This unique program enables “Dual Credit” courses to be offered to BC secondary students through distance delivery by Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning (TRU-OL).

Students successfully completing one or two Dual Credit Course(s) will receive one or two elective courses towards their Dogwood credential, as well as one or two university credit course(s) with Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

This offering enables students to:

• Experience areas of post-secondary studies, while remaining within the safety of the secondary school support system.
• Experience post-secondary training, tuition free (if a school district chooses to pay for the student’s tuition costs).
• Earn dual credit for each course (3 TRU credits and 4 Ministry of Education credits for each TRU Start BC course).
• Enjoy the benefits of TRU tutor-supported instruction.
• Enhance your resume by demonstrating commitment to education, time management skills and direction.
• Experience the world of e-learning and begin to build the foundations for life long learning.

More information on TRU Open Learning website at http://www.tru.ca/distance/programs/TRUstart.html

Our enrollments jumped more than 15% last month and we expecting even bigger jump this month. We are not in the middle of the month yet but already had more than 52% of enrollments. This is as of 12 July 2009.

PS.
Canadian – Enrolments (one l)
USA – Enrollments (two l)

FACTS

Enrollment in online college courses in the United States outpaced overall growth in higher education last year, and officials predict a sustained increase in online enrollment as the economy slumps and good jobs become scarcer, according to report published this month.

“Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, 2008,” published by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, says 22 percent of American college students took at least one web-based class in the fall 2007 semester, or 3.94 million students. That marked an increase of 12.9 percent from the fall 2006 semester. During the same period, overall higher-education enrollment increased by only 1.2 percent, according to the report, which surveyed officials from more than 2,500 colleges and universities.

from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=56046

We have 25% increase in student enrolments in last two months.

One day enrolment example

Monthly enrolments example

The University Baccalaureate Graduates Survey (UBGS), designed by the University Presidents Council of BC and now administered by BC Statistics, provides information two years after graduation on baccalaureate degree graduates from fifteen BC provincial institutions, including the university sector that’s comprised of TRU, UBC, SFU, UVIC, UNBC, and Royal Road University. The survey provides information on the graduates’ further education, employment and occupations, current job earnings, financing of university education, and satisfaction with their education.

TRU-OL Video Contest Winners

Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning (TRU-OL) launched its first ever Video Contest entitled Where Do you Open Learn? on April 28, 2009. The contest encouraged any TRU student (enrolled during the 2008-2009 academic year) to create, either as an individual or as a team, a video of 30 seconds or less that illustrated where and how a student can open learn. Participants were encouraged to be creative and develop a video, be it irreverent, funny or thought-provoking, that was compelling to watch and presented an engaging message that could be the basis for a viral e-mail marketing campaign.

First prize winner and TRU-OL student Chelsea Dotchak of Victoria, BC, won a cash prize of $750 for her video My TRU Opportunity while TRU-OL student Jade Lorimer of Kamloops, BC won second place to receive an iPod Touch* and a cash prize of $250, for her video Learn Anywhere!.

These videos can be viewed online on YouTube at www.youtube.com/group/openlearning and will also be hosted on the TRU-OL website.

Many learners have acquired valuable training, skills and knowledge through life and work experience. PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition) provides students with the opportunity to have such learning assessed and recognized in the form of academic credit toward the requirements of a Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning program.

You can earn Academic Credits for learning from life and work experience

Congratulations! I have passed the Inbound Marketing Certification Exam.

Inbound Marketing University (IMU) is a free marketing retraining program for marketing professionals—as well as marketers between jobs—looking to gain new skills to get ahead in the competitive workforce.

The week-long IMU program includes ten webinar classes and one review session.

The university program concludes with the inbound marketing certification exam. Those who will complete IMU and pass the exam will become Inbound Marketing Certified Professionals and will receive a certificate.

Class 1: How to Blog Effectively for Business. (GF101) Professors: Ann Handley & Mack Collier, MarketingProfs

Class 2: SEO Crash Course to Get Found. (GF102) Professor: Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing

Class 3: Social Media and Building Community. (GF201) Professor: Chris Brogan, New Marketing Labs

Class 4: Successful Business Uses for Facebook and LinkedIn .(GF202) Professor: Elyse Tager, Silicon Valley American Marketing Association

Class 5: Viral Marketing and World Wide Raves. (GF301) Professor: David Meerman Scott, author of New Rules of Marketing & PR and
World Wide Rave

Class 6: Advanced SEO Tactics: On Beyond Keyword Research (GF401) Professor: Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz

Class 7: Calls to Action and Landing Page Best Practices (CV101) Professor: Jeanne Hopkins, MECLABS, Marketing Experiments

Class 8: Inbound Lead Nurturing .(CV201) Professor: Brian Carroll, MECLABS, InTouch

Class 9: Successful Email Marketing. (CV301) Professor: Eric Groves, Constant Contact

Class 10: Analyzing Inbound Marketing. (AZ401) Professor:Marshall Sponder, Monster.com, Web Analytics Association for Social Media

Review Session: Inbound Marketing Exam Review Professor: Mike Volpe, HubSpot

I’ve just updated our students success stories. See it below

Success Stories

Opening New Doors From post-secondary status to full-fledged Degree and beyond	Educational Evolution Simultaneously laddering a Degree and growing a family
Determination Realizing my dreams in a new country through education	Breaking Barriers Anything is possible if the opportunity is there
Higher Education From an OL Degree all the way to Med School	Academic Recognition Tenacious Carla succeeds through OL
Job Advancement Guiding my own professional direction	Professional Development Meeting standards in a changing workforce

The appointment of Lloyd Loveday and Peter Robertson as Directors, Strategic Partnerships, effective 6 July, 2009.

Peter holds an MBA from Athabasca University, an Advanced Graduate Management Diploma from Athabasca University, and a Bachelor of Management from the University of Lethbridge.  He has extensive marketing and sales experience, and has recently been employed as a Marketing Instructor for TRU in Chandigarh, India.  Peter will be concentrating his efforts on partnerships with Corporations and Professional Associations.

Lloyd holds an MBA in Executive Management from Royal Roads University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Regina.  He has 20 years experience in financial planning, Human Resources and Operations, and was the Executive Director of Kamloops Immigrant Services.  Lloyd will be concentrating his efforts on partnerships with Government, non-profit, Aboriginal, First Nations and new immigrants.

Don Poirier will continue to focus on partnerships with universities, colleges, schools and licensing.

On May 20, 2009, Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning (TRU-OL), held its first-ever Job Shadowing event, through which staff shadowed a co-worker to gain a better understanding of TRU-OL’s internal operations and the many positions that helpthe institution run smoothly.

It was fun.

Photos for my memory