The UBC Senate meets monthly to discuss and vote on academic matters pertaining to the university. What goes on in the Senate Chambers can often feel very overwhelming or dull to the average student, and the dockets posted before every Senate meeting can be long and tedious to read. Here’s what to expect in the October 2016 Senate meeting:
New professional master of business management (PMBA) program
A large part of the docket concerns the approval of a new professional MBA program, intended to replace the existing part-time MBA program which UBC has operated since 2003. There are three issues that have been identified with the current part-time MBA program that have motivated the creation of a standalone PMBA program:
- The schedule of the part-time MBA program. Right now, the current part-time MBA program requires students to attend class on Friday, Saturday and Sunday every three weeks. This has been a challenge considering students in this program are also full-time professional workers. The new PMBA program is structured to deliver the course modules every three Saturdays and Sundays to address this issue.
- The length of the part-time MBA program. The current part-time MBA takes 28 months to complete, which is considerably longer than other similar MBA programs in Canada. The new PMBA program will be a 24 month program to address this issue.
- The curriculum design of the part-time MBA program. Right now, the courses that part-time MBA students take are very similar to ones taken by full-time MBA students, even though the part-time MBA students have had at least two years of professional experience prior to admission to the program. The new PMBA program will have a restructured curriculum to address the different needs of professional workers.
Bachelor of Environmental Design admissions
Senate is approving a change in the admission guidelines to the environmental design (ENDS) program, a competitive architecture and design program in the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The most notable changes are increasing the intake of students from 25 to 30 per year, removal of physics as an entry requirement, a new requirement for students to have at least a 65 per cent average in their past 30 credits before applying and a new admission consideration for mature students who wish to enter the program.
New awards
There are 29 awards that are either being introduced or revised for the 2016/17 school year. Here is a list of some of my favourite awards being brought to the chambers this meeting:
- Single Parents Bursary: Bursaries totalling $17,300 are available for single parent students with demonstrated financial need.
- Manzalaoui Prize: A $2,300 prize awarded to a student who has excelled in a course associated with Middle English or Old English.
- UBC Faculty/Staff Centennial Scholars Major Entrance Award: A $4,100 renewable entrance award to an outstanding domestic student entering UBC directly from secondary school or transferring from another college or university in Canada or abroad.
This next Senate meeting will take place on October 19, 2016 at 6 p.m. in IKBLC 182 (Victoria Lecture Theatre). You can read all 140 pages of the Senate docket online and as usual, Senate is open for anyone to attend if you’re ever interested in academic affairs or meeting Santa Ono.
Daniel Lam is a third-year atmospheric science student and a student senator at large. His views do not reflect those of the Student Senate Caucus or the UBC Senate.
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