Surviving the Storm:
Impact of Institutional Change
on a First-Year Cohort Program
E. Jane Fee, PhD
Special Advisor to the Dean of
Applied Sciences
Simon Fraser University, Canada
July 25, 2006
19th International Conference on
The First-Year Experience
Toronto, Ontario
Organization of Talk
 Program
Beginnings at TechBC
 The Transition to SFU
 TechOne Today
 The Future of TechOne
 Lessons Learned
The Technical University of BC
(TechBC)
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Public, niche university
Legislation passed – December 1997
Specialized mandate to deliver high-tech programs:
Interactive Arts, Information Technology,
Management & Technology –“Doubling the
Opportunity” initiative
Located on south side of Fraser River
- highest growth area in B.C.
- lowest participation rates in post-secondary
Academic Innovations at TechBC
 Student
success model
 Blended learning pedagogy
 No Faculty structures – faculty appointed to
University
 Commitment to interdisciplinary models – all
courses/programs developed by faculty
teams
 Small class sizes
Immediate Challenges
 CAUT
Boycott – Fall 1997
 Provincial degree program approval process
 Permanent facility would be built “off book”
by Crown Corporation
 Temporarily located in leased space
 Capital funding model at 50% of COU
standards
TechOne Program Structure
 Integration
of content across courses –
learning community model
 Courses a mix of online and F2F delivery
 Education, Technology and Learning Unit
Support program
 36 credits of required coursework
The TechOne Courses
 Disciplinary
courses in IA, IT, Business
 Interdisciplinary courses in Math/Physics/Stats
 Process elements: communication, teamwork,
information literacy
 Integration of content through process element
courses
 Cohort – lab classes of 24
 All courses taught in 1-credit, 5 week modules
The Beginning of the End
 New
President hired summer 2001
 New Liberal government elected summer
2001
 Core Services Review – Fall 2001
 Announcement of transfer of students and
Programs to SFU – February 2002
Why was SFU interested?
 New
campus south of the Fraser River
 Doubling the Opportunities initiative
 Innovations in online education
 Interactive Arts program
 TechOne
2002
Information Technology and Interactive Arts
Programs frozen
– Became “The Surrey Programs” in
Faculty of Applied Sciences
 Management & Technology dissolved
– Students transferred to Faculty of Business
Administration
 200 students accepted to TechOne
 Campus staffing arrangements change
 TechOne acknowledged as independent program

Transition to a Disciplinary
Structure –2002/03
 TechOne
courses owned and operated by
home departments (IAT, CS, Bus, Math)
 Advisory program committee – “cooperative”
model
 Program managed by Associate Dean
 Sole first-year program at SFU Surrey;
serves as first year of all UG degree
programs
2003 Re-Imagining Begins
 TechOne
Restructuring
– TechOne will feed ‘Doubling the
Opportunities’ programs
– Revised modules to regular 3-credit
courses
 TechOne numbers double to 400
 High-tech crash
 Special Advisor appointed
TechOne Today
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10-15 limited-term lecturer positions
Students largely go into IAT, Computing Science,
and Business degree programs
500 students, representing
– more than 50% of new BC 12 enrollment in
Applied Sciences
– 60% of all enrollments at SFU Surrey
Competing visions beginning to coalesce
Current Curriculum
Fall
Core Courses Spring
IAT 100
IAT 101
TECH 100
TECH 101
CMPT 120
CMPT 125
+ a MATH course
Electives Based on degree program
Current Management Structure
 Separate
“Program Director” and Program
Assistant
 Budget subsumed by IAT
 Program Director manages 5 core courses;
consults with Computing Science re 2
courses
 Work co-operatively with other departments
to ensure elective courses available
Why Re-design Again?
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Its history
Vision, ownership, resourcing, consistency
New general University requirements
Developing vision of the SFU Surrey campus and
new first-year learning community programs
“One-size fits all” model isn’t working for students
SFU Surrey Vision – First Year
SFU Surrey students enter the campus
through first-year cohort programs designed to
provide a strong foundation for their academic
career and exposure to a full range of
disciplinary ideas.
Why this model?
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Greater flexibility
– in number of courses taken each semester
– to take electives to fulfill major program requirements
To articulate with all Applied Science undergrad programs
Interdisciplinary courses become the ‘value added’
“Bullet-proofing” for possible changes in Faculty of
Applied Sciences
Enrollments still down in computing science
The Vision for Fall 2008
 Reduced
interdisciplinary core (4 courses)
– Taught by interdisciplinary TechOne faculty
 Certificate in Collaborative Technologies to
be awarded at end of year
 One program within a new “Department of X”
 Back to learning communities model
The Framework
An integrated set of 4 courses
Spring
Fall
Analytical
&
Critical
Reasoning
History &
Social
Implications
of
Design:
Theory
&
Practice
Technology
Communicati
on
&
Collaboration
(W)
Theme electives as required
Digital Media Theme
Information Technology Theme
Short-term Challenges
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New University-wide curriculum changes
Increased competition for new students
– BC wide
– Within our campus
Resources
– Faculty are 90% LT teaching faculty
– Very lean on staffing
Possible restructuring of Faculty of Applied Sciences
Lessons Learned
First year students require lots of support:
 An effective first-year program must have full-time
continuing faculty resources
 You must work closely with student support units to
create seamless services (e.g., Student Life,
Writing Support, Orientation)
 Young, enthusiastic faculty will naturally gravitate to
innovative first-year programs. You must find ways
to attract more senior, experienced faculty
Lessons Learned
Structures/Funding
 Programs must own and control their own
resources
 Innovative programs require innovative structures
 Government policy is always 5 years behind reality
 Assessment is a powerful ally
Lessons Learned
Inertia
 You must be ever vigilant in the creation of
innovative programs; any challenge will result in
going back to “the way we’ve always done it”
 The efficacy of well-established programs is not
questioned; you must provide evidence of success
for new and innovative programs
 There will always be those who are not supportive
of anything new or different. Just accept this and
move on
Reasons for Optimism
 New
Surrey campus opens September 8,
2006
 Developing partnerships, and technology
initiatives are on the horizon
 General readiness for reform at SFU
 Data shows we are being successful
(retention = 85%)
 Students and faculty love the program
www.surrey.sfu.ca
www.sfu.ca/techone