Douglas College

History

The college is named after the former Governor of British Columbia, Sir James Douglas, and the David Lam campus is named after the 25th Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. The music department at Douglas College started with the founding of the college in 1970. The College has two year transfer programs with universities such as University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and University of Victoria.

Campuses

The college has four major learning centres: the New Westminster Campus, the David Lam Campus in Coquitlam, the Surrey Training Centre (which specializes in short-term training programs) and the Surrey Learning Centre (which specializes in English language services for adults). The David Lam Campus completed a $39 million expansion in January 2008, adding a large Health Sciences Centre for nursing students, psychiatric nursing, and health information management.

Faculties

The college is divided into six faculties:

Programs

Douglas provides four major areas of educational service: university degrees, diplomas, university transfer programs, continuing education in professional and personal upgrading and over 30 major career-training programs. Douglas has also started offering 'post-degree diplomas', which are one-year programs offered in certain subjects to help students upgrade their skills in new areas.

The selection of career programs includes full degrees: Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Psychiatric Nursing, Bachelor of Therapeutic Recreation, Bachelor of Business Administration, BA in Child and Youth Care, Bachelor of Physical Education and Coaching and a new standalone Bachelor of Applied Psychology degree, which kicked off in January 2014.

Recent additions to the bachelor roster include the BA in Performing Arts done in partnership with Capilano University, Langara College and Vancouver Community College as well as a BA in Psychology done in partnership with Thompson Rivers University.

Many Douglas College students are in university transfer programs in which they complete up to two years of degree-level courses before continuing on to institutions such as the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, or the University of Victoria. Many students start at Douglas because it is more affordable (tuition is about 40 percent lower than at university), offers substantial student support services and features smaller classes with greater student interaction.

In career education, some of the most popular Douglas programs are: health care, community services (Child, Family and Community Studies), criminology, psychology, music and performing arts, business and physical education and coaching.

International education

Douglas College currently has more than 1,400 international students taking credit courses, with nearly half currently coming from China, and the rest coming from India, South Korea, Russia, Mexico and South America. Students from 69 countries account for roughly 10 percent of full-time students at the College.

Each year, more than 100 students participate in overseas programs such as practicums, field schools, internships, work experience and cultural and academic exchanges in countries including China, Wales and Uganda. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, students from the Global Leadership Program went to Zambia for three months working with non-government organizations in the areas of community health, education, physical education and sports, small business and micro-finance, as well as community development and youth outreach.

In September 2011, Douglas College accepted an Internationalization Excellence award from the Canadian Association of Community Colleges for its leadership in international education, and partnership in a dual-degree program with a college in China, which has seen more than 1,800 graduates since opening 14 years ago.

In June 2013, Douglas College's Zambia Global Leadership Program received the British Columbia Council for International Education's Outstanding Program in International Education award.

Controversy

In January 2012, Global's 16x9 news magazine aired a story alleging large scale fraud at Douglas College's Chinese partner campuses. Some faculty members complained that some Chinese students were unable to speak basic English upon graduation. They alleged mass scale fraud whereby students were guaranteed to pass their courses through various methods such as black market answer sheets, progressively easier make-up exams, and grade tampering. Robert Buller, a former Dean of Commerce and Business alleged Douglas College President Scott McAlpine said "he needed plausible deniability and he wanted to see and hear nothing" when approached about the issue.

Since then, Douglas College and the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education completed an independent review of the situation. The Ministry released a report in November 2012 stating that British Columbia's Degree Quality Assessment Board found "no evidence of academic dishonesty or fraud in the conduct of Douglas College."

Scholarships, awards and bursaries

Douglas College also offers various scholarships, awards and bursaries for its new, current and graduating students. Money is available for students from all faculties and programs to better fund their post-secondary education.

The Government of Canada sponsors an Aboriginal Bursaries Search Tool that lists over 680 scholarships, bursaries, and other incentives offered by governments, universities, and industry to support Aboriginal post-secondary participation. Douglas College scholarships for Aboriginal, First Nations and Métis students include: Awards for Aboriginal Women.

Media

The student newspaper The Other Press has been in print since 1976, making it one of British Columbia's oldest continuously run student publications. It is a member of Canadian University Press.

Athletics

Sports teams at Douglas College are known as the Royals, their mascot is a lion named Roary Douglas. The Royals have three sports that compete in the U.S. which are the golf and baseball programs, both members of the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) and wrestling which is a member of the NCWA Northwest.

Notable alumni