Business degree to be offered online.

Business students at Northern College will be able to pursue a business degree internationally thanks to an agreement signed with an Australian university.

Cathy Hart, regional director at Northern College's Porcupine campus near Timmins, says that colleges throughout Ontario including Sault College, Cambrian College, Northern College and Confederation College have signed onto an agreement with the University of Western Sydney Institute.

The agreement, signed in February, says that students in the college's business program will gain credits for the university's business program. It will be open to students in the next academic year.

"It's an opportunity for them to get credit...to move on to their bachelor's degree in business. In fact, there is an opportunity to go on even further to get their masters," she says.

"It's so individualized," says Hart, adding that students are considered on an individual basis for the college courses they have taken and where in the University of Western Sydney program they will be placed. Students at these northern Ontario colleges would, upon graduation from a two or three-year program, receive credits towards their degree.

She says the genesis of the agreement comes from a person who is currently working at the University of Western Sydney Institute who has worked out other agreements between post-secondary institutions in Ontario and Australia.

Hart says students could finish out their degree by travelling to Australia.

"For some, that could prove an incentive to have the opportunity to travel abroad," she says.

For those who are not prepared to travel to the other side of the globe, however, Hart says that the university is currently working on setting up its business degree program online.

"E-learning will certainly play a role in this so people will not have to go to Australia," she says.

Also, on the educational front, Northern College and Brock University are joining forces again this year to offer a brand new bachelor's degree in education/adult education along with the already successful education/Aboriginal adult education program.

"The delivery of these pograms is specifically designed for students who are also employed," says Brock regional representative Joseph Obomsawin-Carisse. "Courses in the bachelor of adult education program are offered face-to-face at venues across the province or online, while the bachelor of Aboriginal adult education will be offered on a part-time basis with a site facilitator and video support at Northern College's Porcupine campus.

"Delivery of the Aboriginal adult education program at Northern College's Kirkland Lake, South Porcupine and Haileybury campuses may also be considered depending on sufficient enrolment in those communities," he says.

Both degree programs are geared toward individuals who are currently working with or would like to work with adults in education, training, health care, industry, business, community development or in formal academic settings, says Obomsawin-Carisse. People who already have recognized college diplomas or university degrees maybe granted advanced standing.

Obomsawin-Carisse says that the courses are delivered in part with teaching assistants from Brock University and with he help of video lessons.

The curriculum is comprised of five courses, each delivered over five consecutive semesters on a part-time basis.

"There is real flexibility to the course," he says. "Each component is 78 hours of instruction time, but students have he flexibility of deciding when they want to get together."

The program also takes a cohort approach. The program will start and end with the same small group of students.