Diploma in General Business Studies

at Kwantlen Polytechnic University - Richmond Campus Canada

Within its unique approach, this Bachelor's degree program provides emerging designers with a dynamic inter-disciplinary education that links innovation and creativity through the transformation of ideas into marketable products. KPU's Product Design degree provides a rigorous, hands-on education that combines a solid foundation in practical principles such as construction and economics with design, manufacturing and marketing techniques. Whether engaging in robust academic studies, intensive design studio sessions or collaborating with industry partners, graduates of this program complete their studies poised for success as professionals.

While product design covers a wide range of industries, KPU's program provides particular emphasis on the design and manufacture of recreational gear and technical goods, sportswear and accessories, protective, safety and rescue equipment to name a few. Students will also explore product design in medical, industrial and technological contexts as well as everyday consumer goods. These types of  products are consistent and growing in demand by all sectors of society, ranging from children, adults and seniors to persons with disabilities and medical needs.

The Accounting Certificate program prepares graduates for entry-level bookkeeping and accounting positions in the work force, or to pursue an Accounting Diploma.

The Certificate program includes an intense concentration of introductory and intermediate courses in financial and management accounting, one course in math, one course in finance, and two courses in tax. The Accounting Certificate is carefully aligned with the requirements of the Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting (BBA), Accounting Diploma and the CPA accounting designations.

Introductory financial accounting is a prerequisite for other required accounting courses making it necessary to study for at least three semesters to earn all required credits for an Accounting Certificate.

Fine Arts offer a two-year Diploma Program and a one-year Certificate Program, both of which are designed to enable students to acquire a solid foundation in the basic skills of visual arts. Selected courses and groups of courses within the Diploma program may be applied to a 3rd year entry into the KPU Fine Arts BFA, Visual Arts or university transfer credit in Fine Arts and Education.

Upon completion of the two-year diploma program at KPU, graduates will have acquired both intellectual and technical skills to work effectively with a wide range of media. With these skills, students can continue to develop their creative potential individually, through the BFA, Visual Arts program, or at another post-secondary institution. Most Fine Arts credits are university transferable.
The department recommends that students consider a course of study that includes specializing in one or more areas such as ceramics, painting, drawing, photography, print media, sculpture, and digital media.

The Bachelor of Applied Arts degree program is geared towards helping students gain the skills and experience necessary to be job-skills ready. The Bachelor of Applied Arts also emphasizes research skills, and gives students a bit of the grad school experience and skills, without going to graduate school. The program is more rigorous and challenging than the more flexible Bachelor of Arts, but includes courses hand-picked by faculty and employers to target hard and soft job skills. The Bachelor of Applied Arts is ideally suited for students interested in workplace expertise, tests and measurements, and UX design.

Lower-level students establish a foundation of knowledge in psychology, before concentrating on applications of psychology to modern community and workplace settings for their upper-level work. Required courses provide students with general, transferable workplace skills (e.g., Interpersonal Relations), as well as specific knowledge and skills used in a variety of public and private sector jobs such as program evaluation and technical writing. Electives provide further training in additional areas selected by the student.

Students also participate in a workplace practicum coordinated by KPU and co-supervised by faculty and employers in relevant fields of employment. This practicum placement will assist students in gaining workplace experience and in meeting potential future employers.

Those interested in further study and graduate school or who prefer more extensive research experience may augment their knowledge and skills by taking the  research-focused Honours program in Psychology. The Honours program affords students an opportunity to develop and report on a research project under the direct supervision of a faculty member within the Psychology Department.

The Bachelor of Arts, Major in History, will provide you with the opportunity to study the many peoples and cultures whose contributions have created the world in which we live today.
Our BA degree allows you to develop the knowledge and core competencies characteristic of a traditional BA program, while preparing you to respond creatively and innovatively to a range of challenges in our community and our world. You will gain the literacy and analytical competencies demanded by twenty-first century employers. Equally importantly, you will become a better-informed citizen of our increasingly interconnected world.

