

various categories of credit-free instruction; and receives, for consideration and approval, programs

proposed as suitable for non-credit certificate granting status. The SCCS reports its activities annually to

Senate.

Actions of the SCCS in 2006-2007

At the November 2007 meeting, the Committee ratified the Annual Report to Senate for 2005/06 and

received information regarding two initiatives in development: Weekend University

and Learning,

Exploration and Academic Development (LEAD) at SFU Surrey. Weekend University would provide

non-traditional and adult learners the opportunity to complete a degree through weekend and evening

courses across disciplines and LEAD is a program intended to address the challenge of successfully

bridging high school students especially Aboriginal students—into the university.

While there were no proposals brought to the SCCS in May 2007, the committee was briefed on a

tailored version of the current Certificate in Management (C1M) for the Tourism sector—a hybrid of

Management and Professional Program's current CiM and a model created by the University of

Sherbrooke for Air Transat Inc.

Course Offerings and EnroEments in 2006-2007

Credit programs that are considered part of continuing education include courses offered by the Centre

for Online and Distance Education (CODE) and the Centre for Integrated Credit Studies (CICS).

CODE's mandate is to provide increased access to undergraduate students by providing undergraduate

courses and programs in conjunction with the various academic faculties. Participants in the program are

the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty

of Applied Science. Courses are offered to SFU degree students and a limited number of sears in courses

are offered to students as part of SFU's participation in the Open Learning Agency (currently housed at

Please note Weekend University was the working title while in development; the program is now called SFU NOW

(October 25, 2007). ?

Thompson Rivers University) consortium. CICS courses are drawn from the same faculties and are

offered through the extension credit program offered at Harbour Centre, the Seniors Program, and the

Integrated Studies Program. (See Appendix B for data on enrolments)

Course offerings in CODE increased in the past years by seven courses—a modest number. While course

offerings increased, overall enrolments dipped slightly—a drop of 15 FTEs. Participation rates for SFU

students went up by almost 300 students, while participation rates in the OLA dropped by a large

percentage. For SFU students, CODE courses remain popular and often are accessible to students who

might otherwise be blocked from face to face instruction because of course oversubscription or

scheduling conflicts. The drop in OLA enrolments was unexpected and appears to be a temporary issue.

Through provincial legislation, the Open Learning Agency became a division of Thompson Rivers

University. In the transition, there was considerable confusion in the market regarding the future status of

OLA and whether its current architecture would be preserved. Also, the transition created a number of

administrative disruptions that had a devastating effect on the overall OLA enrolments. The drop of

enrolment in this area was not anticipated but now that the new administrative structure has been

solidified, we would expect this enrolment to regain in strength.

Course offerings in CICS remained' relatively constant with slight variations within the program cluster.

Enrolments in all three categories declined—each for their own separate reasons. Average class size at the

Harbour Centre campus declined brining an overall decline in enrolment for the campus by 48 FTE.

The Integrated Studies Program—a cohort based degree completion program—declined enrolments by

39 FTE. This was predicted and was anticipated as a major cohort in Maple Ridge completed and was

. ?

not replaced. The Seniors Program drop, reflected an overall decrease in course offerings in that

program.

Non-credit enrolments in our certificate and diplomas had an overall increase of modest size. This

represented the creation of a number of new initiatives, for example the Diploma in Dialogue and

Negotiation and the Diploma in Advanced Project Development and Management, and the phasing out

of other programs such as the Certificate' of Geographic Information Systems.

The overall growth in program attendance came from our open access programs. In that category, we

saw a jump of 17% in attendance. This category represents individual courses or programs, open lectures,

conferences and seminars and the very popular Philosopher's Cafe. Generally, this is a positive sign as

participation rates in this category often leads to increases in our certificate and diploma programs.

New Initiatives

As the final year of the 2004-2007 planning cycle, 2006/07 saw the completion of the 2007-2010 Three

Year Plan, which includes initiatives that will inform the realignment of our administrative functions.

