Degree Completion for Aboriginal People in British Columbia: A Case Study

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Read More Add to Saved list
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      Canadian Association for University Continuing Education. c/o CAUCE Secretariat at Centre for Continuing and Distance Education, 475 Williams Building, 221 Cumberland Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7N 1M3, Canada. Tel: 306-966-5582; Fax: 306-966-5590; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.extension.usask.ca/cjuce; Web site: http://www.extension.usask.ca/cjuce/eng/contentXissue.html
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      17
    • Education Level:
      Higher Education
      Postsecondary Education
    • Subject Terms:
      Indigenous Populations; American Indian Education; Foreign Countries; Postsecondary Education; Canada Natives; Business Administration Education; Bachelors Degrees; Educational Attainment; American Indians
    • Subject Terms:
      Canada
    • ISSN:
      0318-9090
    • Abstract:
      This article presents a case study of a First Nations educational initiative in British Columbia. Simon Fraser University's (SFU) Integrated Studies Program created two unique adult education programs in response to a request from the Aboriginal-operated Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT); this request involved the two institutions establishing a partnership and then collaboratively developing degree-completion programs for Interior Salish peoples living on their traditional lands, which surround NVIT's Merritt campus. The Aboriginal Community Economic Development (ACED) Program and the Aboriginal Community Economic Development and Business Studies (ACED-Bus. Studies) Program were successfully offered at NVIT over a four-year time frame. A student's completion of either program resulted in the conferring of a Bachelor of General Studies degree from SFU The ACED program curriculum (2002-04) was designed to enhance Native student knowledge of Aboriginal community economic development, while that of the ACED-Business Studies program (2004-06) added business administration courses to the overall mix. Both programs were offered in a face-to-face format at the Merritt campus, and both were a collaborative effort. Implications for establishing and sustaining Aboriginal-focused post-secondary education are identified and discussed in this article, as are the barriers to post-secondary education faced by Aboriginal students and the authors' challenges as non-Aboriginal people engaged in programming across cultures. Additionally, reflections on these initiatives are offered and linkages to key literature on the issue of Aboriginal post-secondary education are identified. (Contains 8 endnotes.)
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Number of References:
      42
    • Publication Date:
      2011
    • Accession Number:
      EJ930493