Athabasca University

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Athabasca University is a Canadian university in Athabasca, Alberta. It is an accredited research institution which also offers distance education courses and programs. Courses are offered primarily in English with some French offerings. Each year, 32,000 students attend the university. It offers opportunities for professionals to finish undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs. Canadian athletes, politicians and broadcasters have chosen Athabasca to complete their studies due to the flexibility in the university's schedule. In 2004, Athabasca's Executive MBA was rated in the top 75 by the Financial Times, the only executive MBA on the list that is delivered entirely online. The enabling legislation is the Post-secondary Learning Act

Origins
The university was created by the Alberta government in 1970. It grew out of the development that occurred after the University of Alberta had long been established, and following the creation of the University of Calgary after legislation had been changed, and following an order in council creating the University of Lethbridge.

While the school is a traditional research university, it is also renowned for its distance programs. This began in 1972 when a pilot project was developed. After being considered a success, the university was granted a permanent, self-governing status in 1978. After growing too big for its location, Athabasca University moved 145 kilometres north from Edmonton to the town of Athabasca, Alberta in 1984 where it is now established. Satellite centers are in Calgary and Edmonton.

In 1967 the Manning government announced its intention to establish a fourth University, but it was later delayed by two to three years. The University of Alberta wanted to expand rather than see another University open in Edmonton to compete with it. One proposal favoured establishing a Christian university instead of a secular one to cope with rising enrollment. One early suggestion for an alternative was an "Alberta Academy" that would take credits students had earned at multiple Universities and evaluate them for transfer, and perhaps even award a degree. A department of education ad hoc group favoured the establishment of a fourth University.

A group of University of Alberta graduates, which included Preston Manning helped influence the development of an independent fourth University. In 1970 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Grant MacEwan established the University by an order in council. The name for the new University was a challenge to choose, not wanting to associate the University with a city that already had a University, in a primarily rural province. Athabasca Hall a student residence at the University of Alberta was scheduled for demolition, so the name was appropriated for the new University.

Mandate
The initial mandate for the University dictated that it be primarily undergraduate in scope. Developing new procedures in curriculum was part of the mandate for the University. The initial Governing Authority of the University had eight members, and a broad range of powers to set up the new University. On July 2-3, 1970, they met for the first time, and Carl W. Clement was chosen as the first chairman. It was expected by the government of the day that by 1979 the University would have 10,000 students. September 1, 1973 was set as the target date to open.

First president
In April 1971 Tim Byrne was appointed President of the new university and he assumed office in June that year.

The administration chose the Santa Cruz campus of the University of California as its model, deciding that the individual college should serve as the basic planning unit for the new university, which would be organized as a federation of colleges. Each of the colleges of the new university was to have 650 students and needed lecture and office space to reflect that. As well they wanted to adopt a learning approach that would have students learning in small tutorials instead of large lectures. Research within the new university was to be limited to a specified region starting around the city of Edmonton. One criticism was that the university was trying to do too much.

The government of Peter Lougheed in 1971 brought a change, which included a cabinet portfolio specifically for post secondary education. The newly-elected Conservative government was opposed to building a new University in Edmonton, but architectural plans were permitted to continue. A proposal was made to the government to test the new model for 3-5 years, and if that succeeded, they would become a fully independent University. This happened under the chairmanship of Merrill Wolfe. The proposal was accepted by the government.

One of the trends brought out by the new Deputy Minister of Advanced Education in the summer of 1972 was a demand for lifelong continuing education. An identified need was for an "Alberta Academy" which would evaluate University courses that were taken at multiple institutions. The academy would then award a degree. A second proposal came from the University to also serve part time students, and it would not affect the other traditional Universities already established, or the new approach of Athabasca University. An open door policy was part of this proposal, removing admission requirements.

In 1972 a new order in council was issued to include only the new pilot project of distance education.

November 17, 2009 a revised mandate was approved by the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. AU's mission and mandate statement are on the Athabasca University website.

First course
Trial and error procedures were used during the pilot period, as there was no model to follow in the field and mandate the staff of the university were given. In 1973 the university began to advertise for students to help with course development. A course "World Ecology" was the first course, and was the core of the pilot project. In-house production of the learning packages was important to the staff, so the university developed its own printing process.

Contrary to much current belief, Athabasca University was not modelled after the Open University, but was developed in its present form during the pilot project. AU became aware of what the Open University was doing when, during the final year of the project. A representative went to Milton Keynes discover any methods its staff might have devised to speed up production.

In 1975 plans came together to reach out to students by developing field services tutors, and regional learning centres. In 1976 the first 24 part time telephone tutors were appointed. The tutor role was to facilitate learning, not teach the course. Tutors are assigned blocks of 20 - 40 students each. An unlisted toll-free number is provided to contact the tutor with. All tutors have at least a Masters degree.

