If you think you’re limited to only your chosen degree plan at Queen’s, you may want to think again.
Queen’s has a lot to offer, giving students the opportunity to explore and learn outside of their degree. Queen’s certificate programs are among some of the great opportunities to learn more about a subject you’re interested in.
In the last few years, the University has begun to offer a wide range of certificates that can be earned in addition to any undergraduate degree program.
It’s important for first year students to know their options since certificate applications take place between first and second year — a deadline that can sneak up.
Graphic: Ashley Quan
The Queen’s Certificate in Business (CIB) is one of the larger certificate programs out of the seven undergraduate certificates at Queen’s.
The CIB gives non-commerce students the opportunity to take six commerce courses. Student enrolled in the CIB take courses like financial accounting and organizational behaviour to learn a business base.
In an interview with The Journal, CIB Program Manager, Elisa Mullins explained that the CIB is a program that was designed for students to gain fundamental knowledge in key areas of business and enhance their career options.
Established in 2014, the CIB must be applied for after first year and is completed through the Smith School of Business throughout your undergraduate career.
“The courses required for the certificate give students practical knowledge that they can use as soon as they are working,” Mullins said.
In addition, the CIB intends to create less work for employers by giving non-business students the skills to perform practical business-oriented tasks.
“It is important to remember that adding anything to your degree takes planning to ensure that there is time to meet all of the requirements,” said Mullins on advice to incoming first year students.
Another certificate offered is the Queen’s Certificate in Employment Relations (CER), designed to help students seeking employment in labour relations and human resources management.
Robert Hickey, a professor of Industrial Relations, explained that although Queen’s is only just introducing undergraduate credentials in industrial relations, many other universities have had these programs for a period of time.
“We don’t have the capacity to launch a complete major, so we see this as our first step, we see our program continuing to grow at the undergraduate level beginning with our certificate program.”
The CER program consists of five courses that are taken as well as courses a student would normally take with their regular degree program.
Some certificate programs do have application timelines, however the CER does not. Although there is no official timeline, the certificate is generally completed over the course of two and a half to three years.
“We hope to tap a lot of the passion that students have with issues related to workplace equity and diversity. There is tremendous need in society for leaders in both management as well as the union side of the equation,” Hickey said.
The CER is now taking applications and will be available as of September 2016.
Other Certificate programs include; the Academic Writing Certificate, the Certificate in Media Studies, the Certificate in Geographic Information Science, the International Studies Certificate, and the Sexual and Gender Diversity Certificate.
For more information check out Faculty of Arts and Sciences Certificate Programs and Queen’s Certificate of Business.
Tags
Certificate in Business, Certificate in Industrial Relations, Certificate Program
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.