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Human Resources degrees

More colleges continue to offer more degrees. One of the newest -- if fact, it's so new the first class won't be held until next year -- is the program at Seneca College in human resources.

DAVID CHILTON -- Special to the Toronto Sun

[ 2005-11-23 ]

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SIMPSON
Humber College

The inaugural class will launch the four-year degree course in September 2006 with about 35 to 40 students. The following year, in January 2007, Seneca will enrol another 35 to 40. That will provide the program with some critical mass, says Jennifer Singh, chair, Centre for Human Resources and School of International Business at the college.

"APPLIED POINT OF VIEW"

Singh says she expects mostly female students in the new degree program, although the college continues to encourage males to enrol. She expects Toronto high schools to supply the bulk of her enrollees next year and they will need the same high school qualifications as any other university-bound student.

"Everything will be taught from an applied point of view," Singh says. "The program prepares graduates for changing roles in human resources."

It is Seneca College that will grant the degree, she emphasizes, rather than a university with which the school has a degree-conferring arrangement. Tuition for the new degree program will be about $5,500. Singh doesn't think the four-year course will cannibalize Seneca's other HR programs -- a three-year diploma program and a one-year graduate certificate.

Human resources programs continue to evolve, says Graeme Simpson, program co-ordinator at Humber College. About 25 years ago, when HR was known as industrial relations, the profession was 99% male, Simpson says. Five years ago the field was 90% female, but these days he estimates his classes as 80% women and 20% men. Specifically, Simpson says more men are seeing human resources as a better career option than marketing or finance.

Like Seneca, Humber offers a one-year graduate program focused entirely on human resources, "so it's pretty intense," Simpson says, and students also have to complete a 160-hour work placement.

Tuition is about $3,000 and for that "They (students) don't get a lot of theory. They're here to get a job (after graduation). It's more of a hands-on approach," Simpson says.

There's also a three-year program at Humber, and students can take their courses online through distance learning through the college's North Campus.

Two of Simpson's students -- Julie Feenstra from Milton and Eric McCallum from Guelph -- both say they joined Humber because of its reputation. Feenstra is familiar with the college because she graduated from the school's child and youth worker program. McCallum, who has a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo, went there on the recommendation of a friend. Both say they have gone into HR because they like working with people.

At Centennial College, HR programs co-ordinator Jim McVittie says he treats the programs as a single portfolio, so when students express an interest in studying HR he asks them how they want to study it. There's a one-year graduate program at Centennial, a three-year diploma course and part-time studies at night. Tuition is the same as the other colleges.

What anyone considering HR at Centennial or any other public college in Ontario should know is that after two years in the HR diploma program, students with a B+ average are eligible to transfer to the third year of Ryerson University's Bachelor of Commerce program. About 30 Centennial students a year go on to Ryerson, McVittie says.

Unsurprisingly, HR graduates find jobs, and many go on to further education. Simpson says the Humber employment rate is over 85% and has been for many years. At Seneca, Singh says some 55% of her three-year students go on to complete more schooling.

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