Under the direction of a new Assistant Dean, Continuing Studies will be implementing systems to

centralise non-credit enrolment management and student support, marketing, human resources and

finance.

2006/07 saw the launch of two new diploma programs in Continuing Studies: the Diploma in Dialogue

and Negotiation at Harbour Centre and the Diploma in Advanced Project Management and

Development at SFU Surrey. The first cohort of Dialogue and Negotiation brought together eighteen

SCCS Annual Report to Senate, 2006/07

Page 2 of 6

students from diverse sectors including government, non-profit and business to learn broader uses of

consensus-based approaches within and between organisations, and Advanced Project Management

provided a part—time cohort a comprehensive overview of the project management life cycle.

Formally referred to as Health Sciences Programs, Continuing Health

1 Education (CHeD) emerged as a

new program for Continuing Studies in September 2006. With the mission to address the learning needs

of health professionals, families, community groups, and organisations in the areas of health and wellness,

CHeD is working with community organisations and the Faculty of Health Sciences to create new and

innovative learning ideas. Inaugural offerings in 2006/07 included two public lectures held at SFU Surrey

and the creation of the Summer Health Institute—an eight-part public education series on health living.

Finally, the Deans' Council approved a full proposal for SFU NOW, formally known as Weekend

University, in the spring of 2007. Planned for the Surrey and Vancouver campuses, this non-cohort

option for working adults seeking credit study will offer a flexible and varied selection of course and

program offerings for adult students looking to begin or complete a degree or enroll in credit courses

for personal or professional interest.

Please note: a more comprehensive version of the 2006-2007 Continuing Studies Annual

Report is available at http://www.sfu.ca/cstudies/csannualrel2ort06O7.pdf.

SCCS Annual Report to Senate, 2006/07

Page 3 of 6

Appendix A

Senate Committee on Continuing Studies, 2006-2007 Members

John LaBrie, Chair & Dean of Continuing Studies

Felix Breden, Biological Sciences

Lynn Copeland, Librarian

June Francis, Business Administration

Rob Gordon, Criminology

Titus Gregory, Student (at-large)

Barry Honda, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

Gillian Judson, Student (at-large)

James McArthur, Lay Member

D'Arcy Warner, Member At-Large

Peter Williams, Resource and Environmental Management

SCCS Annual Report to Senate, 2006/07

Page 4 of 6

Appendix B

Enrolments

Centre for Online and Distance Education 2005-2006

Centre for Online and Distance Education 2006-2007

Centre for Integrated and Credit Studies

IL.

11111

IL1

011

P'w'

SCCS Annual Report to Senate, 2006/07

Page 5 o 6

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Appendix B

Enrolments

Centre for Online and Distance Education 2005-2006

Centre for Online and Distance Education 2006-2007

Centre for Integrated and Credit Studies

401504, Ceo,,. 6nge.3,dSc.d,n S.n,c33P,0033m

0201W

SCCS Annual Report to Senate, 2006/07

I ?

2006-2007

Non-credit Certificates and Diplomas

Executive Management Development Program

372

304

Liberal Arts—Seniors Program

222

391

Diploma in Dialogue and Negotiation

new

Management Skills in Advanced Technology

104

Certificate in Creative Writing

318

539

Certificate in Editing

523

443

Certificate in Publishing

246

177

Certificate in Technical Communication

237

189

Certificate in Business Writing, Public Relations and Marketing Communication

512

491

Diploma in Interpretation and Translation

Basic Interpreter Program

Certificate in Geographic Information Systems

120

Certificate in Management

372

692

Diploma in Advanced Project Development & Management

new

CMA Executive Program

136

not offered

Diploma in Rehabilitation Management

117

Total Certificate and Diploma Enrollments

4,595

4,629

2005-2006

2006-2007

Non-credit Programs

Individual Course/Seminar/Workshop

Total Non-credit Program Enrollments

16,458

19,289

2005-2006 ?

2006-2007

Total Non-credit Certificate, Diploma and Program Enrollments

21,053 ?

23,918

SCCS Annual Report to Senate, 2006/07

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