By Vanessa Broadbent (The Cascade) – Email
Columbia Bible College (CBC) students are now able to transfer directly into UFV’s general studies degree program through a new agreement between the two institutions.
The agreement allows students graduating with CBC’s diploma of general studies to transfer directly into year three of UFV’s bachelor of general studies.
UFV and CBC already have separate course-to-course transfer agreements, but associate dean of arts Alisa Webb notes that the degree agreement is a way of simplifying and formalizing a route students are already taking.
“UFV has talked about doing this since it was UCFV,” Webb says. “Columbia Bible College is the other main post-secondary institution in the Valley and … there’s been a desire on both parties to see this come together in [a] more formalized agreement.”
The agreement with CBC isn’t the first of its kind, as UFV recently signed a similar agreement with the College of the Rockies’ criminal and social justice certificate and Langara College’s fine arts diploma.
“It’s something that we do a fair bit of,” Webb says. “They still have to go through the normal channels for admissions to UFV and meet those requirements, but the pathway is set up.”
Webb is also working on agreements with the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts and Vancouver Film School.
While there are no projected numbers for how many CBC students the agreement could bring to UFV, Webb expects that it will increase from the current intake.
“At present, approximately 35 CBC students transfer to UFV a year,” she says. “For the most part, this number has been climbing since 2010 and we expect to see it continue to rise, particularly with an established pathway in place.”
Though there are no concrete plans yet, Webb mentions that there is potential for another agreement allowing CBC students into UFV’s bachelor of arts degree.
“The BA offers some greater challenges, just in terms of the nature of requirements [and] the residency requirements of how many courses have to be done at UFV,” she says. “It can be a hurdle for students, because if they get here and weren’t able to take courses of interest, they’re starting their major from scratch.”
While there is currently no agreement in place for UFV students to transfer into any of CBC’s programs, Webb also notes that something similar could happen in the future, especially with the potential addition of a peace and conflict studies major at UFV and the already existing Mennonite studies certificate.
“There might be courses there that would really benefit our students here,” she says. “These kinds of pathways open up those possibilities.”