An early test project for a learning resource centre had books and tapes relevant to the courses available at branches of public libraries through out the province. Although the libraries were keen on the idea, learners preferred to remain in their homes to learn. By 1975 the median age was 35 - 40, and there were 725 students. A minority of students had only completed grade 9.

Inviting students to register in a course and then forcing them to wait an unconscionable length of time for delivery of units was obviously not a way to establish a reputation as a reliable institution.

In 1975 at the end of the pilot project, an agency was appointed to evaluate the overall success. A recommendation was made to the government that the University be made a permanent member of the university system. It was to remain an open university. Under the chairmanship of Edward Checkland, the University gained permanency.

In 1976 W. A. Samuel Smith took over as president and the university's permanency was established through an act of the Alberta Legislature.

The first collaboration the university embarked on was with Keyano College, which eventually led to the opening of a regional learning office in Fort McMurray, Alberta. North Island College in 1976 took on the challenge of delivering many courses from the university in its many campuses.

In the mid-seventies, two young Canadians, one of whom was the son of a prominent Edmonton family, were indicted in an English court for attempting to smuggle drugs into the country. They were each sentenced to a lengthy prison term and incarcerated in one of England's most infamous prisons. Each registered in one of Athabasca University's first three courses, becoming the first two in a long list of prison inmates to join its student body.

In 1985 an agreement was reached with the Correctional Service of Canada regarding the payment of tuition and program delivery fees related to federal inmates taking courses through the University.

Distance education
The Athabasca University Centre for Distance Education has programs which are geared to continuing education using modern communications technology and have attracted students from around the world, using on-line study programs and a special dedicated website for that purpose. It is home to North America's first online Doctor of Education in Distance Education program, and offers a Masters of Distance Education degree, and a Graduate Diploma in Distance Education. It has twelve core faculty members and one Canada Research Chair.

Accreditation
Athabasca University reports to the government through the Minister of Advanced Education and is publicly funded through the Province of Alberta. The university's governing council is authorized to grant degrees through the Post-Secondary Learning Act along with governing its own affairs. Members of the governing council are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in council.

The university is accredited with the United States by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

Select memberships

 * Association of Commonwealth Universities
 * Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
 * Canadian Virtual University
 * International Council for Open and Distance Education
 * University of the Arctic

Academics
AU is Canada's only exclusively open University, and Maclean's Magazine called it Canada's fastest growing university. 50% of AU's students are between the ages of 25 and 44, and admissions are year round. AU plays host to 3 Canada Research Chairs. 260,000 students have taken courses since the University was founded.

AU has 27,107 undergraduate students, with 77 undergraduate programs. Of that two are university diplomas, fourteen are university certificates and one is a certificate of completion.

Research
AU spends over $2 million per year on research. The university has four Canada Research Chairs and one NSERC/Xerox/Markin/ICORE Research Chair. The Centre for Research is the primary centre at the university, along with the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute and the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research.

AU is also a participating member of the WestGrid Research Network.

Rankings
In 2004, Athabasca's Executive MBA was rated in the top 75 by the Financial Times, the only executive MBA on the list that is delivered entirely online. The EMBA has since fallen from the FT rankings, and doesn't show up in the 2009 FT rankings for EMBA. In 2005 38% of the students in the MBA program were female. AU has never been included in the annual rankings by Macleans Magazine, because of its "special mission."

In October 2008, Athabasca was named one of Alberta's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal.



AU's classes are taught in several ways:


 * Individual study: Students are provided with the textbooks, computer software, and video material required. A preset recommended schedule comes with each course. Each course has a professor, as with any university course.  This person publishes what would traditionally be delivered in lecture format.  That publication becomes additional reading for the student. Assignments are submitted to the professor via email.  The final exam is administered by a partner university, college or accredited individual.  Students have up to six months to finish their course, unless they have received a student loan, in which case, they have up to four months. Courses start at the beginning of each month.


 * Grouped study: Offered primarily to students physically in Alberta, this method allows students to get together with other students in the same course, and study in a manner similar to that of a regular university. Students studying in this method have up to 4 months to complete their course. Courses start in September and January.

Notable people


Some notable people have studied through Athabasca University, including Alberta politician Debby Carlson, Olympic bobsleigh racer Christian Farstad, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, professional hockey player Alyn McCauley, and cross-country skier Milaine ThÃ©riault. The University delivers over 60,000 courses per year, and currently has more than 38,000 students.

Controversy
In May 2004 the Premier of Alberta, Ralph Klein, brought public attention to the university due to allegations that he had plagiarized a paper that he submitted for a communication studies course he took from the school. While speaking before the provincial legislature, he held up a copy of the paper to provide evidence on his views about former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet. Afterwards, there was public criticism that portions of five pages of the 13-page paper had been copied from the Internet without proper citations to the sources. The university investigated the matter and told the news media that Klein's instructor had noted the mistake when grading the paper and offered guidance for correcting it. A university spokesman described the failure to properly cite sources as a "relatively minor error, undisputed by [the] student, easily corrected, and not an ongoing or repeated problem."