Background Research on PGCV Admission Guidelines

Before establishing any guidelines for admission, UBC’s approach is to review the structure and requirements of business and commerce undergraduate programs offered nationwide. The purpose of the review is to lay out courses that are common and mandatory for graduates of these programs. To this effect, a comparative study of Business/Commerce undergraduate degree programs offered by 15 accredited universities across Canada has been carried out. To be as comprehensive as possible, this study includes publicly-funded, major research-oriented universities as well as mid- to smaller-sized comprehensive universities. This comparative study is based on the following criteria:

• Preparation courses required for a business/commerce degree (pre-business/commerce courses)
• General business/commerce education required courses
• Core business/commerce education required courses
• Business/commerce concentration required courses
• Non-business/commerce elective courses
• Graduation requirements

* Optional Business/Commerce courses.

Given the results of this comparative study, we can assume that graduates who have completed a minimum of 120 credits from a four-year Business/Commerce undergraduate degree program from any accredited Canadian university would have fulfilled all of the preparation, general, and core requirements of the program. Completion of the concentrated/specialized area of a Business/Commerce degree would depend on the requirements of individual universities.

It is worth noting that our study revealed that graduates from an undergraduate degree in Business/Commerce from a Canadian university would have also completed many or all of the non-valuation courses that are required in the existing AACI education program.

** Also reviewed MBA program.

A review of the general business MBA programs offered by eight accredited universities across Canada shows that the content of their first year course requirements is very similar to that of the undergraduate Business/Commerce general and core requirements. Based on this similarity in course content, we recommend any MBA (General) graduates who apply for admission should be admitted to the PGCV program, regardless of their undergraduate degree.

The following MBA Specialty programs were reviewed:

• Executive MBA (EMBA)
• International MBA (IMBA)
• Joint MBA:
  • MBA/MAg (MBA/Master’s of Agricultural)
  • MBA/MEng (MBA/Master’s of Engineering)

Our reviews have shown that, in general, graduates of these programs are required to complete the following core business courses:

• Managerial Economics
• Marketing Management
• Corporate Finance
• Quantitative Methods
• Managerial and Financial Accounting
• Organization Behaviour
• Business Strategies
• International Business
• Operations Management
• Information Technology
• General Management
• Statistics

Graduates of MBA Specialty Programs will be reviewed on an individual basis. The review of the specialty MBAs above indicates that graduates have generally fulfilled the majority of the core business courses, except for Calculus and Business Law. At minimum, graduates of MBA specialty programs must show proof of successful completion of a post-secondary level Calculus and/or a Business Law (or BUSI 111) course along with their application for the PGCV program.

A review of undergraduate Economics degree programs has shown that, in general, Economics majors are required to complete the following courses for graduation:

A total of 120 credits:

• At least 60 of the 120 credits must be General Education and Elective courses
• At least 60 of the 120 credits must be Economics major required courses listed as follows: 
  • Lower levels Economics (100/200 levels) courses: 
    Microeconomics 
    Macroeconomics 
    Intermediate Microeconomics 
    Intermediate Macroeconomics
  • Economic History courses: 
    Canadian Economics History I and II 
    European Economics History I and II 
  • Economic Thoughts courses: 
    Classical/Political Economics Thoughts 
    Modern Economics Thoughts
  • Upper levels Economics (300/400) courses: 
    Econometrics I and II 
    Microeconomics Theory 
    Macroeconomics Theory 
    Applied Economics 
    3 to 4 upper levels Economics elective courses
  • Non-Economics Required courses: 
    Introduction to Statistics 
    Statistical Methods for Data Analysis and Inference 
    Differential and Integrated Calculus I and II 
    Matrix Theory and Linear Algebra

Based on the above review, undergraduate degree holder majoring in Economics lack general and core business education courses required for admission to the PGCV program. We, therefore, recommend the following:

• Undergraduate degree holders majoring in Economics be excluded from admission to the PGCV program unless they show proof of completion of all general and core business education courses listed on the PGCV Admissions Guidelines webpage.

A review of the above programs has shown that, in general, graduate degree programs in Urban Planning/Design share the following features:

Degree Requirements:

• Require 2 academic years or 4 semesters to complete.
• Minimum credits required: 60 credits

Program Structure:

• Interdisciplinary approach
• Theories (Planning Theory/History/Law)
• Planning research projects
• Environment, Technology, Techniques and Planning
• Studios
• Design
• Visual Communications and Graphics
• Professional practices/Internships
• Electives

Since the courses in the program are focused on the planning, development, technical and design aspects of urban/community planning, the program lacks the required business education courses that are pertinent to the PGCV program. We, therefore, recommend that graduates of the Urban/Community Planning/Design program be excluded from admission to the PGCV program.

A review of the above program has shown that, in general, an undergraduate agriculture degree program is required to complete the following:

• Common/foundation first year: 24-30 credits (courses including Economics, Sciences, Statistics, Calculus, English, Agri Food systems/issues/trends)
• Core Courses: 60-66 credits depending on student's major/specialization (i.e. Agricultural business, Agricultural economics, Agricultural systems, Animal Sciences, Agronomy, Plant Science, Natural Resounds Economics, Soil Science, etc.)
• Elective Courses: 30 credits
• Minimum credits to graduate: 120 credits

Comparing the various majors/specializations required for an undergraduate degree in Agricultural degree, students with a major or specialization in Agribusiness would have covered most of the core business courses that would closely match with the PGCV requirements:

• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomic
• Financial Accounting
• Managerial Accounting
• Commercial/Business Law*
• Business/Agriproducts Marketing
• Farm Management/Agribusiness Management
• Business Finance/Theory of Finance*
• Human Resources Management
• Calculus
• Decision Science*
• Statistics

*Designated as elective courses by some institutions. Where a Business Law, Business Finance, and/or a Decision Science course is not taken as a part of the degree elective, students would be advised to complete these courses before they would be formally admitted to PGCV.

Students with a major/specialization in Agricultural Economics would have covered the following business core courses:

• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomics
• Financial Accounting
• Managerial Accounting
• Farm/Agribusiness Management
• Calculus
• Statistics

Elective business courses:

• Managerial Accounting
• Business Finance/Intro to Finance
• Business/Agriproducts Marketing
• Commercial/Business Law
• Quantitative Analysis/Decision Science

Graduates with an Agricultural degree with a major/specialization in Agricultural economics would be advised to complete any missing business core courses before they would be formally admitted to the PGCV program, or to their AACI education via the regular program.

Graduates with an Agricultural degree with a major/specialization other than Agribusiness would be advised to complete any missing business core courses before they would be formally admitted to the PGCV program, or to complete their AACI education via the regular program.

Canadian universities included in the undergraduate program Agriculture Review:

• University of British Columbia
• University of Alberta
• University of Saskatchewan
• University of Manitoba
• University of Guleph
• Nova Scotia Agricultural College
• McGill University