Elder College has broken away from Capilano University to create its own non-profit, after cost pressures at the university forced the college to find a new way to offer courses for seniors on the Sunshine Coast.
Elder College had been part of the Capilano University continuing education program for about 15 years.
“Unfortunately, as Capilano University continues to restructure and evolve, it can no longer sponsor our program at a price per course that makes it affordable to the people who register for our courses,” said Keith Maxwell, chair of the Elder College board of directors, during an appreciation event the college held on May 26 where the change was announced.
“Accordingly, we made the decision as a board of directors to establish an independent non-profit society under the B.C. Society Act to continue to offer educational opportunities to Sunshine Coast residents aged 55 and over.”
The change will ultimately lower the cost of classes by 11 per cent to $42 per course.
Along with the change in price comes a new way to register for courses offered by Elder College, as the non-profit society has teamed up with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) and will benefit from online registrations through the SCRD.
“The SCRD has a very well known and established registration process for their recreational programs, along with effective publicity and advertising,” Maxwell said.
“We were able to make a final letter of agreement with the SCRD earlier this year and our fall slate of programs will appear in the SCRD recreational guide in August.”
Elder College offers about 30 courses a year, split between two semesters, and last year there were well over 600 Coast residents aged 55 and over who took courses through the college.
“The course material runs the gamut – anything from mushroom gathering to nuclear physics and astronomy. So, quite a wide range of courses,” Maxwell said.
He noted Elder College is excited about its new partnership with the SCRD and that the college will continue to offer the bulk of its courses on the Capilano University campus.
“I’d like to thank Capilano University for their sponsorship and the support they’ve offered our program over the past 15 years and for agreeing to continue in a cooperative relationship with us. That’s very important to us,” Maxwell said.
“We look forward to continuing to offer our community and all its citizens a high quality and meaningful education program under our new arrangements as an independent society.”
Maxwell encouraged the public to visit the new Elder College website at www.sunshinecoasteldercollege.ca to learn more.
