September 9, 1998 For Immediate Release

The UNBC Senate received today the reports of the first seven UNBC degree program reviews. In all cases, the reviews make note of the significant early success of UNBC and make recommendations for continued success.

The seven programs reviewed were Biology, Business Administration, Computer Science, First Nations Studies, History, Political Science, and Social Work. It should be noted that, in the words of the Business program reviewers, the report of a review team "should be viewed as a catalyst for internal change, rather than as a blueprint for such change."

1. Most reviewers recommended the appointment of additional faculty to broaden course offerings and allow current faculty to excel in their own teaching and research. Following is the action UNBC has taken on the recommendations regarding additional staffing:

• Two additional faculty are being hired in Computer Science and the University's Computer Systems Support Specialist for the Computer Science program has been made a full-time position.

• Two additional faculty positions have been created in Business Administration and hiring continues.

• Political Science has advertised for one new faculty position, following the recommendation of the review team.

• There is an October application deadline for a new Chair of the First Nations Studies program, who will be responsible for working with northern BC First Nations to ensure the program meets the educational needs of First Nations.

• The Social Work review recommended a professor specializing in First Nations to help develop greater specialty in the social issues of northern First Nations. That position has since been filled by the University.

2. The University's facilities received praise from each review team. In particular, the Biology reviewers commented on the excellent quality of the teaching labs, and the Computer Science review likewise mentioned the on-campus computer labs. Two new student computer labs have been created for this academic year and a Presidential Committee has been set up to ensure the computer labs remain state-of-the-art.

3. Suggestions for improving the Library collection were received from the Political Science, Computer Science, and History review teams. A new BC Electronic Library Network initiative will improve access to academic journals for all BC universities, including UNBC.

"These reviews will help UNBC to be a better university," says Vice-President Academic Deborah Poff. "If there is any common theme it's that we have been very successful for a new and small university, but we need to be able to put additional resources into degree programs that are very popular. It's essential that UNBC grow, and that our academic quality remains high."

Program reviews are standard at Canadian universities and they help to ensure that degree programs remain relevant and of high quality. The reviewers always come from different universities so that their views about the programs are unbiased. The Anthropology, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, Physics, and Women's Studies programs will be reviewed this year.