By NICK STEWART
Providing greater access to distance education degrees by way of partnerships is the building blocks to Ontario Northeast University (ONE U).
A joint venture struck between Northern College and Laurentian University is helping to realize the institution’s goals by as early as this fall.
“They already have a significant partnership right now in providing a baccalaureate in nursing here in the Timmins area, and they’re hoping to build on that to give greater access via distance education, on-site courses and so on,” says Esko Vainio, chair, ONE U Committee.
“This will lead people to get a university degree or to get continuing education to meet their needs.”
Having recently completed a feasibility study to determine the best way to achieve this objective, the committee has sought to further leverage Northern College’s community-based resources for program delivery as well as Laurentian’s degree-based programs.
“We’ve been partnering with Laurentian for a bunch of years now, and we want to build on those kinds of cooperations and models. ONE U represents something that helps us gets that job done and greases the wheels for collaboration,” says Michael Hill, president, Northern College. “What ONE U recognizes is that there are lots of tools in the toolbox, and we’re quite willing, ready and able to use any one of them.”
Within the partnership, Northern and Laurentian are currently working to develop access to nursing and business administration, as well as master’s degrees in business administration (MBA) and nursing.
“The most important step we’re going to do now is to try and develop criteria for how someone gets a degree in those areas, and what kind of programs will be available,” says Susan Silverton, vice-president, academic, Laurentian University.
As the ONE U program is largely targeting those who have college diplomas or university credits, funding is being sought to determine how educational backgrounds can mesh with Laurentian’s potential offerings.
“We’re going to try and work with Northern and try to combine what we have, and that could be online, it could be videoconferencing, visiting professors, whatever’s going to help that out,” Silverton says. “That’s something we’d be happy to work with, as we’re always looking for finding equivalents to help a person get their bachelor’s degree.”
Another key component, which is expected to facilitate this process, is the need to create a new position for a ONE U education counselor. This advisor would meet with ONE U students to clarify the range of options and expectations associated with their program of choice, and to determine whether their plans match their academic needs.
This allows ONE U to provide a liaison between the project and the student, thereby ensuring their academic needs are met.
“Someone might sign up for this project, but will they stay?” Vainio says. “We need to maintain their interest level, and it comes down to being able to coordinate distance education that’s not just a hit-and-miss thing between the university program and the student. There has to be a local organizing body that will ensure that we’re learning to crawl, walk and run with university education, and that can build on itself over time.”
