CNA and MUN make agreement
7/8/2004 10:55:25 AM
By Chad Harnett
College of the North Atlantic (CNA) is creating more opportunities for students of its two-year diploma in Adventure Tourism.
In an agreement with Memorial University of Newfoundland’s (MUN) Sir Wilfred Grenfell College (SWGC) in Corner Brook, a full block transfer between CNA’s Adventure Tourism and SWGC’s Environmental Studies programs has been created.
Students can now complete the two-year diploma program at CNA and then transfer a full 60 credits toward the 120 credit Environmental Studies degree at SWGC. This means students can have both the Adventure Tourism diploma and the Environmental Studies degree in a total of four years.
“It feels great to finally have it accomplished,” says Eugene Flynn, Adventure Tourism instructor and one of the people behind establishing the agreement. “It says a lot about our program.”
He believes it gives the students something more to work towards. Students need to uphold a certain average in order to transfer and he says this will make them take their work more seriously.
There is a current agreement between both schools that involves a transfer of one-and-one-half years' worth of credit rather than two. It will soon be replaced with a new full-block transfer agreement.
“It will be attractive to students who wish to stay in this province to earn a university degree while taking advantage of the exceptional outdoor opportunities and low tuition fees that this province offers,” says Eric Mintz, Chair of the Environmental Studies program at SWGC.
Currently, two to three students graduating each year from the Adventure Tourism program move on to enroll in the Environmental Studies program. Flynn thinks now that CNA’s student’s efforts are worth two years towards the degree rather than one-and-a-half, more people will further their education at SWGC.
Both Flynn and Mintz say they would be pleased to see more of these agreements in the future.
“SWGC is currently in the process of developing a program in sustainable resource management that, if approved, would be of interest to CNA graduates. Similarly, there has been preliminary work done on a tourism degree. As well, some SWGC students are interested in taking courses and programs at CNA,” Mintz says.
“If we had more of these types of agreements, it would strengthen post secondary education in Newfoundland and Labrador by a country mile,” exclaims Flynn.
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For more information contact:
Stephen Lee
Communications Manager
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7929
Or
Tanya Alexander
Public Information Officer
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7928