Yukon College welcomed as member of BC Association of Institutes and Universities

WHITEHORSE-The BC Association of Institutes and Universities (BCAIU) has welcomed Yukon College as its newest member. Through joining the association of four universities and three institutes, the future Yukon University will obtain valuable guidance and experience of other institutions that have recently evolved to university status.

The BCAIU is made up of 4 universities created in 2008 (University of the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island University, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Emily Carr University of Art and Design) and three institutes (BCIT, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and Justice Institute of BC).  BCAIU institutions share a common value in working together, optimizing relationships with other education institutions and organizations, with business and industry, and local communities. BCAIU institutions offer programs from basic literacy to vocational trades, undergraduate and graduate degrees.

“We are delighted to welcome Yukon College to BCAIU”, said Board Chair Dr. Mark Evered (President, University of the Fraser Valley).  “Our shared commitments to student success and regional prosperity make this a great fit."

“There is much that Yukon College can learn from the evolutionary pathways of each of the other BCAIU members,” said Dr. Karen Barnes, Yukon College President. “Some of the areas we are keen to engage on, for example, would be looking at how they have balanced the needs of different community campuses, how they have developed their degree programs, and how they have expanded research opportunities for students and faculty.”

Barnes added that all BCAIU members have expressed interest in building research and programming partnerships with Yukon College.

The Government of Yukon announced in November 2015 that when Yukon College transitions into a university it will be named Yukon University (or YukonU). The transition is expected to take five years during which the College will launch it’s first made-in-Yukon degree program in Indigenous Governance and a post-degree certificate in Climate Change and Public Policy.

For more information on the Yukon College university transition please visit yukoncollege.yk.ca/universityplanning/.