First Course
Trial and error characterised the pilot period, as there was no similar model to follow for the mandate the university were given. In 1973 the university began to advertise for students to help with course development. "World Ecology" was the first course, and was the core of the pilot project. In-house production of the learning packages was important to the staff, so the university developed its own printing process.
| “ | Contrary to much current belief, Athabasca University was not modelled after the Open University, but was developed in its present form during the pilot project. AU became aware of what the Open University was doing when, during the final year of the project. A representative went to Milton Keynes to discover any methods its staff might have devised to speed up production. | ” |
In 1975, plans came together to reach out to students through field services tutors and regional learning centres. In 1976, the first 24 part-time telephone tutors were appointed. The tutor role was to facilitate learning, not teach the course. Tutors are assigned blocks of between 20 and 40 students each. An unlisted toll-free number is provided to contact the tutor with. All tutors have at least a Masters degree.
An early test project for a learning resource centre had books and tapes relevant to the courses available at branches of public libraries throughout the province. Although the libraries were keen on the idea, learners preferred to remain in their homes to learn. By 1975, the median age was between 35 and 40, and there were 725 students. A minority of students had only completed grade 9.
| “ | Inviting students to register in a course and then forcing them to wait an unconscionable length of time for delivery of units was obviously not a way to establish a reputation as a reliable institution. | ” |
In 1975 at the end of the pilot project, an agency was appointed to evaluate the overall success. A recommendation was made to the government that the University be made a permanent member of the university system. It was to remain an open university. Under the chairmanship of Edward Checkland, the University gained permanency.
In 1976 W. A. Samuel Smith took over as president and the university's permanency was established through an act of the Alberta Legislature.
The first collaboration the university embarked on was with Keyano College, eventually leading to the opening of a regional learning office in Fort McMurray, Alberta; North Island College in 1976 took on the challenge of delivering many courses from the university in its many campuses.
| “ | In the mid-seventies, two young Canadians, one of whom was the son of a prominent Edmonton family, were indicted in an English court for attempting to smuggle drugs into the country. They were each sentenced to a lengthy prison term and incarcerated in one of England's most infamous prisons. Each registered in one of Athabasca University's first three courses, becoming the first two in a long list of prison inmates to join its student body. | ” |
In 1985 an agreement was reached with the Correctional Service of Canada for the payment of tuition and program delivery fees related to federal inmates taking courses through the University.
Read more about this topic: Athabasca University Research Centre, Origins