With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1181452
S p e c i a l F e a t u r e experience," says Caykoylu. "In short, we take a chance on those with less skills and aptitude, and we prepare them to be job ready as quickly as possible. It's a measure of our success that 98 percent of our graduates secure jobs shortly after leaving our campus." Plus, New York Tech – Vancouver is more affordable than the larger institutions. "We don't charge $80,000 tuition fees," says Caykoylu. "We also waive some courses—for example, basic accounting skills—if the student has experience and displays an aptitude that would make them redundant. Students also get credit for undertaking projects with clients in the business world." New York Tech – Vancouver recognizes that in a landscape choked with so many MBA programs, getting a leg up during a job interview is of vital importance, "Which is why we persuade our students to become professionally certified— whether the designation is CPA, CFA or something else," says Caykoylu. At KPU School of Business, fine-tuning her institution's offerings to make adult learning more accessible is a personal passion for Howes. At 19 she obtained an office administration certificate from KPU and worked for five years in different law firms. She then returned to KPU and obtained an undergraduate degree in nursing. After a few years working in the health-care field (during which time she also worked towards obtaining a master of education at UBC), she accepted an offer to return yet again to KPU to work at its Wellness Centre. This led to an 11- year teaching stint, followed by time as associate dean of health and associate dean in the School of Business. Earlier this year, she was named dean of the School of Business. Howes, who will be starting her Doctorate of Business Administration in 2020, says, "My adult education allowed me to climb the ladder and attain this amazing position in a respected institution. But it was terribly difficult to juggle work and life with schooling, and many people simply feel they can't do it." Hence, if adult learners take KPU's newly updated Public Relations diploma this fall, they are automatically linked to obtain a BBA or Bachelor of Arts. "That's just one example of how we're making things more accessible," says Howes. "We're also offering open registration and no cohorts." Another example: KPU's new Green Business Management and Sustainability as well as the new Global Business Management business graduate diplomas give learners the option to finish their MBAs online at their choice of international universities. "This is how we specialize our MBAs, and it's a unique offering," says Howes. This is in addition to many other offerings, including KPU's Post Baccalaureate programs in technical management and services as well as operations and supply chain management, plus a certificate in Legal Administrative Assistant Studies (which recognizes the fact that such assistants are among the highest-paid office assistants in B.C.) At the University Canada West, the ACBSP-accredited UCW MBA degree challenges students in areas vital to business operation and administration. It develops core competencies in critical thinking, persuasive communication, system analysis, leadership, and business ethics. Emphasis is placed on the application of theories, teaching students case studies relating to a large variety of industries in Canada and around the world. University Canada West also understands that some students do not have the professional or academic qualifications but wish to pursue the MBA program; therefore, they have the option of completing the three MBA Foundation courses. "We've enjoyed steady growth since being founded in 2004 because we're constantly evolving, and as we continued from pg. 50 E D U C A T I O N F O R P R O F E S S I O N A L S Kwantlen Polytechnic University's newest campus is situated in the heart of downtown Surrey