BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Watch out Laurentian University. Cambrian College now has the right to grant bachelor?s degrees, and will begin to do so starting September 2006.
The college is planning on offering four-year applied degrees in science and technological education, and in biotechnology.
Ontario colleges have been allowed to grant some bachelor?s degrees since 2002, when the government expanded their mandate.
The science and technological education degree has already met with government approval. Cambrian officials expect the biotechnology degree to
be confirmed very soon.
?Certainly we?ve looked at it very closely, and we feel the degrees are a distinct need for our community and the north,? says Gladys Rangaratnam,
dean of research and advanced learning at Cambrian.
?For Cambrian, we?re a strong academic institution, and this will just give us another area of strength. We certainly have experience now in
delivering the nursing degree program (along with Laurentian), so our faculty are certainly up to the challenge. We can deliver quality education.?
The degrees will take nine semesters to complete because students will be expected to go on co-op placements. The biotechnology degree will
focus on training students in clinical trials, developing medical technology, plant biotechnology and genetic research.
?We?re working very closely with the Northern Centre for Biotechnology and Clinical Research (Neureka!).
?Biotechnology is a really expanding field province-wide, nation-wide and internationally, and there is a fear that we will not have enough of a
workforce to work in that field,? says Rangaratnam.
The applied degree in science in technological education is designed to train future science, computer and electronics teachers. After completing their degrees, students can go onto teacher?s college.
?They would learn all the basic sciences like chemistry, physics and that kind of thing. And then we have things like mechanical systems design, computers and applied information technology,? she says.
With the impending retirement of the baby boom generation, there is a shortage of technology teachers, says the dean.
Teachers trained in the latest technology are in great demand. High school students don?t just want to learn ?shop? skills anymore, she says.
To make sure students get the best possible training, Cambrian will be hiring new faculty over the next year.
?We will have to hire specialists in the field. As well, with the degree initiatives, the credentials of faculty will be at a minimum master?s degrees, and we would be looking for PhDs as well,? Rangaratnam says.
While graduates of Cambrian?s two-year diplomas are largely successful, in some cases, two years of education just isn?t enough. The four-year degree programs allow students to learn theory and get hands-on experience at the same time.
For more information, phone Rangaratnam at 566-8101, ext. 7888.
