A petition to save required courses within the UBC Okanagan accounting program has received more than 1,500 signatures.
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April 10, 2014 - 4:46 PM
KELOWNA – A petition to save required courses within the UBC Okanagan accounting program has received more than 1,500 signatures in only a few days.
UBC Faculty of Management dean Roger Sugden announced Monday three fourth-year accounting courses were being cut from the curriculum and students would have to take those courses elsewhere.
Many people are upset by the sudden announcement and so far the petition has received numerous signatures demanding that the students be given a say in the decision.
“I go to this school and I think this is outrageous,” writes Migeena Riggs of West Kelowna. “You can't just spring this on people on the last day of school. People need warning.”
Courses on the chopping block are Tax, Advanced Financial Accounting and Audit and Assurance, all of which are required for students to receive the CPA Canada degree.
The author of the petition writes, “The dean has refused to permit alumni, parents, media, and all other stakeholders to partake in information sessions. Despite massive student outcry on the decision, all efforts to have the dean accommodate the existing courses have been ignored. There was no consultation with any current students, alumni, businesses, or other key stakeholders prior to the announcement.
The students can take the classes at other accredited BC institutions or online, while earning their Bachelor of Management at UBC.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Okanagan campus Deborah Buszard says the Faculty of Management at UBC’s Okanagan campus "is taking action on student concerns about changes to three accounting elective courses."
“I want students to know that they can still earn all the CPA prerequisites and count them as credits toward the Bachelor of Management degree," she says. "We’re looking within UBC and externally at other ways to provide these courses to our students. We are committed to meeting our students’ needs."
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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