@nformer

Departments sign
largest education

contract in

College’s history

he Business Administration

department and the Applied
Business Technology department have
entered into the largest international

education contract in Capilano College’s

30 year history. In essence, these
departments are in the process of
developing near duplicates of their
programs to be delivered in a new
college near Beirut, Lebanon.

This project has been in early
development for nearly a year and the
first students are expected to begin
classes in the fall term of 1999.

Bill Gibson, vice president,
Academic Affairs, and Business
Administration chair, Doug Loblaw,
travelled twice to Beirut in 1998. They
met at the Hariri Foundation with their
counterparts who are establishing what
will be known as the Hariri-Canadian
Higher Institute of Technology
(HCHIT).

During their visits, they mapped out

the basic requirements of the project and
set criteria needed to implement the first

year courses of the three-year 90-credit
Business Administration diploma and a
new two-year 60-credit Office

Administration diploma. All courses will
be taught in English. Both programs will

include work experience components
during the summer terms.

Capilano College was chosen to
develop and deliver these programs by
the Canadian Bureau of International
Education because of its expertise in

The new Institute will be situated in seven buildings of a former private
high school, which is currently being renovated. It is located
approximately 20 miles south of Beirut on a hillside overlooking the
Mediterranean. The area enjoys about 300 days of sunshine a year. All
this in a country with more than 7,000 years of history on its side!

post-secondary applied business
education. The HCHIT will be the first
college of its type in Lebanon. This
project was funded jointly by the
Canadian International Development
Agency and the Hariri Foundation.

In the past, high school graduates
either went on to university or entered
the workforce with little or no applied
training. It’s like things used to be in
B.C. 30 years ago, before there were
community colleges. The business
programs offered at HCHIT are
specifically designed to train people
for the fast growing workforce in
Lebanon. They already enjoy the
support of the Lebanese business
market, which was consulted during
the conceptual stages.

The project is on target at this time,
although there is still a tremendous
amount of work to be accomplished.
Additional curriculum development
will be headed by BADM’s Richard

Longworth and ABT’s Mary
Giovannetti and Diane Blaney.
Selection of College faculty who
will teach and train the Lebanese
faculty both in Canada and on-site at
HCHIT also needs to be determined,
as well as the Institute’s governance
coordination. It must also be
marketed to the 200 new students
who will register this year.

John Potts, dean of Business,
Human Services and International
Education, Doug Loblaw, manager
for the HCHIT Lebanon project, and
Tony Carter, currently on an
exchange in Portsmouth, England,
were in Beirut in February to
interview prospective faculty who
will be coming to Capilano College
for training later this spring.

Submitted by Doug Loblaw

@ @ Capilano
@ex College

Vol. XX1 No. 2
February 26/99