MINUTES 1995 GEOGRAPHY ARTICULATION MEETING
Location: New Westminster campus of Douglas College
Date: May 12, Workshop and Field Trip
May 13, 1995 Articulation Meeting
Chair: Bill Hamilton, Okanagan University College
Secretary: Earl Noah, Douglas College
1.0 Call to Order May 13/95 at 9:12 a.m.
2.0 Present
Ellen Petticrew UNBC
Norma Kerby Northwest Community College
Wendy Hurst Selkirk College
Bob Horsfall SFU
Elizabeth Peerless Douglas College
David Gibson UC of the Fraser Valley
Ian Okabe UC of the Fraser Valley
Alison Gear UBC
Margaret North UBC
Don Stone Malaspina UC
John Newcomb UVIC
Francis Yee Camosun College
Rosalind Scarnell Langara Community College
Bob Francis Langara Community College
Katrina Erdos Langara Community College
Judith Wright Langara Community College
Eric Grass Langara Community College
E.W. (Wim) Kok Northern Lights College
Kwawu Agbemenu Kwantlen College
Gary Clohan East Kootenay Community College
Clifford Raphael College of New Caledonia
Ross Nelson UC of the Cariboo
Brent McIntosh North Island College
Karen Ewing Capilano College
Brett McGillivray Capilano College
Lance Werner Trinity Western University
Carl Tracie Trinity Western University
Regrets
Linda Kaivanto Ministry of Advanced Education
Don Tunstall UC of the Fraser Valley & BCCAT
Don Alexander Coquitlam College
No Communication
OLA
Columbia College
3.0Agenda items to be added:
4.2 Disbandment of Geography Articulation Committee
* * M/S/C (Ewing / Horsfall) that the agenda be approved as circulated and amended.
4.0Minutes of 1994 Meeting
Minutes of the 1994 Meeting at Okanagan University College were accepted as circulated.
* * M/S/C (Horsfall / Ewing) that the minutes be accepted as circulated.
Business Arising from the Minutes
4.1 Reinstatement of physical geography as lab science credit at UVic Faculty of Education.
The letter sent by the UVic Faculty of Education was reviewed by the Committee. There was a general discussion over the need to send another letter to the Faculty of Education requesting additional changes. Several Committee members expressed the need for greater clarification of the physics requirement. John Newcomb expressed his willingness to write a report for the Articulation Committee to clarify the implementation and implications of the physics requirement.
*.* M/S/C (North / Francis) that John Newcomb investigate and clarify for this Committee the science requirement of the Faculty of Education at UVic and report at the 1996 Articulation Meeting.
4.2 Disbandment of Geography Articulation Committee
Wendy Hurst asked that item 8.12 from last year's minutes be implemented. The letter that was listed under item 8.12 was not written. After a short discussion this item was tabled and would be discussed as 7.7 Ongoing Articulation Problems.
5.0 INSTITUTIONAL REPORTS
Capilano (McGillivray) Report distributed. Cutbacks are a problem. Geog 102 and Geog 209 are no longer offered. Brett McGillivray expressed the need for greater coordination and articulation of courses between the various postsecondary institutions.
UC of Cariboo (Nelson) Report distributed. Strong enrollments have been experienced. A major program is being proposed following the requirements of UBC. Additional funding for the library is needed.
UNBC (Petticrew) Report distributed. Some new faculty members and sessional instructors have been added. Ellen Petticrew requests that all institutions check the outlines and articulation lists to confirm course transferability. Please send any course outlines that require articulation to UNBC.
Northwest C C (Kerby) Report distributed. In the process of hiring a full time faculty member.
Selkirk College (Hurst) An environmental course is being offered. The course materials will be available soon. Some GIS is used in various geography courses.
North Island College (McIntosh) Attempting to prevent the loss of the physical geography course due to budgetary constraints.
SFU (Horsfall) Report distributed. Budgetary concerns are emerging. Ongoing articulation process with UCFV. The Earth Sciences program is developing and is expected to be available by the Fall of 1995. Bob Horsfall requests that formal articulation occurs through admissions to avoid administrative problems and confusion.
