Trends in New University Programs

Ten with Ken (Video)

Ken Steele sums up recent trends in new university programs, from interdisciplinary degrees to college-university collaborations, based on Ontario-wide data and on interviews with university presidents and recruiters at the 2016 Ontario Universities' Fair.

North American youth are increasingly focusing on STEM subjects and the traditionally high-paying professions, from accounting and law to medicine and engineering. Many universities are launching new programs at the undergraduate and graduate level to appeal to these students, and even partnering with international law schools when they don't have one of their own.

Increasingly research is being directed towards interdisciplinary subject areas, and interdisciplinary programs are on the rise, from broad-spectrum human, animal, plant and planet health, to programs combining business and the humanities, or entrepreneurship and biomedical engineering.

Many universities also report that programs related to sports and kinesiology, social work or child and youth studies are popular.

Particularly intriguing is the number of new college-university collaborative programs launched in the past three years. Ken sums up some examples from Brock, York, Laurier, McMaster, Carleton and Queen's to illustrate the pattern: typically, students can earn a university bachelors degree plus a college diploma or advanced diploma, and usually save a year or two in the process.

Colleges Ontario "Kindergarten" commercial: https://youtu.be/Bq1erNvHQ0k

Interviewed for this episode: Brock U: Brian Hutchings, Acting President James Mandigo, Vice-Provost, Enrolment Management & International Carol Merriam, Interim Dean, Faculty of Humanities (2015)

Carleton U: Suzanne Blanchard, Vice-President, Students & Enrolment Lakehead U: Brian Stevenson, President & Vice-Chancellor Laurentian U: Dominic Giroux, President & Vice-Chancellor

Nipissing U: Mike DeGagné, President & Vice-Chancellor

OCADU: Sara Diamond, President & Vice-Chancellor

UOIT: Tim McTiernan, President & Vice-Chancellor

Queen’s U: Stuart Pinchin, Executive Director, Undergraduate Admissions & Recruitment Ryerson U: Mohamed Lachemi, President & Vice-Chancellor

Trent U: Leo Groarke, President & Vice-Chancellor Western U: Lori Gribbon, Associate Registrar, Admissions & Recruitment Wilfrid Laurier U: Craig Chipps, Manager of Recruitment & Admissions (2015)

uWindsor: Alan Wildeman, President & Vice-Chancellor

Thank you to all who agreed to be interviewed! And our apologies to those we missed because of time constraints. (We had just 1.5 days onsite this year.)

Recent episodes have examined the top reasons why people love attending the OUF, and new booths and recruitment marketing tactics. Next week: How universities are evolving to serve the needs of the 21st century learner.

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