University Transfer: Bachelor of Arts - Sociology

at Red Deer Polytechnic Canada

This program is accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP). It prepares the graduate to become a Registered Pharmacy Technician (RPhT) following graduation and successful completion of the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) certification process and the Alberta College of Pharmacists (ACP) registration process. Details regarding registering as a Pharmacy Technician in the province of Alberta can be found by accessing the Alberta College of Pharmacists website (www.pharmacists.ab.ca).

RDC has been educating Pharmacy Technicians since 1976 and graduates are highly sought after by employers. This diploma program is delivered over five academic terms.

Program outcomes are designed to enable successful transition to the role of the Pharmacy Technician, assisting students to:

• Communicate effectively and respectfully to build positive relationships through verbal, nonverbal, written and technological means with patients, co-workers and other health care providers.
• Practice in a legal, ethical and professional manner demonstrating conduct that meets expectations of members of society and the profession.
• Accurately manage and perform technical and distributive tasks expected of a pharmacy technician.
• Build collaborative relationships within the pharmacy and health care teams to optimize patient safety and meet patient health care needs and improve health outcomes.
• Perform job related tasks in a safe and effective manner that ensures quality and patient safety while using professional judgment as to which tasks can be performed independently or in collaboration with a pharmacist.
• Maintain, enhance and share knowledge, skills and attitude through self-reflective practice, use of available learning resources, networking and self-directed learning to continue to be a lifelong learner.

The University Sciences Diploma at Red Deer College is a two-year diploma program emphasizing contemporary concepts and practical scientific skills applicable to both field and laboratory settings. With an initial specialization in Biological Sciences, students registered in this program will explore topics ranging from the level of molecules and cells to that of organisms, communities, and populations. The University Science Diploma will prepare graduates for transition into the final two years of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences, for admission to professional schools requiring a minimum of two years of undergraduate studies, and for entry into the workforce in biology-related fields.

Program Outcomes

• Demonstrate competency in analytical methods.
• Identify one's own strengths and weaknesses in relation to areas of study and future growth.
• Develop basic scientific research projects using appropriate research methods and ethics.
• Communicate scientific knowledge clearly and succinctly through oral, visual, and written formats to diverse audiences.
• Demonstrate collaborative, independent, and inclusive attitudes and practices integrating multidisciplinary perspectives and approaches.
• Demonstrate professional conduct in all aspects of individual and team-based work.
• Describe creative solutions to problems that impact society by drawing from scientific theories.
• Explain natural principles and phenomena using knowledge from the biological sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences.
• Recognize the place of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in scientific study.

Students may apply for the program on a full or part-time basis, application requirements and the application process are the same for each stream. Program planning will take place with students during the registration process.

The mission of the Social Work Diploma Program at RDC is to prepare the student for employment as a social worker and to provide a foundation for further post-secondary education through the introduction and integration of: practice skills, theoretical knowledge, and application of social work ethics and values. The Program fulfills its mission by promoting of ethical practice, social and economic justice, respect for and acceptance of diversity among peoples, and relationship building.

Social workers are trained to 'help people help themselves'. The focus of social work is on the interactions between people and their social environment. The program examines how to help people meet the demands of daily life. It looks at how social work seeks to improve people's problem-solving and coping skills, and links them with systems that offer resources, services, and opportunities.

The two-year diploma program provides a broad background into the functional areas of business. It provides a deeper dive compared to the certificate, for those who have a bit more time to gain further expertise. The program is designed for individuals wanting to quickly progress into management positions, manage their own location, or gain the skills, insight, and confidence to run a successful business. The business diploma enhances other existing credentials.

Students in the diploma will participate in a 90-hour work practicum, research project, or service learning opportunity. Students will survey the functional areas of business, develop an entrepreneurial mindset through creative and critical thinking, and choose from a selection of project based courses in human resources, marketing, accounting, financial services, entrepreneurship and small business, and corporate finance and economics.

Program Learning Outcomes:

• Collaboration: Collaborate in and with diverse teams employing interpersonal communication, teamwork, and leadership skills.
• Communication: Communicate effectively utilizing oral, written, nonverbal, and media communication skills.
• Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving: Integrate creative, critical, and reflective skills and practices to analyze organizational challenges.
• Globalization: Recognize the impact of globalization across cultures and markets.
• Social and Cross-Cultural Awareness: Examine different ideas, perspectives, and worldviews in response to dynamic changing global, economic, political, social, and technological business environment.
• Information, Research, Technology, and Financial Fluency: Apply information literacy, technology, research skills, and numerical and financial fluency to solve problems and analyze business decisions.
• Ethics: Employ ethical decision making and demonstrate professionalism.
• Business Acumen - Tools: Apply qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze business decisions.
• Business Acumen - Analysis: Apply specific knowledge from the functional areas of business including terminology, business analytical tools, and techniques.
• Business Acumen - Holistic: Apply holistic and entrepreneurial approaches when working in, and managing, socially responsible organizations.
• Lifelong Learning: Recognize the value of lifelong-learning and community engagement.
• Indigenous: Contribute to the advancement of reconciliation and apply principles of Indigenous knowledge including identifying and describing Indigenous cultural protocols, worldviews, and learning approaches in both a business and societal context.

