Vancouver University Canada

North America's oldest aggregate-learning ('external') degrees process.

Vancouver University Worldwide  is usually better understood in England than in North America. It is the world’s first global consortium university, consisting of equal member colleges rather than the usual North American large exclusive-use campus - with maybe some branches or franchise operations elsewhere.

The Vancouver University Worldwide model is more like that seen at Cambridge, London, or Oxford - except that its member colleges are dispersed around the world rather than dotted around a particular city. Also like the University of London, Vancouver conducts a collateral ‘external’ or aggregate-learning degree process in which candidates may secure a degree on the basis of prior learning, special examinations, research, and some credit for professional experience, without necessarily attending a particular member college.

The subject matters (disciplines) of Vancouver University Worldwide degrees generally reflect the programs of the member colleges. For example, Canadian Tourism College (CTC) offers - along with its other programs - an Adventure Tourism diploma. The university grants holders of those diplomas full academic credit standing in the BREL (backcountry recreation and environmental leadership) context, described further below. The actual level of degree secured by a CTC Adventure Tourism or other graduate depends upon what other prior learning he or she has completed. CTC’s Adventure Tourism diploma can thus aggregate towards an associate, bachelor, or even a master degree.

While transfer credit is also granted to credible programs completed at non-member institutions, the credit transfer process is simpler, speedier, and more transparent for member college students and graduates. And with equal representation on Vancouver University Worldwide’s Board of Governors, the member colleges have direct input into the scope and quality assurance of its programs - just like staff and faculty and alumni at older Cambridge, London, and Oxford.

In British Columbia the Vancouver University Worldwide member colleges include four SGVE schools (see next paragraph), the Canada Institute of Business and Technology, Canadian Tourism College, BCMontessori Teachers College, and the Whistler Institute - which is also legally Whistler College, but not yet sufficiently endowed to comfortably use its intended context name. Some member colleges are non-profit, as likewise is registered charity Vancouver University Colleges Society (Canada and US) - while others are proprietary. Donations are actively sought for non-profit operations.

Overseas the member colleges include CPPD/IFPAS (servicing the life underwriters profession of Singapore and SE Asia), Innotech (the training college of the world and Singapore Association of Small and Medium Enterprises), IMT (an embryonic engineering and management college in Nepal), and other colleges on five continents - including the Saxoncourt and Shane Global Village English Schools (adult), which receive academic credit standing for their language and language-teacher training programs.

The geographical diversity and practical orientations of the member colleges fit well with Vancouver University Worldwide’s degrees spectrum, including its various MBA options. The MBAs all include standard core courses along with modules addressing the needs of a particular economic sector or region, as illustrated by the differing MBA emphases of CPPD/IFPAS and Innotech. The core courses tend to use common texts and materials like the Wiley Portable MBA series and Harvard Business Review Series - all available in paperback. It also happens that Boston MIT’s course offerings have fairly considerable curriculum influence within Vancouver University Worldwide - as the first other university to collaborate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in its Open-Courseware outreach, described and linked from the Learning Resources section of Vancouver University Worldwide’s homepage.

Adventure Tourism and Environmental Concern

The BREL option mentioned above and now further detailed is another interesting example of how Vancouver University Worldwide promotes particular disciplines.

In 1997, after just a few years of operation, the Backcountry Recreation and Environmental Leadership (BREL) program option within Vancouver University’s aggregate-learning (‘external’) degree process was declared runner-up in a prestigious global award competition. BREL was lauded by the American Association of University Administrators in its Khaladjan International Competition for across-borders innovation in higher education. (Disclosure note: at that time Vancouver University’s president Dr Raymond Spencer Rodgers was NOT a board member of the AAUA organization - though he is now!).

Five years later, happy learners who have completed field programs in backcountry recreation leadership and related environmental studies, continue to receive full credit transfer for their field-work and formal courses into the appropriate-level associate, bachelor or master degree awarded by Vancouver University Worldwide.

The beneficiaries of this option over the years have secured transfer standing for learning at various globally-located programs - Canadato Zambia - including regionally the American Alpine Institute (WA); Canadian Tourism College - which is a full equal-member college of Vancouver University Worldwide; the North Cascades Institute (WA); the Whistler Institute; and various BC and other Pacific Coast community college and university programs in adventure tourism and related disciplines.