Access to excellence
Dean Noel Burke sees the School of Extended Learning (SEL) as a doorway between Concordia’s Faculties and those who could benefit from the knowledge, expertise and innovation generated at the university.
“We provide access to excellence,” Burke says, summing up the numerous programs, initiatives and courses of study that have evolved at the School since its inception in 2006.
“Accessibility is a two-way street: Access to the university by the community and to the community by the university.”
SEL was established to consolidate a variety of programs across Concordia aimed at mature, returning and at-risk students. It is often associated with the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE). The School of Extended Learning continues to support the CCE, which increasingly focuses on professional development, language acquisition with an emphasis on academic preparedness for university studies, and skills for the marketplace. In addition, the School offers programs to provide students qualifying and study skills through its Student Transition Centre. In addition, the Institute for Community Development offers targeted training for community organizations and ways to bring community and university together, such as the University of the Streets Cafés.
All of these programs encourage “making university study and expertise accessible to the wider community,” says Burke.
The School of Extended Learning was “founded on a principle of accessibility for people who might not otherwise be able to attend university or who have limited opportunity to engage with the university in other ways,” explains Burke. That mission remains consistent, although the means the School employs to reach that goal have evolved.
The School launched Skills for Success courses two-and-a-half years ago as a way to ensure that students at risk of failing in their programs were taught good study and organizational habits, as well as basic communication and writing skills. Library staff offer a component on information literacy, a rarity not available in similar programs elsewhere. Skills for Success is a Complementary Credit (CC) course. The students who successfully complete the course have four credits on their transcripts, but these do not count toward their degrees. These credits mirror the broad role of the School as being “complementary to the faculties – not instead of, but in addition to,” according to Burke.
The Skills for Success course will soon be available to mature and independent students. “Many of these students are at higher risk, and may never have been university students before,” says Burke. “We want to give them the qualifications, mentor them and support their progress.”
In addition to the Skills for Success classes, the School inaugurated two different week-long workshops to help prepare graduate students for their studies. Those workshops will now be taken over by the School of Graduate Studies. The School of Extended Learning is also offering an International Summer School to prepare international students coming to Canada. This program will be launched in the summer of 2011.
Finally, the School of Extended Learning is working with the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science and the John Molson School of Business to develop a set of qualifying courses tailor-made for those two Faculties. Burke explains that these courses will provide more specific skills for students hoping to qualify for their programs, instead of earning generic credits to become eligible for admission, as is currently the case. “Being able to write in English is a core competency,” explains Burke. “Being able to write a detailed analysis of structural failure is a disciplinary specialty.”
Helping students qualify for, and excel in, their chosen field is only half of what SEL offers, says Burke. “Community engagement is the other side of accessibility.” The University of the Streets Cafés, where Concordia experts and resource people are invited to participate in public dialogues on a range of current questions, is one direct line for bringing university research and ideas outside of the classroom.
The newly inaugurated Problem-Based Service Learning courses are an adaptation of an approach to teaching social change skills gaining ground in the US. These CC courses are offered in two parts. The first semester provides students an orientation to the approach. The second term is a practicum during which students and partner organizations (whether non-profit or corporate) join forces to solve a problem in the organization while providing the students with meaningful skills and experience. Both partners work together to determine mutually beneficial goals. Students are monitored and evaluated by their professors and by the partner organization. Since the practicum is monitored by the university, it can also be integrated into the Co-Curricular Record, which acknowledges all students’ communitybased projects that have been completed under the university’s guidance (internships, community projects, etc.).
The School is also involved in a project to determine how many courses across Concordia have a community engagement or community sustainability element in their content or delivery. Eventually, the goal is to co-host a community/ university exchange on these subjects.
Related links:
• Concordia's School of Extended Learning
• Centre for Continuing Education
• Student Transition Centre
• Institute for Community Development