Bachelor of Commerce (Digital Marketing) - Postsecondary ...

1. Welcome/Introductions
Mary Pierce welcomed all participants and invited all to briefly introduce themselves.
2. Process Overview and Agenda
Ross Gowan provided a brief overview of Fanshawe College’s new program development process.
The external focus group of industry representatives provides input on both the need for the proposed
program and the draft vocational learning outcomes. The fundamental question for the external focus
group is “Should Fanshawe continue with the next steps in the program development process” If the
program development proceeds, the group will be reconvened as the Program Advisory Committee
and will review revised learning outcomes, proposed curriculum, and delivery options. It is hoped that
the final proposal will be submitted to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) in
June 2012 for a tentative program launch in Fall 2013.
3. Overview of Plans to Develop a Cluster of Degree Programs
Mary provided an overview of Fanshawe’s degree efforts to date. (Background document is included
in meeting package.) Ontario’s Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology have had permission from
MTCU to grant degrees for just over 10 years. College degrees must be of an applied nature and
originally were to be clearly differentiated from university degrees by having a narrower focus;
however, this requirement has now been lifted, allowing colleges to offer degrees with a broad focus
similar to university degree programs. In addition, the naming nomenclature was relaxed, allowing
colleges to use traditional degree names, for instance Bachelor of Commerce rather than Bachelor of
Applied Business. Within Canada, Ontario was a notable hold out in allowing colleges to offer
degrees and in facilitating college-to-university transfer.
Fanshawe has not been a leader in degrees development and currently offers only three degrees, none
of them in business, as well as a few collaborative degrees. The Lawrence Kinlin School of Business
(LKSB) currently offers11 diploma programs and four of those programs are consistently among
Fanshawe College’s largest programs by enrolment: accounting, marketing, human resources and
business. These are the four areas in which Fanshawe is focusing its business degree development and
is now exploring four four-year Bachelor of Commerce degrees: accounting, digital marketing,
human resources, and leadership and management.
The proposed plan for the degrees has a common first two years, with specialization in the third and
fourth years; this plan is similar to Fanshawe’s approach to business diploma programs, all of which
share a common first semester. Graduates from diploma and advanced diploma programs would have
opportunities to transfer to the corresponding degree program. Transfer opportunities are an important
part of the proposal; credit transfer would be similar to existing transfer opportunities with Ontario
universities. Fanshawe would consider offering one or two of the proposed degree programs, but
would prefer to offer more than one program to achieve delivery efficiencies. The business plan calls
for 20 students to be admitted into the first semester of each program and 20 students to transfer into
the fifth semester of each program, both on an ongoing basis.
As set out by MTCU, the requirements for college degrees are as follows:
Applied curriculum achieved through curriculum content, delivery and evaluation, and
faculty with industry experience
46 Bachelor of Commerce (Digital Marketing)