News Article

Agreement allows college students to earn degrees


10/31/2003 2:02:03 PM


Cyril Farrell, Director of Programs at College of the North Atlantic, and Dr. Hal Jorch, Dean of the School of Science and Technology at UCCB, sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions allowing college graduates to transfer to Bachelor of Technology degree programs.

October 31, 2003 – Students in College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) engineering technology and environmental programs will be able to earn a diploma and degree within four years, thanks to a new agreement signed October 27 with the University College of Cape Breton (UCCB).

The agreement enables graduates of the college’s programs to gain direct entry to a choice of six Bachelor of Technology degree programs at the Nova Scotia institution. Programs can be completed at UCCB within as short a timeframe as eight months (two academic semesters), and as well, in some cases, residency requirements can be partially fulfilled through distance education.

College of the North Atlantic has had a long-standing relationship with UCCB and many CNA graduates have been entering UCCB programs through other agreements or by applying for transfer of credit, as was the case with the engineering technology graduates prior to the signing of this most recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

“Over the past year, we have strategically realigned several of our degree programs,” says Dr. Hal Jorch, Dean of the School of Science and Technology at UCCB. “This MOU now provides a clear and simplified path to a degree for technology diploma graduates from College of the North Atlantic, taking full advantage of the excellent theoretical and hands-on education that they get there and taking them to the next level of technical sophistication.”

UCCB’s Bachelor of Technology – Manufacturing (which is one of the qualifying programs for CNA technology graduates) recently received the prestigious Yves Landry Award for best innovative university manufacturing program in Canada (details on this award can be found at www.ylandryfund.org).

Greg Chaytor, the college’s Chair of the School of Engineering and Information Technology, says signing the MOU is a significant milestone for both institutions.

“Graduates from Newfoundland and Labrador and international locales will now be able to get full credit for courses completed in their diploma programs. They will have the opportunity to achieve a four-year university degree and a three-year technical diploma all within four years,” he says.

College of the North Atlantic has many partnerships with colleges and universities both at home and abroad that provide transfer options for graduates. With the UCCB agreements, graduates of qualifying programs are able to obtain two designations in the time it would normally take to receive just the degree, and they are able to do so at significantly less cost because they are able to do their first years at College of the North Atlantic.

For more information on College of the North Atlantic’s transfer agreements visit the college’s website at www.cna.nl.ca or the Newfoundland and Labrador Council on Higher Education’s 2003-04 Transfer Guide at www.edu.gov.nf.ca/council.

-30-

For more information contact:

Stephen Lee
Communications Manager
(709) 643-7929

or

Tanya Alexander
Public Information Officer
(709) 643-7928