April 2, 1997 For Immediate Release

The University of Northern British Columbia will launch a new program in September 1997 designed to help students from rural and First Nations communities make a successful transition to university. 25 students will start the program in the Fall.

The Northern Advancement Program is unique in that it's a full first-year program of study which is entirely transferable to any degree program at the university. Here's how the program works:

Students in the first year of the program will sign up for four courses per semester. The selection will include courses on writing and research skills, as well as the UNBC Core courses, which give students a broad exposure to the various university disciplines. The Core courses include the social sciences, humanities, life sciences, and physical sciences.

"Students from smaller rural communities and First Nations students traditionally have had the most difficulty in adjusting to university; they don't have daily exposure to things like large libraries and the Internet," says Dr Lee Morrison, Director of First Nations programs at UNBC. "The cornerstones of this program include the classes on study skills and the support services we'll be providing."

More than $600,000 in endowment and operating funds have been committed from the Maurice Young Foundation in Vancouver, BC Hydro, and Westcoast Energy. The Vancouver Foundation will also contribute $100,000 to support Dr Morrison in conducting a review of the overall success of the Northern Advancement Program and of UNBC's student retention strategies.

The University is situated in the territories of 78 bands and 16 tribal councils. Northern BC has just over 200 communities, of which only eleven have 5,000 or more people. The total population of northern BC is 300,000, about 10% of whom are First Nations.