Seems strange that UNBC ii involved with such basic traing programs. One would think that CNC should be involved.
Cheers

My guess is that,UNBC is trying every trick in the book to get their *full time equivelant** undergraduate numbers up.

Enrolments at UNBC have been declining in the past 5 years, and they are desperate for students. Undergradute FTE is how they get funded.

Havent seen any enrolment numbers for 2011, however this is not unusual. If its good news it makes the headlines, if its bad news you cant find it anywhere.

“My guess is that,UNBC is trying every trick in the book to get their *full time equivelant** undergraduate numbers up.”

You say it like it’s a bad thing.

And you, Palopu, are trying every trick in the book to justify your opinion of UNBC as an institution that is useless.

1. Trick number one … you imply that the numbers are not in because they will show a drop.

Well, here are the latest numbers from UBC ….
http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?page=appendix1

Look closely; they are as of November 1, 2010. There are no official figures yet.

Here are the latest numbers from AUCC, the national organization for enrolments across the country for 2010 … it states the numbers for 2011 will be posted shortly.
http://www.aucc.ca/canadian-universities/facts-and-stats/tuition-by-university/?page_id=6229

So you are implying something that does not exist. Learn the system of data collection.

2. If undergraduate students were the only way they would get funded, then the “trick” would be to cut the graduate programs and excel at undergrad programs.

3. Certificate programs/courses such as the ones in the article fit under continuing studies and are not part of either undergraduate or graduate programs. In fact, they need to be “cost recovery” courses/programs. They can be offered, but they can also be withdrawn if there are not enough students to register.

If they can match a program with a funding source such as they have in this case for a year already (so this is old “news”), then all the better for their program.

They have the faculty and lab techs at the university already who they can use to teach these programs/courses if they need to; they have the equipment and materials and they have the space. It is using the facilities and capacity as efficiently as they can and even gives grad students some experience as well if that fits in.

4. “if its bad news you cant find it anywhere”

Don’t look for bad news. Learn to know where to find stats, read stats and understand the numbers. Then determine yourself whether in your world they are bad news or not.

Here is my spin on why I think UNBC is a great LITTLE university.

The numbers given in the tables are FTE (full time equivalent), not head counts, just to get that straight for those who may not know that.

The UNBC is has the third highest proportion of grad students of BC Universities.

Here is the list with the % shown being the percentage of FTE enrollment in FT and PT studies:

1. Royal Roads University72.94%
2. University of British Columbia19.35%
3. University of Northern British Columbia17.66%
4. Simon Fraser University15.81%
5. University of Victoria15.07%
6. Trinity Western University14.16%
7. Vancouver Island University†4.12%
8. Emily Carr University of Art + Design†2.55%
9. Thompson Rivers University1.46%
10. University of the Fraser Valley0.63%
11. Kwantlen Polytechnic University0.00%

One more reminder. If the founders of UNBC had listened to the government of the day, CNC would have become an undergraduate University, the same as 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 on the list. Those “visionaries” are the reason we have the UNBC + CNC.

If one wants to compare enrolments at those last 5 predominately undergraduate Universities, then one needs to add the enrolments of CNC + UNBC since that is essentially what they are.

UNBC = 3,510
CNC = 3,897 http://www.cnc.bc.ca/__shared/assets/10-11_fte_public_revised19857.pdf
Total = 7,407
When one takes that figure and looks at the proportion of grad students (640FTE) to the total FTE students it is 8.37%, twice as high as VIU (former Malaspina) and far in excess of TRU (former Cariboo).

On top of that, the enrollment is higher than VIU and within almost a 100 of Kamloops.

So, enrollment-wise, we are fitting in with the norm when one understands what is happening in similar regions and we are doing far better when it comes to servicing those interested in graduate studies.

The one area which is unique is Kelowna which has had Okanagan College stay as is and UBC move in a satellite campus.

So, all in all, I thank those who sat and schemed the development of a graduate university here some 20 years ago. They were on the right track.

In Palopu’s book, anything UNBC does is a bad thing.

Let’s be blunt about it, when it comes to understanding the post secondary education scene, Palopu has some work to do.

“And you, Palopu, are trying every trick in the book to justify your opinion of UNBC as an institution that is useless.”

Agreed.

But, there are other Prince George improvements which are “useless”! They all should have gone to other cities, which were eager to get them. Twinned bridges, improved colleges and a university, perhaps a Cancer Clinic, a Cancer Lodge…

Do all opinion250 posters actually reside in Prince George?

Just wondering WHY the constant dumping on anything and everything P.G., what’s the hidden agenda?

The hidden agenda?

Ever see the movie “Grumpy old Men”?

I rest my case …. ;-)

Hope you didn’t think I was aiming my comment at you, Gus!

Cheers! I rest my case as well.

don’t worry …. too easy to upset people in this medium … body language is still an important part of communication

Maybe those who text all the time will develop a better tolerance to the lack of visual and audio clues in rapid human communication.