Skip to content

Changes at David Lam campus

Over the next two years, Douglas College's David Lam campus will grow by more than 850 students as the college relocates its Faculty of Child, Family and Community Studies (CFCS) to Coquitlam.

Over the next two years, Douglas College's David Lam campus will grow by more than 850 students as the college relocates its Faculty of Child, Family and Community Studies (CFCS) to Coquitlam.

The move is necessary to accommodate Douglas College's expanding student body and to make room for even more students in the near future. Enrolment at Douglas is up 5% over last year and 12% over 2009, which has pushed the New Westminster campus past its capacity.

CFCS offers programs in the human services field, including Early Childhood Education, Classroom and Community Support, Youth Justice, Therapeutic Recreation and Child and Youth Care. Graduates find employment in a variety of community and government-funded agencies. Currently, all CFCS classes, except Therapeutic Recreation, are taught in New Westminster.

Relocating CFCS to Coquitlam will help accommodate growth and provide more opportunities for students, college president Scott McAlpine said in a press release.

"By moving the entire faculty to Coquitlam, we'll be able to meet the growing demand for CFCS programs and open up additional classroom space at New West for other programs," McAlpine says. "And CFCS students will be able to take advantage of labs and other state-of-the-art facilities at the Coquitlam campus."

The move will be phased in over two stages to accommodate students. Current full-time students will be able to complete their programs - the majority of which are two years - at the Royal City campus and new students will begin classes in September 2012 at the Coquitlam campus. By fall 2013, nearly all CFCS programs will be offered at the Coquitlam campus.

Other news:

Aspiring ESL teachers will be able to take winter-semester training courses at Douglas College's Coquitlam campus for the first time in January.

Normally taught in the summers at the New Westminster Campus, Douglas' Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program is being offered from January to April next year at the Coquitlam Campus.

"It can be tough to get into this program," Julia Robinson, the TESL program co-ordinator, said in a press release. "Last summer, we had a wait list of people who didn't get in, so the fact that we're able to offer this extra section this winter presents quite an opportunity."

The intensive 15-credit, one-semester TESL program provides students with the knowledge and experience to teach English as a Second or Foreign Language to adults. Students receive 30 hours of practicum, 10 of which are spent tutoring at Douglas and 20 of which are spent observing and teaching in ESL classrooms at private language schools and government-funded programs around the Lower Mainland.

"Students like the practical focus of the program," said Robinson. "We're very much into attaching theory to what it means in terms of practice. We help people practise doing things, not just learn about them."

Douglas College's TESL program is recognized by TESL Canada, the national body that provides professional certification for graduates. To qualify for certification, one must also have a bachelor's degree. This can be earned before or after one takes the TESL program at Douglas.

Douglas is holding an information session on the TESL program Dec. 6 at the Coquitlam campus, 1250 Pinetree Way, and Dec. 1 at the New Westminster Campus, 700 Royal Ave. See douglascollege.ca/info for details. The deadline to register is Dec. 9.

For more information, visit douglascollege.ca.