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Admission

Policy name: Admission	Overseen by: Vice President Instruction, Vice President Educational Services	Effective Date: June 2010	Related Policies:
Category: Education	Approved by: Education Council	Review Date: June 2012	Replaces: E02.01.11(1987), 01, 02, 06; E04.01.10

• Purpose
• Policy Statement
• Admission Decisions
• General Admission Requirements
• Special Circumstances
• Required Documentation
• Transfer Credit and Advanced Standing
• International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement
• Advanced Standing
• Notification of New Admission Criteria or Course Prerequisites
• Assessment Testing
• Admission to Open Enrolment Courses
• Admission to Limited Enrolment Programs
• Candidate Profile
• Selection Procedures
• Selection Criteria
• Ranking Criteria
• International Student Admission
• Definition
• Provincial Government Policy
• Admission Requirements

Purpose

Douglas College provides admission to educational programs for as wide a range of students as possible. However, where appropriate, access to programs and courses will be restricted to students who satisfy established admission criteria at both general and program-specific levels.

Policy Statement

Douglas College invites applications from all eligible candidates. Where admission is restricted to programs/courses by entrance criteria, those restrictions must be approved by the appropriate governance body in the College.

The College admits students on a first-qualified, first-admitted basis whereby students must satisfy all admissions criteria to establish eligibility and are then offered places by date of eligibility, except in programs that use selective admissions processes that rank order qualified applicants.

Admissions Decisions

1. Education Council approves all program admissions criteria and standards.
2. The Registrar has authority to admit applicants to the College based on approved criteria and standards.
3. The Dean, or Associate Dean, of a program area has authority for granting admission criteria waivers in exceptional and unusual cases in consultation with the Registrar and the appropriate chair/coordinator.
4. Applicants have the right to appeal an admission decision under the Student Appeals Policy.

General Admission Requirements

Students applying for admission to the College must submit documentation verifying that they have satisfied ONE of the following requirements:

1. The student has completed British Columbia secondary school graduation in any program, or the equivalent* (see definition below) from another school system; OR
2. The student lacks no more than one course for British Columbia secondary school graduation, or the equivalent* (see definition below) from another school system; OR
3. The student is nineteen years of age or older on the first day of the first semester of attendance; OR
4. The student is at least seventeen years of age on the first day of the first semester of attendance, and has not been enrolled at a school for a minimum of one year; OR
5. The student has special needs, has been in school for twelve years, and has completed a certificate or equivalent from a special program.

 

*Equivalency is defined for the purposes of this policy as the student being at least seventeen years of age on the first day of the first semester of attendance and having met university-level admission requirements in his or her home jurisdiction. Eligibility for admission does not preclude the need to meet entry-level requirements specified for individual courses and programs.

 

Special Circumstances

1. If the student does not meet one of the above requirements, he or she may apply for admission as a "special" student, and is urged to discuss this process with the Registrar or an Academic Advisor. Students in this category include Concurrent Studies students (see College/School District Relationship policy).
2. Where a student applies to enter a Douglas College program/course of studies that is being offered in partnership with another institution/agency/organization, the student must meet the admission requirements of the College and of the specific program/course of studies, as well as the eligibility requirements as established in the relevant partnership agreement.
3. Students whose official transcripts indicate that they are under suspension at another College or University will not be admitted to Douglas College until after the period of suspension imposed by the other institution. The Registrar and/or the Educational Policy Appeals Committee reserves the right to specify conditions concerning an individual student's admission or re-admission to the College consistent with approved College policies.

Required Documentation

Applicants to credit programs/courses are required to submit secondary school transcripts and other necessary documentation at the point of application, where that documentation is necessary to prove the applicant meets established admission criteria.

Transfer Credit and Advanced Standing

Transfer Credit: Students may apply for transfer credit to Douglas College for courses completed at another recognized educational institution. Credits may be routinely granted by the Registrar's office, based on the establishment articulation process, or may be referred to the appropriate department/program for individual course assessment/ articulation.

Departments/programs may establish time limitations for transfer of credit, if appropriate for course content.

International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement:

Students who have completed the International Baccalaureate or Advanced Placement programs or courses within these programs are eligible to apply for college credit. Credit will be granted as determined by individual departments/programs.