UC of the Fraser Valley (Gibson) Report distributed. Developing a major program based upon SFU. Any articulation problems should be referred to David Gibson.
Trinity Western University (Werner) Staffing and enrollments are stable. There are currently 25 student majors. The cartography lab has been expanded and a new technical lab has been opened for GIS programs. They are presently seeking to hire a full time geographer specializing in GIS and physical geography. The department has recently reevaluated their program with the assistance of Dr. Olav Slaymaker and Dr. Len Evenden
UBC (North and Gear) Major program changes have now been implemented at UBC. Approximately 33% of their students transfer from community colleges. The entire Geography program (Major, Honors, and Minor) has been changed to conform to new Faculty of Arts requirements. Many core courses have been removed or changed. Margaret North and Alison Gear provided an overview of the main changes and distributed several documents that describe the new program.
After the main elements of the new program were presented concern was expressed over the elimination of Geog 260 and its transfer to the 300 level as Geog 361. Alison Gear stated that students taking the equivalent of Geog 260 in other institutions will not be required to take Geog 361, but instead will be allowed to enter the 4th yr. economic geography course. Elizabeth Peerless expressed the desirability of prior consultation before major changes are implemented. Bob Francis requested that UBC make a statement in the consolidated Provincial Transfer Guide that students simply require two physical geography and two human geography courses to transfer to UBC.
Malaspina UC (Stone) Report distributed. Malaspina has been losing some students to UVic. A B.A. (General) degree has been approved under the partnership agreement with UVic. The emphasis is being placed upon interdisciplinary and applied and technical programs.
UVIC (Newcomb) Report as distributed.
Kwantlen College (Agbemenu) Report distributed. There is a greater emphasis upon providing students will employable skills. A GIS course is proposed for Jan. 1996.
Camosun College (Yee) Report distributed. Experiencing high levels of enrollment.
Langara College (Scarnell) Report distributed. Langara plans to offer an Urban Geography course in Spring 1996. A Geographic Techniques / GIS course is being developed. A wetlands ecology program is being developed with Biology. Finally, Geography, Biology and Anthropology/Archeology are working on developing a two month field oriented Fraser River Studies Program for the Summer 1996.
Northern Lights College (Kok) Report as distributed.
East Kootenay College (Clohan) Report as distributed. The college's name is being changed to the College of the Rockies.
College of New Caledonia (Raphael) Report as distributed.
Douglas College (Noah) Report as distributed. The major initiative has been the offering of Geog 190. A Latin America Studies program is in a very preliminary stage of development. The main challenges are the opening of the Pinetree campus and the present reorganization of the College.
Okanagan University College (Hamilton) Report distributed. A minor program is now available in Geography. Environmental and resource thematic options are being developed for the B.A. (General) degree.
Coquitlam College Report as distributed.
6.0 Business Arising from the Reports
A general discussion was held on the need to ensure the proper discussion and articulation of all program changes prior to their implementation. Ross Nelson suggested using e-mail as a means of providing advance warning of any changes.
A suggestion was made that the transfer guides should have explicit statements that inform students that certain geography courses will be accepted in lieu of precise transfer credit.
Bob Horsfall stated he would try to get SFU to modify the transfer guide.
Both Bob Francis and Rosalind Scarnell reiterated the need for greater coordination and articulation of 3rd year prerequisites.
John Newcomb offered to inquire if website has space available for e-mail articulation. Bob Horsfall stated he would coordinate with John Newcomb.
7.0 New Business
7.1 Textbook Survey
Lists as distributed. The Chair agreed to update the lists of textbooks and software and distribute a copy on disk to each represented institution. It was suggested that publishers should be invited to the next meeting to demonstrate their interactive programs.
7.2 Software Survey
Lists as distributed. Margaret North commented that many high schools in B.C. have expressed an interest in software. A significant amount of software is being developed in Britain. If committee members wish any additional information on either topic, please contact Margaret North.
Rosalind Scarnell requested that 1996 textbook and software survey provide an annotated listing of the items.
Karen Ewing stated she might be able to do a workshop in August for GEOSCOPE.
