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University of Northern B.C.

Terrace Review —~— Wednesday, November 20, 1991 17

Terrace hears long-awaited academic plan

by Nancy Orr
“From the bottom-up, not the top-
down, that is the plan.” —
That was the theme from the
presentation by University of
Northem B.C. (UNBC) president
Geoffrey Weller on the universi-
ty’s academic plan.
Weller was speaking at the
R.E.M. Lee Theatre Nov. 12 as

part of his regional tour to provide -

an opportunity for people to give
their reactions to the report on the
academic plan. The audience,
though small due to lack of

Correspondence school — continued trom page 16

On the other side of the coin are
children with immeasurable prob-
lems in school, that have become
totally disruptive.

“That is a real challenge,” said
Vander Kwaak. “We meet with
the student and try to reach him, to
come to a working arrangement.
Too often he has no help at home,
maybe not even a place two work,
but we do our best to help.

“With these students, we start off
with one course at a time, to give
them a chance to prove them-
selves, to gain a little confidence,
to learn work habits and grow. It
can be difficult for everybody, but
every gain is real accomplish-
ment.”

advance promotion, had many
questions and lingered later to
discuss the plan in small groups.
The evening also provided an
opportunity to introduce Dennis
Macknak, newly appointed Direc-
tor of Regional Operations.

“This is the first menu, we have
to begin somewhere,” he said. “At
this stage we are offering pro-

grams rather than specific courses. |

How many and where will have to
be worked out and we-need input
from the regions.”

“Time is an important element,”

And students come in “all ages
and sizes”.

One of their prize pupils is
Winnifred White of Queen Char-
lotte Islands. She is 82 and last
year, with the aid of audio tapes
and VCR’s and the correspon-
dence school, she graduated in
French with an “A” — 90 percent.

The school is growing and
expanding each year. Last month
they had a call from Babine Lake,
175 kilometers north of Smithers,
another place requiring a four-
wheel drive to reach. There had
been no school for two years and
there were eight students wanting
to start up in a trailer unit.

Technology has made their

said Weller. “The calendar must
be in place by late spring 1992.
Before that, we have to have input
from local regions; we have to
work out details.with professional
accreditation bodies, we have to
hire first-class deans and depart-
ment heads and we have to co-
operate with other universities and
educational institutes.”

Following the brief presentation, °

a question and answer session was
held. Some examples:

Question: On limited course
offerings.

school immeasurably more effi-
cient. Teachers can talk directly to
students through VCR’s and tele-
vision. Tapes add interest to
written material, and the telephone
is a direct link between teacher
and student.

“Qur latest project is to acquire
computers for everyone,” said the
principal. “We need to be able to
offer computer courses. We just
need the machines to start.”

And so it goes on. Each of the
staff finds the work fascinating
and rewarding and looks forward
to each day’s challenge with
enthusiasm, while their classrooms
expand without concerns for archi-
tects and large capital projects.

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635-4111

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Clased

Answers: With only 150 begin-
ning faculty and limited time, it is

better to start with a narrow range j
and do that well instead of Him
spreading too thin. Quality not alam

quantity.

Q. Priority for northern students.

A. We must make statements of
our intentions up front, and that is
one of the statements we will
make, Charter of Human Rights
will have to be considered. One
choice will be to guarantee a place
for students entering through
northern college as long as
standards are met.

Q. Will staff come from the
north?

A. We will look at advertising for
people with northern experience.
We also want first quality, we may
develop something for new faculty
and students.

Q. What language offerings?

A. The first offerings will not
include language, philosophy,
physical education and a few
others. It is essential to do well in
what we do offer. Our graduate
degrees must be very good, they
will be examined with very critical
eyes to see how we are doing, we
will be under intense scrutiny in
our early years.

Q. Norther influence.

A. We expect to reflect northem

by Nancy Orr

“We have to go back to the orig-
inal proposals for the university,”
said Larry Krause, a Terrace busi-
nessman and member of North-
west Community College board of

Mm trustees, after studying the aca-

demic program for the University

@ of Northem B.C.

“We've got to get into regional-

- ization right from the beginning. If
i we start with this centralized

version, we'll never be able to
change it. This is nothing more
than a central university with

B satellite campuses.

“And that is definitely not what
the advisory groups have been
indicating from the very begin-
ning,” he said. “We will just have
what has been happening before —
and we don’t want that.

“We must have a stronger univer-
sity presence in.each of the college

' areas.

“But it has to be done now, at the
beginning. Or centralization will
be entranched, not the regionaliza-
tion that we have been fighting
for,”

Krause was speaking after the
presentation of the UNBC aca-
demic plan by UNBC President
Geoffrey Weller and new Director
of Regional Operations Dennis
Macknak to the Terrace audience
in the R.E.M. Lee Theatre on
November 12.

Krause and the other NWCC
trustees had seen an outline of

GEOFFREY WELLER:
Calendar must be in place by
late spring 1992.

needs and attitudes. We have to
establish ourselves with other
northern countries and universities
through our circumpolar connec-
tions and northern areas and
countries. We cannot depend only
upon our three B.C. universities.

There was discussion on details
and particularly on whether there
was enough dispersement into the
regions, too much centralization,
and ways to overcome such
problems.

Weller expressed his appreciation
for the input and his conviction
that the end result would be above
everyone’s expectations “with the
help and assistance of all the
citizens of the region.”

Regional aspect
still vague, NWCC
board concerned |

the academic plan at a board
meeting early in November.

“We want a presence — not a farm
team,” John Pousette, Terrace
trustee, told the board of North-
west Community College Nov. 12
as the members discussed their
response to the recent academic
plan released by the University of
Northern B.C. “Our concern is
with what is not obvious in the
plan, not with what is there.”

It was suggested by Gail Bergen,
(Prince Rupert) and Al Brockley
(Queen Charlotte) that the col-
lege’s new liaison officer, Michael
Hill, work with senior staff to pre-
pare a position paper to be faxed
to all members for their input in
preparation for the forthcoming
meeting in Prince George.

“The Academic Plan reflects
boundless goodwill and good
intentions,” said chairman Hans
Wagner in a statement later, “but
what the board finds is an absence
of shape. Having no definite struc-
ture, it is difficult for people to
buy into it. That’s the concern at
the moment.”

NWCC Board members will fly
to Prince George Nov. 28 for
meetings with Dr. Stuart Smith,
author of the recent Report on
Canadian Universities, and other
prominent guests. The meetings
will be attended by representatives
from UNBC and the colleges and
educators from across northern
B.C, |