One of the biggest challenges currently facing Carleton University is how to maintain sustainability in the face of a decline in the number of domestic students who attend university full-time immediately following high school graduation.
While the University is already responding to this challenge by committing considerable resources to attracting international students, our Strategic Impact Group project proposes a way to attract, support, and retain a larger share of the available domestic pool by developing an alternative model of course delivery for full-time workers and mature students whose work schedules and family obligations do not permit them to complete full-semester courses.
By delivering undergraduate courses in an intensive, modular format offered over multiple weekends, Carleton would be targeting mature students with degrees who wish to retrain or upgrade their credentials, those who have completed some post-secondary education but do not have degrees, and those who have no post-secondary education. These intensive courses would be particularly suitable for certificate programs whose courses can also be applied toward a BA. Alternative course delivery would provide opportunities for Carleton University to ensure its sustainability through a long-term enrollment model, to assert its core values of collaboration, leadership, resilience, and accessibility through embracing innovative teaching options, and to serve the community by offering programs in a flexible format that accommodates the lifestyles of professionals in the Ottawa region.
- Anna Hoefnagels (Associate Professor, SSAC)
- Dotty Nwakanma (Assistant Manager, Student Success and Advising)
- Janet Mantler (Associate Professor, Psychology)
- John Nelson (Manager, International Outreach, OVPRI)
- Sara Jamieson (Associate Professor, English)
- Sheryl Hunt (Manager, Marketing & Brand Development, Athletics)
- Tyler Hall (Senior Analyst, OIRP)