Promoting Inter-Provincial Mobility
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Research has shown that geographical proximity is a key factor in inter-provincial student mobility. For this reason, it is constructive for neighbouring jurisdictions to collaborate in facilitating student movement across regional borders. WestCAT was created in 2010, when Manitoba joined the three other Western provinces that had been meeting previously to discuss transfer issues. At the last annual meeting, hosted by the Manitoba Council on Post-secondary Education in September 2011, members discussed the state of transfer in each province, reviewed policies designed to encourage inter-provincial transfer, and explored ways of cooperating on specific transfer initiatives. Currently, BCCAT is working with WestCAT to gather information on interprovincial transfer arrangements. Once collected, the information will be published in each jurisdiction’s provincial transfer website.
PCCAT was founded in 2006 as an informal organization to help facilitate student mobility by expanding the transferability of credit inter-provincially in Canada. BCCAT is involved with PCCAT in a number of ways. Staff members participated in the PCCAT 2011 Annual General Meeting and Conference, Emerging Trends and Innovations in Student Mobility and Transfer, at McGill University.
At this meeting, a Founding Council was struck with the mandate of developing by-laws for PCCAT as a national society, for consideration at the next Annual General Meeting in June 2012. Dr. Fleming (Executive Director, BCCAT) is a member of the Founding Council, and both he and Dr. Gaber (Associate Director, Admissions and Research) are members of the planning committee for the PCCAT 2012 Conference, which will be held in conjunction with the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) conference in June 2012 in Ottawa. (See pccat.ca for more information.)
BCCAT also continued its involvement in the work of PCCAT’s Research Sub-Committee, which undertook a major research project surveying all universities in Canada about the extent of inter-provincial mobility and transfer at the post-secondary level across Canada and the extent of intra-provincial mobility and transfer among Ontario institutions only. The report will be completed in spring 2012, and findings will be presented at the June PCCAT/ARUCC conference in Ottawa.
Dr. Fleming is a member of the CMEC Working Group on Credit Transfer, which facilitates pan-Canadian dialogue and collaboration on credit transfer matters. This year, Dr. Fleming was able to meet with CMEC Director General Dr. Andrew Parkin to discuss inter-provincial mobility initiatives. Each year, BCCAT submits a jurisdictional report on transfer activities in BC for the CMEC Transfer Credit report. (See cmec.ca for more information.)
In 2009, the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) established the Transfer, Articulation, and Pathways Committee (TAP), is a coalition of stakeholders examining current and possible future institutional approaches supportive of transferability, articulation, and credential recognition within and among post-secondary education systems across Canada.
This year, Dr. Fleming replaced Dr. Frank Gelin (Executive Director Emeritus, BCCAT) on this committee, which now also includes participants from the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and from the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC).
