Business administration students at Lakeland College can look forward to new opportunities after their diploma.
Lakeland College and the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 8 allowing Lakeland students to transfer to Edwards upon completion of their business administration diploma. The transfer agreement will allow Lakeland students the opportunity to continue their business education by earning an internationally accredited degree.
Beginning this fall, students who successfully complete a two‐year business administration diploma with a 68 per cent average at Lakeland’s Lloydminster campus will be able to transfer to the four‐year Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) program at Edwards in Saskatoon. These students will graduate with both a diploma and a degree after four years of study. Dean of Lakeland College’s school of energy and business, Brad Onofrychuk, says the agreement has been a long time coming. Lakeland and the USask have been working on this for a year and a half, and that the college sends a lot of its students to the USask.
“The opportunity came up; we actually send the second highest number of students to the U of S in the province of Saskatchewan. The opportunity was there to arrange a block transfer agreement, so students still have the opportunity to attend the Edwards School of Business as they did before, but this agreement eases their transition from Lakeland College into the University of Saskatchewan,” says Onofrychuk.
Before, similar options were available to Lakeland students with a high enough academic standing. They could send their transcripts to the USask who would assess them course by course to build a program plan for the student. The new agreement comes with a pre-approved program plan for students who have completed those two years at Lakeland. Onofrychuk says this allows the student’s work to be credited and reduce the chance of them needing to take an additional course along the way.
“This new agreement is really quite clean. If you’ve taken the menu of courses we have available under this new agreement, then you can confidently travel to the U of S and there’s really very low risk of having to retake or add an extra course to your program.”
Onofrychuk adds that the agreement serves as a recognition of Lakeland’s programming; similar agreements exist with the University of Athabasca and the University of Lethbridge. The four‐year B.Comm. degree helps students develop critical thinking, problem‐solving, communication and teamwork skills demanded by employers around the world. Keith Willoughby, dean of the Edwards School of Business, says the new agreement will help students achieve their dreams.
“The new transfer credit agreement will further position students in their career paths. We are committed to developing business professionals to build nations through new pathways and providing an outstanding student experience,” says Willoughby.