Athabasca, May 9, 2003 – The Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at Athabasca University announces government approval of the first Canadian Master of Nursing (MN) program to be delivered completely online. Although other universities have offered partially online programs, Athabasca University is the first to offer a fully online format of study that does not require an on-site residency. This gives graduate students “anytime, anywhere” accessibility to complete a course-based or project-based Master of Nursing program.

Dr. Margaret Edwards, Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Programs for Athabasca University’s Centre for Nursing and Health Studies explained, “While there has been much discussion in the media regarding the shortage of front-line nurses, there is also a shortage of Master’s-prepared nurses who can provide nursing leadership and teach in basic nursing education programs.”

The Athabasca University MN program was developed to meet or exceed professional standards for nursing excellence. Dr. Jeanne Besner, President, Alberta Association of Registered Nurses said, “This program is a revolutionary step in graduate nursing education and demonstrates the international leadership of Alberta’s nursing educators.” Dr. Besner added, “It offers nursing students another option to pursue the knowledge needed to enhance the services they offer to the public and their profession.”

Athabasca University has earned a respected international reputation as “Canada’s Open University” with over 30 years of delivering distance and online undergraduate and graduate programs to students throughout Canada and around the world. This “open university” concept maximizes flexibility for online course delivery regardless of place of residence, work schedules, family commitments or transportation constraints. This MN program now allows nurses to complete their Master’s degree without having to leave their jobs or home, unlike other programs that include mandatory site-based components of study. Current students in the Master of Nursing degree program hail from all provinces and territories in Canada and internationally from Saudi Arabia, Australia, Bermuda, Germany, United Arab Emirates, United States and Germany.

Dr. Francine Girard, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Calgary Health Region, congratulated Athabasca University for the new program and said, “This program will provide diverse opportunities for nurses to advance their nursing knowledge.”

The Master of Nursing program offers two streams of study: Advanced Nursing Practice and Generalist. The Advanced Nursing Practice stream prepares Nurse Practitioners to provide greater public access to primary health care services. Students in the Generalist stream are able to tailor their program to meet their personal and professional interests.

Registration information and course descriptions are available online at http://www.athabascau.ca/cnhs or contact the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at 1-800-788-9041 local 6381.

Contact:
Dr. Margaret Edwards
Professor and Coordinator, Graduate Programs,
Centre for Nursing and Health Studies
Athabasca University,
1 Athabasca Avenue
Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3
Phone Number 1-888-500-3055
marge@athabascau.ca

Mississauga, Ontario, March 17, 2003 – Two of Canada’s leading management education institutions are teaming up to offer advanced learning opportunities for Certified Management Accountants. Under the terms of a new strategic alliance, Athabasca University’s (AU) Centre for Innovative Management and Certified Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada) will work together to provide CMAs with enhanced access to AU’s Executive MBA programs.

The official signing ceremony to launch the CMA Canada and AU alliance takes place tomorrow, March 18, 2003, at 10:00 am EST in CMA Canada’s headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. Recognizing the CMA designation as a leading international strategic financial management credential, the formal agreement offers CMAs advanced and transfer credit for required financial and accounting courses and electives in Athabasca Executive MBA programs.

Dr. Peter Carr, Executive Director of AU’s Centre for Innovative Management, hailed the new alliance with CMA Canada as “another key step in our mission to produce business leaders with advanced strategic management skills and strong management accounting competencies.

“Our new alliance with CMA Canada reflects the critical importance of financial management, corporate governance, and professional ethics in today’s graduate management education. By bringing together CMA Canada’s international reputation for excellence in the development of strategic financial management professionals and AU’s acknowledged leadership in graduate management education, we’ll be leveraging our considerable strengths to produce exceptional global business leaders.”

Bob Dye, CMA, FCMA, LLD, President and CEO of CMA Canada, said the new partnership with Athabasca University offers CMAs a tremendous opportunity to earn a highly respected MBA degree and further enhance their strategic leadership capabilities.

“The advanced standing being offered to CMAs in Athabasca Executive MBA programs will enable our members to take advantage of their unique management accounting knowledge and skills as they work to acquire a valuable and complementary post-graduate business degree,” said Dye. “Like Athabasca University, we are committed to developing global business leaders who build success through new ideas, new perspectives, and sound strategic financial management capabilities.

“We are proud to establish this new alliance with AU as a means of driving the continuous development of management accounting and optimizing the performance of global enterprises.” Dye added that Athabasca’s innovative approach to providing graduate management education will be highly attractive to CMAs, both in Canada and abroad.

Launched in 1994 as the world’s first online MBA, AU’s Executive MBA has grown to become Canada’s largest Executive MBA with over 1100 students representing Canada’s top 20 companies, and 400 companies world-wide. AU’s online MBA works in the same interactive, collaborative environments as business today.

The high level of asynchronous interaction between academic staff and students makes it possible to share ideas, insights, and skills on a daily basis across geographic and organizational boundaries. This interaction is a crucial ingredient of a graduate management education that has powerful relevance to the real world of business.

With 35,000 members around the world, CMA Canada grants a professional designation in management accounting and is responsible for standards-setting, accreditation and the continuing professional development of CMAs. CMAs work as senior management professionals in organizations of all sizes, applying best management practices in strategic planning, sales and marketing, information technology, human resources, finance, and operations. CMAs bring a strong market focus to strategic management and resource deployment, synthesizing and analyzing financial and non-financial information to help an organization maintain a long-term competitive advantage.

Information:

AU Centre for Innovative Management – Marilyn Wangler, Manager, Marketing and Communications
Tel: (780) 418-7553 – Email: marilynw@athabascau.ca
CMA Canada – David Fletcher VP, Public Affairs
Tel: (905) 949-3106 – Email: dfletcher@cma-canada.org

Source:
http://www.athabascau.ca/media/CIM_CMA_Alliance.htm