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Douglas College programs moving

Popular programs heading to Coquitlam campus as local campus overflows

One of Douglas College's most popular faculties at its New Westminster campus is leaving town next year to make room for a ballooning student population.

The college announced Monday that by September 2012, the faculty of child, family and community studies will move from its Royal Avenue campus to the Coquitlam campus. Current full-time students will be able to complete their programs at the New Westminster campus.

"We're literally bursting at the seams," Scott McAlpine, Douglas College president, said in a press release. "The New Westminster campus is at over 100 per cent capacity, and we need to find room for anticipated growth in the coming years."

The faculty has about 850 students who study early childhood education, classroom and community support, youth justice, and child and youth care in New Westminster.

College spokesman Dave Taylor said the faculty was chosen because it is the most self-contained and would cause the least disruption for students and teachers following the move.

Meanwhile, the college is actively trying to boost recruitment of new students from China for its New Westminster location.

The college said Tuesday that it had sent a delegate with Premier Christy Clark's trade mission to China and India, and that it had reached exchange agreements with three schools in China.

The college was scheduled to ink a deal on Wednesday with Beijing Union University that would open the opportunity for Beijing students to do one semester at Douglas.

The agreement also allows for faculty exchanges and joint research opportunities between the two institutions, particularly in the areas of urban heritage and sustainability.

Douglas also renewed agreements with the Shanghai Administrative Institute and the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade dating back to 1997 and 1998. According to the release, 200 of Shanghai's senior civil servants are graduates of a program taught by Douglas professors and the administrative institute has sponsored Douglas faculty members to attend international conferences in China.

Douglas College hit an enrolment record for the second time in two years in 2011. Just over half of Douglas 10,700 students study at the New West location.

The school received an award this year for its commitment to internationalization.

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