Newswise — Fairleigh Dickinson University received final approval on May 8, 2006, from the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education to offer degree programs and operate as a university in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where it plans to open a branch campus.
The University is the first non-Canadian institution to gain approval under the new more stringent standards adopted by British Columbia in 2003.
The new FDU-Vancouver campus will serve primarily international students from Pacific Rim and other Asian countries and will initially offer a B.S. in business management with concentrations in finance, international business, marketing, entrepreneurship, accounting, and information technology and a B.S. in information technology with a concentration in business management. Both programs will follow the same curricula offered in business management and information technology in New Jersey, and both degrees will be U.S. degrees approved by the State of New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. The Vancouver campus will also fall under the University's regional accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
President J. Michael Adams said, "We believe this will be a tremendous opportunity for international students to enjoy an affordable program while gaining the prestige associated with a degree from an American university."
According to Dr. Christopher Capuano, chair of the Vancouver Academic Steering Committee and director of the School of Psychology, Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, NJ, "Vancouver was selected for a variety of reasons. First, basing a campus outside the U.S. is consistent with the University's global mission. Vancouver is well positioned to attract international students, particularly those from Asian countries. Moreover, British Columbia, like other provinces in Canada, is well known for its commitment to quality higher education."
In February of 2005, Adams and Capuano met with senior administrators at the two largest British Columbian higher-education institutions, the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, both in Vancouver, to inform them of FDU's plan to open a branch campus and to establish a collaborative relationship. Adams said both institutions reacted very positively.
FDU is looking into the possibility of gaining access to the British Columbia Electronic Library Network for its students and faculty in Vancouver. This extensive library system pools all the online resources of British Columbia university libraries. "This province-wide network of shared online library resources would provide our students with a key element of program support, in addition to FDU's online library which students will also have access to," Capuano said. The University also plans to contract with a local university library so students can access traditional library facilities as well.
For more information, visit http://www.fdu.edu
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