The Ryerson-York exchange program, established through a memorandum of understanding, aims to enhance student access to courses, create customized learning experiences, and foster inter-university collaboration. The program allows eligible students to register for courses across partner universities, with grades from both institutions being incorporated into their GPA. Future plans include broadening course offerings and addressing scalability challenges as the memorandum approaches expiration in July 2014.

1. Ryerson-York Exchange
Julie Parna, Director, Strategic Academic Initiatives, Office of the Vice-Provost Academic
Emilie De Oca Sarasua, Assistant Registrar, Degree Audit and Special Programs
Molly Morris, Assistant Registrar, Registrarial Information Services
Student Affairs and Services Symposium
York University, July 21, 2014

2. Ryerson and York
 Two of three large universities in the Greater Toronto Area
 History of strong collaboration
 Graduate program in communication and culture
 Concurrent Bachelor of Education and Early Childhood
Education
 Significant numbers of students on Letter of Permission
 Memorandum of Understanding signed 2011
 Continued collaboration in research and education
 Co-registration discussions 2012, implemented 2013
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3. Ryerson-York Exchange – Why?
 Improved access to existing courses offered at the
partner university
 Customized learning experience through increased choice
and accessibility
 Enriched learning experience with new viewpoints and
teaching methods
 More ways to achieve mobility and accessibility
 An innovative model for interuniversity co-operation
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4. Ryerson steps for approval
 A “Buy-in” Model - Consultation with Deans and, via them,
program areas
 Eligible courses determined via normal process for credit
transfer eligibility:
 Credit transfer unit works with program departments to
establish equivalency and obtain consent
 Validated through our internal credit transfer polices
 York courses will appear on transcript
 York grades converted and included in the calculation of the
Ryerson grade point average
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5. York approval process
 Legislation to Senate
 Overarching co-registration policy
 Specific York-Ryerson policy
 Extensive collaboration with departments to determine
courses that were eligible (not as straightforward as one
might think!)
 New to York:
 Ryerson courses will appear on transcript
 Ryerson grades converted and included in the calculation of
the York grade point average
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6. Co-Registration Framework
 24 credits maximum through the Ryerson-York exchange
 Collaboration to establish significant dates for the exchange
program
 Conversion of grades from two grade schemes
 Fees paid to the home institution
 No extra application fees
 Petitions for late withdrawal etc. – to be handled by home
institution
 Breaches of academic honesty – to be handled by receiving
institution
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7. Student Eligibility
 Open to students who have completed one year of study
 Clear academic standing
 Domestic
 Must meet all course prerequisites at time of application
 Can enrol in one course per term at host university
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8. Official Communications Launch
Communications plan
 Developed in collaboration between Ryerson and York’s
communications teams using web and social media
 Soft launch Fall 2013 (pilot)
Target Audiences (York and Ryerson)
 Current students
 Prospective students and parents
 Ryerson and York faculty members
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9. Co-Branded Website
 York developed co-branded website
 Ryerson developed content for Ryerson-specific pages
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www.ryersonyorkexchange.ca

10. User-Friendly
Unique information streams for Ryerson and York students
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11. Selection and Approval of Course List
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• Winter 2014 – offered only 1:1 equivalent courses
• Not all courses are available each term
• Links to course descriptions and timetables

12. Application Form
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• Behind PPY
• Automatically checks
eligibility and populates
SISID and email info or
returns an “ineligible”
message

13. Web Analytics
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SM = Social Media

14. Social Media Messaging
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15. Coming Soon
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 More integrated website with better scalability
 Pan-university RYX communications plan including:
• Working with faculties
• Working with academic advisors
• Coordinated social media promotion
• Promotion on York courses website and through current student portal

16. Application Timeline
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17. Student Response
 Three enrolment exercises so far: Fall 2013; Winter 2014;
Summer 2014
 Accounting courses are the most popular
 Not all applicants were eligible (vetting process is manual)
 Growth in applications over each term
 Students who enrolled did not all complete the term
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18. Student Response
Destination
Applications
Received
Maintained
Enrolment
Fall 2013
York to Ryerson 25 9
Ryerson to York 25 10
Winter 2014
York to Ryerson 17 14
Ryerson to York 30 19
Summer 2014
York to Ryerson 30 22 as of April 23, 2014
Ryerson to York 122 88 as of April 23, 2014
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19. Student Processing
(York  Ryerson)
Approval:
1. Student application received
2. Student eligibility and course space confirmed
3. Student receives confirmation email from host university with
link to next steps (including instruction on enrolling in the
course)
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20. Information Transfer
 Required agreement on program deadlines for application,
enrolment and data exchange
 Privacy statements and information sharing agreements
 File exchange process is via secure shared drive
 Enrolment process and add/drops
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21. On Course Completion:
1. Ryerson courses will appear on transcript
2. Ryerson grades converted and included in the calculation of
the York grade point average
New
Processes
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22. Conundrums
 Transfer credit – are these decisions student specific or course
specific?
 Dramatically different enrolment cycles/timelines for York and
Ryerson
 Ensuring two records are accurate now and in the future
 How to treat courses taken by students enrolling via traditional
LOP
 Fiscal implications – reciprocity is the goal but…..
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23. Challenges
 Manual process for exchanging lists of students; periodic
review of enrolments to ensure records at either institution are
correct
 Maintaining lists of course equivalencies
 Students changing enrolments (without permission) or
dropping placeholder courses
 Space in courses that are eligible for the program do not
always have space; finding space can be onerous at York
 Developing systems solutions to minimize manual work (York –
home grown SIS; Ryerson – PeopleSoft)
 SCALABILITY?
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24. Future state
 Current MOU expires July 2014
 Based on success of the program, the MOU will be renewed
 Increase participation rate
 Current offerings are only those that have “equivalents” – can
the scope be broadened?
 Address scalability issues by minimizing manual work
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