As a History student you will benefit from our faculty's commitment to teaching excellence and from the small class sizes at KPU.
In our lower-level courses, you will begin to build the critical thinking, intercultural, and analytical competencies necessary to succeed in upper level history courses. At the upper-level, you will undertake in-depth studies of particular areas or important themes in global development. Please see the History website at www.kpu.ca/arts/history for more information on our thematic streams.

The BBA in Marketing Management program includes intensive applied business training with an emphasis on marketing management, as well as new and emerging media and marketing analytics. The practical learning outcomes are grounded in curriculum that is accountable, global, team-based and uses contemporary quantitative and qualitative tools. Course content is industry driven and was developed in consultation with industry experts to ensure that KPU's BBA in Marketing Management graduates are ready to work. This degree is an appropriate goal for individuals who aspire to acquire leadership positions in the marketing profession.

The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Entrepreneurial Leadership program prepares graduates to fill a variety of management and leadership positions that drive small and medium-sized business growth. The program also prepares graduates with the skills and knowledge to develop and manage their own business enterprise.

Co-operative Education
The BBA in Entrepreneurial Leadership is offered with a Co-operative Education option. Co-operative Education gives a student the opportunity to apply the skills gained during academic study in paid, practical work experience. Degree students can complete a minimum of three work terms while completing their degree. Work terms generally occur full-time in separate 4 month work semesters. Work semesters alternate with academic study.

The Associate Degree is designed to provide an educational experience that prepares students for work, citizenship and an enriched life as an educated person, and to lay a solid foundation for further study in the field of Mathematics.

The Bachelor of Arts, Major in English program focuses on the diverse literatures of the English-speaking world, including the full range of British, Canadian, and American literary traditions, diasporic literature and literature in translation, oral and written Indigenous narratives, and classic and contemporary film. This degree will allow students to develop the knowledge, core competencies, and skills characteristic of a traditional Bachelor of Arts program, while preparing them to respond critically and creatively to a wide range of issues and challenges in our community and in society in general. In addition to critical reading, writing and thinking skills, students who complete a Bachelor of Arts in English will be prepared for entry into the labour market through the incorporation of essential employability skills into all of our courses. They will also benefit from the expertise and the commitment to teaching excellence of our faculty, as well as from the small class sizes that characterize undergraduate study at KPU. Arts degrees have high levels of student satisfaction, and the literacy and analytical skills developed in such programs will prepare students to become constructive members of society and to fit well into the workplace.

The Bachelor of Interior Design (IDSN) program provides students wishing to pursue a professional career in interior design with a four-year intensive education focused on the built environment. KPU's well received Interior Design degree has been accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) since 2000. As the first accredited program in British Colombia, our CIDA accreditation continues to ensure that our curriculum meets and exceeds industry standards and helps students build the foundation to become a registered interior designer.

The Interior Design faculty team is dedicated to:

• Providing a design education that includes all facets of interior design with emphasis on experience and skills in theory, research, critical analysis, problem-solving, design concepts, working drawings and specifications, technology, presentation media techniques, professional business practices and procedures, and awareness of human needs in interior design and related environments
• Preparing students for work in interior design and/or architectural offices
• Providing a practical and theoretical knowledge base that conforms to the definition and practice of interior design as described by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and as endorsed in the North American definition of an Interior Designer
• Providing education in developing career readiness
• The Interior Design program simulates a professional design environment. This "virtual design studio" offers integrated courses and curriculum, and emphasizes learning outcomes and essential skills throughout. These skills include: leadership, problem solving and creative thinking, teamwork, personal management, writing/oral/visual and interpersonal skills, research, visual literacy, mathematical and technological skills, citizenship, and an ability to view issues through a global perspective.

As part of the degree program students will:

• Practice both oral and written communication skills
• Study and apply technical knowledge of the field
• Research and analyze design theory and history
• Gain an understanding of professional business practices
• Become a member of The Interior Designers Institute of BC
• Gain industry knowledge through a practical experience in a design firm
• Apply all learning through Design Studio projects
• Visit design firms, suppliers, manufacturers, completed interior projects, museums, art galleries, and gain an in-depth understanding of the design industry