7.3 Coordination of Computer based course development
Margaret North proposed the creation of a subcommittee to aid in the exchange of information to promote the development of computer based courses. This subcommittee would promote the coordination of techniques course development and facilitate greater cost efficiencies. Margaret North suggested approaching the Centre for Curriculum Development for funding. A motion was then presented to request that the Chair write the Centre for Curriculum Development and request funding to aid in the establishment of the subcommittee. After a general discussion of the mandate and objectives of the subcommittee and the potential receptiveness of Centre for Curriculum Development, the motion was withdrawn and replaced with another motion.
*.*M/S/C (Hurst / Horsfall) that the Committee agrees to strike a subcommittee to develop and submit an application to the Centre for Curriculum Development to facilitate and coordinate the development of computer based techniques courses.
The subcommittee will consist of the following members:
John Newcomb, UVic
Wendy Hurst, Selkirk College
Eric Grass, Langara College
Ross Nelson, UC of the Cariboo
Karen Ewing, Capilano College
Bob Francis expressed concern about the mandate of the subcommittee and the implications of this process.
7.4 Earth Sciences or Geography preparatory or ABE courses
Wendy Hurst raised the issue of geography preparatory courses as a means of reducing the number of students who "dropout" during a semester. Elizabeth Peerless responded by stating Douglas College has a college preparatory package being developed for students once the Pinetree campus is complete. A short discussion of the utility of preparatory geography courses concluded with Karen Ewing reporting that geography is being revised in the ABE program.
7.5 Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers
Clifford Raphael, the new President of the WDCAG, reported on four initiatives which have been undertaken.
1) Regional memberships are now available from the WDCAG. Elizabeth Peerless mentioned these memberships had previously been in the constitution but had not been implemented in recent years.
2) WDCAG is seeking to establish a list of contact persons at each institution. A list was circulated at the meeting for all interested person to sign.
3) The University of Lethbridge will host the next WDCAG in the second week of March 1996.
4) The WDCAG Education Committee advises and interacts with the Ministry of Education whenever the geography curriculum is reformed. Contact Margaret North for further information.
7.6 Proposed split of 200H equivalents into cultural and economic parts
John Newcomb asked if there was any opposition to UVic making these changes. As there was no opposition to this item the changes will be considered by UVic.
7.7 Ongoing Articulation Problems
Margaret North raised the question of what organization monitors the number of colleges in existence and what courses they offer. A short series of questions about Coquitlam College followed. More information about Coquitlam College is required.
The issue of greater coordination between the Environmental Articulation Committee and the Geography Articulation Committee was raised. The suggestion was made that the Chairs of the two committees should meet to coordinate initiatives. As well, all members of the Geography Articulation Committee in attendance at the Environmental Articulation Meeting on May 25 - 26 should raise this issue.
7.8 Funding for the Annual Meeting of Articulation Chairs
This new item was added so that E.W. Kok could announce that funding for this meeting should be provided by the institution hosting the meeting.
8.0 Date and Location of Next Meeting
David Gibson volunteered the UC of the Fraser Valley as the next host. The 1996 meeting was scheduled for UC of the Fraser Valley on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11, 1996.
9.0 Selection of Chair and Secretary
Earl Noah became the Chair for the 1996 Articulation Meeting by acclamation. Ian Okabe will assume the position of Secretary for the 1996 Meeting.
9.1 Reintroduced Articulation Issues
After a vote, the issues left unaddressed from item 8.12 of last year's meeting were raised at this point. A lively exchange of views on articulation issues followed.
*.*M/S/C (Scarnell / Hurst) that this Committee request that degree granting institutions provide block transfer credit to university transfer students who have six credits of physical geography and six credits of human geography and, wherever possible, wave third year prerequisites.
The motion passed by a margin of 21 in favor and 1 abstention, however SFU, UVic, Trinity Western University and North Island College were no longer present.
Don Stone and Ellen Petticrew both expressed concern about the implications of this motion due to the specific course requirements of their programs.
The Chair will write a letter to the department heads of all universities and university colleges informing them of this motion and requesting they discuss the motion at their faculty meeting.
10. Adjournment
The meeting ended at 14:15 p.m.