What better measure of a university’s success is there than hearing what alumni have to say about their experience? In a recently-published survey by the University Presidents’ Council of British Columbia and the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, alumni from Royal Roads had a lot to say and it was all good. They are more satisfied with their programs, for example, and more likely to recommend RRU programs to others; not to mention that the numbers indicate they earn more money than their counterparts from other B.C. universities. Below, we take a deeper look at the enduring value of the RRU model; how it evolved; and why it is successful.

by Lynda Chambers, editor

Alumni know. So do learners. Faculty know, too, as do staff. They know that Royal Roads is different. They know that the university has, quite literally, invented a new way of delivering higher education; one that is solely focused on applied and professional programs designed for people who want to stay in the workforce and for people who want to get into the workforce faster.

It began 14 years ago with an opportunity, a risk - and a leap of faith.

Sherman Waddell was there. He’s now Director of Institutional Initiatives and a former faculty member of Royal Roads Military College who decided to stay on and join the planning team that helped create Royal Roads University in 1995.

“We recognized that people were willing and capable of learning throughout their lives and what they needed was a way they could do so and still continue to make a living," says Waddell.

It turned out the planning team was right and they came up with a model – both relevant and innovative – that pioneered the way for people to learn and earn at the same time.

First - develop a blended format by offering them short residencies (typically three-weeks) combined with team-based online learning.

Second - develop post-secondary education in consultation with industry-based advisory committees and deliver it using the latest in adult learning techniques.

It’s a formula that today has made Royal Roads – in every sense – a Canadian university serving the world. There are over 11,000 alumni living around the globe and, every year, the university enrolls about 3,500 learners from over 50 countries in its programs. The university has expanded its winning approach too. Now, it offers even more graduate level programs as well as undergraduate completion degrees in applied and professional fields - helping people advance their careers faster.

“Our undergraduate completion programs are equivalent to the third and fourth years of a Baccalaureate degree. Some are delivered over an intensive 12 months on campus while others are in the blended format,” says Waddell.

With 44 core faculty and 600 associate faculty, the university has also grown to include programs – delivered through partnership agreements – in China, Taiwan, Bangladesh, France and Uganda.

“We are developing mixed cohorts of international and domestic students as well and forging strategic alliances with leading international educational institutions to create opportunities for student exchanges,” says Allan Cahoon, RRU president.

Over 900 grads from five universities took part The B.C. University Survey of Graduates from Master’s and Doctorate Programs was designed to measure graduate outcomes and provide data on links between graduate education and the labour market.

The only Canadian university to offer its China MBA program in Mandarin, Royal Roads attracts graduates in Asia who, like their working professional colleagues in Canada, are senior business people and government officials.

“As RRU alumni, our Asia MBA learners develop a positive association with us which has helped pave the way for further business and other economic partnerships between the Asia Pacific region and Canada – B.C. in particular,” adds Cahoon.

So it’s easy to see that Royal Roads is different. And it's easy to see why alumni, learners, faculty and staff know this to be true.

What’s not always been so easy to convey is the impact of this difference. Until now.

Significant survey results, just-released, shed new light on how well Royal Roads is doing at meeting its mandate to become a distinct, special purpose university serving British Columbians, Canadians, and international learners.

Not only are the new numbers insightful in depicting what sets Royal Roads apart from all the rest; they do it in very human terms.

Published by the University Presidents’ Council of British Columbia, the B.C. University Survey of Graduates from Master’s and Doctorate Programs was designed to measure graduate outcomes and provide data on links between graduate education and the labour market.

Over 900 graduates from masters and doctorate programs at five B.C. universities took part. They were asked, among other things, if they would select the same program again; if the amount of course work was appropriate; and if they were satisfied with the amount of time they were able to spend with faculty.

And the tally tells a tale worth noting.

Over and over, survey results validate RRU’s role offering online and on-campus applied and professional programs to people who want to learn while they continue their career.

When it comes to whether graduates would select the same program again, for example, 79.9 per cent of the Royal Roads graduates surveyed said yes. Royal Roads also scored highly when it came to measuring how appropriate the amount of course work was and how satisfied alumni were with the amount of time spent with faculty.

“I was especially happy to see our results in the category dealing with leadership and social engagement,” says Cahoon. “RRU grads led the university system in the survey, agreeing that their university experience had helped them understand and communicate about issues to others and that the experience had helped them participate more actively in social and political issues."

When asked if they would recommend the university to prospective students, 94.1 per cent of RRU graduates surveyed said they would. The university also led when it came to where graduates felt their primary loyalty to be. RRU alumni were unique - with greater numbers reporting loyalty to the university where they completed their graduate studies and not their undergraduate studies.

In terms of income, RRU graduates were notably better off than their peers with median incomes some 20 per cent greater than the system median of $70,000 per year.

The university also came out ahead with regard to rating the ease of scheduling courses. When learners register for a program at RRU, for example, they can be assured that all necessary courses are available so they can actually complete the program within the specified time.

“Availability of courses is built into our delivery model,” says Cahoon. “Since our programs are created with working professionals in mind and operate on a cohort model, students move together through the course in a collegial environment that plays an important part in the quality of their education.”

Royal Roads University - a place like no other in the world - is approaching its third decade and poised, once again, for significant and continued growth:

• growth that includes new buildings
• growth that includes new programs, and
• growth that includes an ever-widening global reach.

The philosophy of innovation that imbued the early RRU remains strong to this day.