Journal Article

Knowledge House could be house of horrors for Dalhousie Global baccalaureate program

Cross, Michael S

2000

Overview

The council of the faculty of science at Dalhousie approved the development of the global baccalaureate on Apr. 6, 2000, pending final acceptance of the curriculum by the faculty. It is not clear that the faculty council actually has the authority to make science a participating faculty. The council only has the authority to act for the faculty on urgent business, when the faculty is not in session. But the faculty was still \"in session\" on Apr. 6. This raises questions about the status of the deal. There are others. The memorandum of understanding is poorly drafted and not always clear. That may explain why different administrators have offered different explanations of it. The \"parties,\" according to the vice-president academic, are Knowledge House and Dalhousie, which will represent the interests of the participating faculties. But the evaluation standards, apparently, will be established by the participating faculties and Knowledge House at the time the curriculum is approved. The memorandum says, again, that Dalhousie will issue a transcript for the credits earned. However, the vice-president academic says these are not Dalhousie credits, they are transfer credits, to be treated like other transfer credits. The Global Baccalaureate program was announced in June 2000. This 18-month program is aimed at students who have completed high school and are in transition to post-secondary education or work. The Global Baccalaureate is a Web-enabled learning program, where participants access curriculum, collaboration tools, resources, and assistance through the Internet. Starting in 2001, the first \"class\" of Global Baccalaureate students will experience the program onsite in a specially-designed learning environment. The on-site option will be followed soon thereafter by fully distributed access to this unique program. A series of multi-disciplinary modules are being designed in partnership with Dalhousie University faculty and business and industry advisors. Program graduates will receive advanced placement and five, full-year credits towards a 20-credit degree program from Dalhousie. This program is designed for young people between 18 and 25 years who have completed high school, but have not yet begun to move along a career or higher education path. The Global Baccalaureate bridges the gap between school and the next stage of study or work to provide them with an unparalleled foundation for personal and professional development.

• Publisher: Canadian Association of University Teachers
• Subject: Business education relationship / University industry cooperation