The University of Regina is making a push to graduate more Aboriginal students with a business degree.
This morning, it signed an agreement with the First Nations University of Canada and the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies to encourage more students to use their two-year business diploma program to get a four-year business degree.
The signing ceremony took place at FNUniv’s campus in Regina. It’s a three-party agreement that will allow students to use business credits and courses taken at SIIT towards a bachelor’s degree in business at the University of Regina or FNUniv.
FNUniv president Mark Dockstator says attending his school has many advantages for the students.
“The difference is the approach we take to these courses. That is, we have a First Nations approach, smaller classes, greater access to professors, greater support and a supporting environment,” he says. “So it’s another option allowing students to either go here or to the University of Regina.”
SIIT president Riel Bellegarde also welcomed the agreement. He says it allows greater access and greater participation for Aboriginal students. Bellegarde says making the transition from a diploma to a university degree by first attending the SIIT will get more more Aboriginal students in the door.
“We are in all parts of Saskatchewan, we have 13 different locations in the province,” he says. “Sometimes accessibility through SIIT is easier than other institutions. But once they are in our institution, they feel: ‘I want to pursue higher education’ and this just helps create that necessary pathway.”
Right now, there are about 100 students in the business course at SIIT. The new articulation program takes affect immediately.
Last year, the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan signed a similar transfer agreement with SIIT.