Economics studies how households, businesses and governments make choices about how to allocate scarce resources in order to best satisfy individual and social wants. The tools of economics can be used to analyze issues as diverse as unemployment, inflation, globalization, discrimination, environmental issues, taxation, health care and professional sports. Each year courses are offered in microeconomics and macroeconomics, and in selected fields such as money and banking, labour economics, international economics, sports economics, development economics, and industrial organization.

Graduates of the four-year Bachelor of Education program (University of Alberta) and the five-year combined degree program (University of Alberta and The University of Lethbridge) are eligible to apply for Teacher Certification in the Province of Alberta and all other provinces. RDC offers up to two years (60 credits) of transferable coursework in these programs.

Your educational experience is further enhanced through active participation in the Education Undergraduate Society (EUS). Membership in this society entitles you to attend conferences, conventions and other activities of the Alberta Teachers' Association.

The Bachelor of Commerce program will provide you with background skills and knowledge in the various specialized areas of business, as well as in the humanities and social sciences. Emphasis is on developing the ability to analyze various organizational problems of a human and/or technical nature.

At RDC, students may complete Year 1 and Year 2 of the undergraduate business degree programs offered at Mount Royal University, the University of Alberta, the University of Lethbridge, Athabasca University or other Canadian universities. At RDC, students may complete Year 1 of the program offered at the University of Calgary.

When the student transfers to the University of his/her choice, a specialized area of study (a major) may be selected. These specializations include:

• Accounting
• Computer Science
• Economics
• E-Commerce
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• First Nations' Governance
• Human Resource Management & Labour Relations
• Finance
• International Business
• Marketing
• Political Science
• Supply Chain Management
• Others as offered by the University you choose      

History is the analysis of the human past. Courses are offered in three main areas: Canadian, European and British. RDC special interests include Western Canadian history, British Empire and Commonwealth, Modern British social history and Modern Europe. First year courses include Classics, Medieval, Early Modern World, and Modern World.

The two-year University Arts Diploma offers students the opportunity to learn about the issues and people shaping their world through a holistic approach to knowledge that is interdisciplinary in emphasis and chronologically broad in its topics. Students are able to determine their futures through a focus on general University Arts, which allows students to concentrate on a particular area of interest within the Humanities (English, History/Classics, Philosophy) and Social Sciences (Anthropology, Communications, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology) or through one of three thematic specializations—Global Perspectives; Science and Society; Culture, Societies, and Gender—that centre on timely themes and subjects. With a choice of pathways, resulting in a University Arts Diploma, students are able to concentrate on what matters to them while gaining transferable knowledge and skills that will give them a leg up in an ever-uncertain future. In an age where intricate problems do not respond to traditional solutions, the ability to think beyond disciplinary boundaries, offer critical analysis, craft well-considered assessments, supported by adaptive thinking in pursuit of solutions, will be the foundation for students’ further educational goals or employment aspirations.

Please note: all students apply to the University Arts Diploma. Following Admission, students may, if they choose, declare a specialization in Year 1 or Year 2 prior to graduation. Specializations are noted on transcripts. Students who choose not to specialize, or who do not meet the requirements of a specialization, will graduate with the same University Arts Diploma (without a specialization noted on their transcripts).

Program Outcomes

• Recognize the provisional nature, inherent complexity, and ambiguity of knowledge.
• Acknowledge a variety of critical and theoretical approaches to local and global issues and identify the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches.
• Engage in scholarly inquiry, both independently and collaboratively, to identify and investigate questions of a theoretical and applied nature using appropriate disciplinary methodologies and sources.
• Integrate knowledge and perspectives across disciplinary boundaries.
• Demonstrate intellectual integrity and academic accountability.
• Recognize reasonable objections to positions one endorses and to the arguments one uses to support their own position when presenting oral and written arguments.
• Acknowledge the diverse social, cultural, and historical forces that shape identities and values and examine personal and cultural diversity.
• Analyse and interpret historical and contemporary events, texts, and data within disciplines.
• Demonstrate collaborative, independent, and inclusive attitudes and practices.

Communications Studies provides an awareness of the impact of media, understanding of research and practice involving media, and research and practice in discourse.

University Transfer Program
RDC offers the first two years of the Bachelor of Arts, Major in Communications Studies. For the most current university program and transfer information, see the Planning Guides.