After being officially admitted into an undergraduate degree program at Athabasca University (Canada), I registered for my first two courses few days ago and am ready to start the minute the course materials arrive sometime in the next few weeks. Athabasca University is the largest and only wholly distance-learning university in Canada. Publicly-funded by the Alberta government, it has operated continuously for 30-plus years. The university offers numerous undergraduate degrees (Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, Professional) and some at graduate level (MBA, Distance Education, Nursing, IT). Almost all of its degrees can be done without any F2F contacts or residential requirements. You register for the courses and study at your own pace (within a certain time limit), fulfill the course requirements (assignments, exams) one by one, and you attend convocation at the Athabasca campus when you’ve completed all the courses requirements for the degree program. It’s that simple. The program that I am in is the Bachelor of Administration in Industrial Relations and Human Resources. It consists of 10 courses (4 compulsory, 6 electives) and is only available to graduates of Community Colleges or Technical Institutes with 2 or 3-year business diplomas. The degree essentially adds the finishing touch for diploma holders looking for a recognized degree (courses are at 3rd and 4th year level). My first two courses are Occupational Health and Safety and Changing Global Economy. Tuition fee for each course is $514 Canadian. With it you get a complete, self-sustaining study package that includes textbooks, additional notes, curriculum guide, audio/videotape, and other study materials. You are assigned an instructor/tutor for each course, with whom you maintain contact and receive support/guidance throughout your studies via e-mail, phone, or other means. I'll have six months to fulfill the course requirements (series of assignments + final exams). I am hoping for an interesting experience. I'll share my progress from time to time. Wish me luck.
WillyH, Did you look into the BBA offered through the British Columbia Open University / Open Learning Agency (www.ola.bc.ca). Athabasca's BAdmin is a 3 year degree. BCOU's BBA is a 4 year degree, can be completed by distance-learning and also requires you to have a diploma. I completed a Certificate in Human Resources at British Columbia Institute of Technology and was able to use some of the HR courses to meet upper level requirements at BCOU(similar to a concentration in HR). Minhaz Manji
Minhaz, thank you for sharing the info regarding BC Open U. Yes, I know the university and did at one time seriously look into its BBA program offering, but ultimately chose Athabasca for the shorter duration and its Industrial Relations concentration which is the field in which I work. Are you doing the BBA program now and how do you find the quality of the courses? What a coincidence, I am a BCIT grad too (International Trade + Opertions Management, 1999). You can contact me if you like at [email protected] and we can share our study experiences. Willy
About a week after my on-line registration, the first course (Changing Global Economy) arrived in the mail yesterday from Athabasca. A compact, medium-size package (10 - 15 lbs.?) containing the following items: · A student course handbook containing information on: (introduction to the U and the course, how to begin and end, how to contact the tutor, when to submit assignments, final exam request procedures, essay-writing and exam-taking techniques, useful contact numbers, etc. Mostly non-academic information for students to know) · A course workbook containing information on: (suggested study schedule, chapter outlines, learning objectives, suggested reading, etc. Basically everything a student needs to pay attention to in terms of the "real" academic work) · 3 textbooks (one on sociology of work, one on international economics, and the last one a summary of important works of influential economists, management theorists, and historians on their ideas about firms, industries, and global economy) · A thick, loose-leaf binder of selected, additional articles of reading on the subject · 12 audiocassettes (60 minutes long each) containing lectures on the subject of global economy, from the course authors and "guest speakers" (e.g. professors, journalists, CEOs, policy makers, politicians, etc.) · A packet of forms, for submitting assignments, requesting exams and course extension, address change form, and transcript request, etc. My official "start date" for the course in July 1st, and I have been assigned a tutor who shall contact me in a couple of week. But I want to get a head start and am already doing some leisurely reading. As I browsed through the course materials I was very impressed by the quality and overall professional feel of the their organization and presentation. But there sure is a lot of reading involved in this course and I’d better get started soon if I want to progress at their suggested pace. My second course, Occupational Health and Safety, should be arriving soon. Willy
Yesterday came the course package of my second registered course: Occupational Health and Safety. It contains similar items: student manual, study guide, one textbook, a binder of selected readings, two manuals on provincial (Ontario, Alberta) legislation on the subject. No final exam for this course; evaluation is solely on the performance on five written assignments. Eager to get started, but still waiting for my assigned tutors to contact me... Willy
The AU service standards state that the tutors should contact you within 14 days of your contract start date. BTW, I am taking a BAdmin (Health Admin concentration) from AU. Good luck in your studies. Darren.
Thank you for the info Darren. Yes, a few days ago I received the tutors' letters with their contact information and available turor contact hours. I'll get in touch with them in the next couple of days. Good luck with your studies too. Willy
