KPU board of governors hold 1st regular meeting for the fall semester

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s board of governors (BOG) welcomed President and Vice-Chancellor Bruce Choy, Chair Erin Barnes, and new members at its first meeting of the school year on Oct. 1 at the Surrey campus. 

Board Vice-Chair Stephanie Smith chaired the meeting as Barnes wasn’t able to join in person. KPU Elder-in-Residence Lekeyten began the meeting by congratulating the newcomers and singing the Heartbeat song. 

The board approved Policy and Procedure AC15 Digital Credentials, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, and received an update to GV4 – Signing Authority Policy, Procedures, and Schedules. 

Digital credentials, which are non-credit, refer to electronic completion of learning, skills, and

competencies that can be verified online. It typically includes a KPU Digital Open Badge that is used to confirm acquired skills. 

Digital credentials are different from traditional credentials, offer students diverse learning opportunities, and create pathways for them to meet workforce requirements, the agenda read.

GV4 is a governance policy under the authority of the BOG, which governs financial and legal commitments that are distinct from academic or operational policy. The motion proposed a change to increase the approval threshold from $200,000 to $2,000,000 to better align with other institutions and prevent time-sensitive operational delays. A revised policy will be submitted to the finance committee and board next month.

The board governance committee then recommended the BOG approve the 2024-25 Accountability Plan and Report for submission to the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. 

The report includes an accountability requirement framework from the ministry to make sure post-secondary institutions remain accountable to the government and ensures that the ministry is accountable to the public in return. The report was submitted to the ministry in July and has since been revised slightly to incorporate ministry feedback. 

The report included strategic priorities, programming and student demographic details, a student alumni spotlight, performance measures and targets, and reconciliation efforts. 

While the demand for online courses has remained high post-pandemic, the interest in in-person learning has continued on the rise, the report read. The number of seats filled by online courses totaled 24,779 in 2023-24, which is 19 per cent of all seats filled. This is compared to 29,846 seats and 23 per cent of seats filled by online courses in 2022-23, and 48,882 seats and 39 per cent in 2021-22.  

In 2023-24, Surrey reported the highest number of seats filled at each campus at 59,850, followed by Richmond with 21,638. The same year, 34 per cent of the student body attended multiple campuses for classes. This percentage for international students was 41 per cent, compared to domestic students at 30 per cent.

The domestic and international student headcounts for 2024-25 were 14,123 and 5,949 respectively. 

“Despite the growth in domestic enrolments in the past two fiscal years, a notable decline in overall headcount has been observed in FY2024/25,” the report read. 

Arts reported the highest course headcount, which was 12,157 students, followed by business and science. 

“This is showing what we’ve actually done, on progress on those as well as the performance indicators that the ministry selected,” Planning and Accountability Director Meredith Haaf said.

The next motion was to approve the Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) Public Bodies Report for submission to the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. The report includes information about the university’s overall financial health and is to be submitted to the ministry annually. 

In his report to the board, Choy talked about economic conditions and uncertainty facing post-secondary institutions, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) policy concerning international student enrolments, and KPU’s international recruiting efforts. 

“It’s more to emphasize that we have a foresight role here in the board, and [it’s our] primary duty to make sure that we’re looking not just at the immediate concerns,” he said. “We don’t want to have a student come in and go out in a worse situation.” 

Choy also mentioned that funding of $2.5 million from the Ministry of Health has been granted to add two cohorts to a pilot program to fast-track licensed professional nurses (LPN) into registered nurses (RN), offered within the Faculty of Health. 

The next BOG meeting is scheduled for Nov. 26 at 5:00 pm online via Microsoft Teams. To learn more, visit www.kpu.ca/governors.