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athabascau.ca
Athabasca University (AU ) is a Canadian university specializing in online distance education and one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta . [3] Founded in 1970, it was the first Canadian university to specialize in distance education . [4]
Origins [ edit ]
Athabasca University was created by the Alberta government in 1970. It was part of the expansion of the higher education system in Alberta at that time to cope with rising enrolment .
In the late 1960s, the University of Alberta (U of A) had long been established, the University of Calgary was created after legislation had been changed , and an Order in Council had created the University of Lethbridge . [5] In 1967, the Manning government announced its intention to establish a fourth public university , but this would be delayed by three years as the government considered different proposals. The U of A wanted to expand rather than see another university open in Edmonton to compete with it. One proposal favoured establishing a Christian university instead of a secular one. Another early suggestion was an "Alberta academy " that would take credits students had earned at multiple universities , evaluate them for transfer , and perhaps award degrees. A Department of Education ad hoc group favoured the establishment of a fourth public university . [5]
A group of U of A graduates including Preston Manning influenced the development of an independent fourth university. In 1970, Grant MacEwan , then the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta , established AU by an Order in Council . The name for the new university was a challenge, as it was not desired to associate the new university in a primarily rural province with a city (Edmonton ) that already had a university (the U of A). Athabasca Hall , a student residence at the U of A, was scheduled for demolition , so the name was appropriated for the new Athabasca University . [5]
In 1984, AU moved its main campus in Edmonton 145 kilometres north to Athabasca . Today the main campus remains in Athabasca , and there are satellite locations in Calgary , Edmonton and St . Albert .
In 1994, AU introduced the worlds first online Executive MBA program. [6] Under the leadership of university president Dominique Abrioux (1995-2005) Athabasca expanded programs in all faculties including graduate studies with a new MA in Integrated Studies called MA-IS.
The initial mandate for Athabasca University dictated that AU be primarily undergraduate in scope . Creating new procedures for curriculum development was also part of the mandate.
AU 's mandate was later revised to include graduate studies as well, and the university has offered graduate programs and courses since 1994.
The mandate and mission were last revised in 2009. [7] AU 's current mission statement is as follows:
Athabasca University , Canada 's Open University , is dedicated to the removal of barriers that restrict access to and success in university-level study and to increasing equality of educational opportunity for adult learners worldwide .
First president and early years[ edit ]
In April 1971, Timothy C Byrne was appointed the first president of Athabasca University , and he assumed office in June that year. [5]
The initial governing authority of the university had eight members as well as a broad range of powers to set up the new university. On July 2-3, 1970, they met for the first time , and Carl W. Clement was the first chair . It was expected by the government of the day that AU would have 10,000 students by 1979. September 1, 1973, was set as the target date to open . [5]
The AU administration chose the University of California , Santa Cruz , as its model , deciding that individual colleges should serve as the basic planning units for the new university, which would be organized as a federation of colleges . [5] Each of the colleges was to have 650 students with corresponding lecture and office space . The learning approach would have students in small tutorials instead of large lectures . Research within the new university was to be limited to a specified region around the city of Edmonton . One criticism was that the university was trying to do too much. [5]
The government of Peter Lougheed in 1971 brought changes including a cabinet portfolio specifically for post-secondary education . The newly elected Conservative government was opposed to building a new university in Edmonton , but architectural plans were permitted to continue . A proposal was made to the government to test the new model for three to five years, and if it succeeded, AU would become a fully independent university. This happened under chair Merrill Wolfe . The proposal was accepted by the government . [5]
In the summer of 1972, the new deputy minister of Alberta Advanced Education stated there was a demand for lifelong continuing education . There was also a need for an "Alberta academy " that would evaluate university courses taken at multiple institutions and award degrees based on its evaluations. Meanwhile , AU also proposed to serve part-time students and made the case that this would not affect the traditional universities already established in Alberta or the new approach of AU . An open-door admissions policy removing most traditional university admission requirements was part of AU 's proposal. [5]
In 1972, a new Order in Council was issued to include only a new pilot project for distance education . [5]
Piloting distance education [ edit ]
Trial and error characterized the pilot period , as there was no similar model to follow for the mandate Athabasca University was given. In 1973, AU began to advertise for students to help with course development . World Ecology was the first course and the core of the pilot project . In-house production of the learning packages for courses was important to the staff, so the university developed its own printing process . [5]
Contrary to much current belief, Athabasca University was not modelled after the Open University , but was developed in its present form during the pilot project . AU became aware of what the Open University was doing when, during the final year of the project , a representative went to Milton Keynes to discover any methods its staff might have devised to speed up production . [5]
In 1975, plans came together to reach out to students through field services tutors and regional learning resource centres . In 1976, the first part-time telephone tutors were appointed, 24 in total . The tutor role was to facilitate learning, not to teach the course. Tutors were assigned blocks of between 20 and 40 students each, and AU provided toll-free phone numbers that students used for contacting the tutors . All tutors were (and are still) required to have at least a master 's degree. [5]
An early test project for a learning resour