Advanced Standing:

Students may request assessment of prior learning to receive exemption from components of a program. In such cases, course credit is not allocated and elective courses may need to be substituted to complete credit requirements for a degree, associate degree, diploma, certificate, or citation.

Please note that the amount of credit received from any combination of transfer, advanced placement, international baccalaureate and prior learning assessment may not exceed 75 percent of the total credential credit requirement.

Notification of New Admission Criteria or Course Prerequisites

New or revised admission criteria will be published in the on-line College Calendar twelve months before they are implemented in order to provide adequate lead time for prospective students to fulfill the requirements without delaying their educational progress.

Assessment Testing

Students seeking admission to courses/programs requiring assessment testing are advised to contact the Assessment Centre well in advance of registration. Where minimum test scores are used to decide entry into a course/program, an examinee shall be permitted to retake an assessment test after reapplication to the chosen program, AND four months (or a shorter period of time determined by the Department/Program) have elapsed which would allow for the examinee to do upgrading or skill development.

ADMISSION TO OPEN ENROLMENT COURSES

Applicants intending to take courses taught in open enrolment areas are required to have already achieved a grade of C or above in secondary school English 12 or an approved equivalent prior to final admission (see Douglas College Calendar for a list of approved equivalencies). This applies to open enrolment courses taught in:

• Commerce and Business Administration
• Humanities and Social Science
• Language, Literature and Performing Arts
• Science and Technology
• STSU, HUMD and LIBR courses

Where students have not achieved this standard, they would be limited to the appropriate Developmental Education (DVST/EASL) courses at Douglas College or would be required to meet this standard via equivalencies obtained elsewhere.

This requirement does not apply to entry to closed enrolment programs, except those which require electives in open enrolment areas outside the program area.

ADMISSION TO CLOSED ENROLMENT COURSES

Students applying for admission to Limited Enrolment Programs must first meet general admission requirements. Applications will then be assessed according to the following:

Candidate Profile

Each program will consider the knowledge, skills, values and attributes conducive to student success in the program. Based on this candidate profile, the program will establish a minimum standard for admission (see Selection Criteria below). Where specific quotas and/or articulation agreements are planned, each program will apply for these to the Education Council.

Selection Procedures

1. Each program, in conjunction with the Registrar's Office, will establish a pool of qualified candidates and apply approved quotas or priority admissions. In programs where selection processes involve a subjective component, qualified candidates will be selected by a minimum of two people, one of whom is a faculty member and one of whom may be a practitioner in the program field. The Registrar, as the College official responsible for admission procedures, will monitor all selection processes and may attend or send a delegate to any or all selection processes.
2. Qualified candidates will be selected for admission by their date of acceptance to the program, except where a program has established an admission process that first ranks each candidate within the pool of qualified candidates and then selects candidates based on their rank order until the program is full.
3. The Registrar will officially notify candidates of their acceptance or refusal. The Registrar, Dean/Director/Director, Program Coordinator, and/or Educational Policy Appeals Committee reserves the right to specify conditions concerning an individual student's admission or re-admission to a program consistent with approved program or College policies.

Selection Criteria

Each program shall maintain a description of the relevant selection criteria applicable to students who wish to enrol in that program. This description includes:

• application deadline
• quotas within class size
• number of intakes per year
• admission criteria
• documentation required for admission
• method(s) of evaluating eligibility
• any notes not covered above, but which are relevant to the success of the student in the program or to successful program organization.

Ranking Criteria

The criteria used to rank applicants must be relevant to one or more of the following:

• student retention
• program quality
• employability of graduates

International Student Admission

Douglas College encourages the admission of international students where such admissions do not operate to displace Canadian students, where unused capacity exists, or where the capacity can be increased using fees paid by international students.

Definition

An international student is a student who is neither a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident. Exceptions include students whose status is one of the following:

• ministerial permit claiming refugee status;
• diplomatic visa or dependent of a person on a diplomatic visa;
• restricted employment authorization or dependent of a person on a restricted employment authorization.

Students in one of these categories are admitted on the same fee schedule as students who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Provincial Government Policy

In accordance with provincial government policy:

• international students' fees cover all direct and indirect costs of their instruction;
• international students may not displace qualified Canadian students.

Admission Requirements

International applicants must meet the General Admission Requirements outlined in this policy and demonstrate English proficiency by means of a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score or an equivalent assessment or exemption approved by the Standing Committee on Admissions and Language Competency.

Latest Revision June 2010.