KPU collaborates with Vancouver Film School to offer pathway program
VFS diploma graduates can earn a KPU degree through two years of study
The VFS-KPU Pathway Program allows VFS graduates to earn an arts degree at KPU by completing an additional two years of study in writing courses. (Submitted)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University has collaborated with Vancouver Film School (VFS) to create a pathway program that gives students the opportunity to complete a degree and diploma in three years.
The institutions announced the creation of the VFS-KPU Pathway Program in March, and it is now open for registration.
The process allows VFS graduates with an advanced diploma in Writing for Film, Television, and Games to register in writing courses at KPU such as screenwriting, fiction, and poetry. Through this, VFS graduates can earn a bachelor of arts degree with a major in creative writing or general studies from KPU.
“Pathway programs [are] an opportunity for us to ladder existing degree students in particular programs and other institutions and to diversify that student body to come and enter into our third and fourth year programs,” says KPU Director, Global Engagement Zainab Al-koubaisi.
“It’s an opportunity for us to also … support other institutions that don’t have the opportunity or capacity to offer bachelor programs or degrees on their own.”
She also says having VFS graduates attend KPU benefits students by providing diverse interactions, networking opportunities, and the chance to learn from their knowledge and experience.
VFS graduates registering in the pathway program are still subjected to KPU enrollment standards.
“These students don’t have different admission requirements [than] anybody else, they have to meet the same admission requirement as any other prospective student,” Al-koubaisi says.
This isn’t the first time VFS has reached out to other post-secondary institutions to embark on collaborative initiatives.
“KPU is not their first partnership of this nature, but they have a good number of students that enroll in their diploma programs that are interested in laddering into bachelor’s degrees,” she says.
Having pathway programs is something KPU is continuing to look into as it provides students the benefits of different experiences from other institutions, Al-koubaisi says.
“We’re always looking for quality partners and synergies to make [pathway programs] work,” she says.
“Not every request or initiation of a similar nature to this type of project will [always] work, but we always go through the vetting process and work with the department and the faculty and [to make] sure that it suits the needs of KPU.”
KPU offers other pathway programs such as one with Sustainability Management School (SUMAS), a private business school in Switzerland, where KPU graduates with a diploma in business administration can ladder into the master’s of arts in management or master’s of business administration at SUMAS. Students need to complete an additional five courses, either online or in-person, from SUMAS to earn the master’s degree.
Students interested in applying to the VFS-KPU Pathway Program can visit https://vfs.edu/pathway/kpu to learn more.
