Approved Programs
New undergraduate and graduate for-credit degree programs that have been approved by the Quality Council on or after September 1, 2011 are detailed in this database, which can be searched in multiple ways: by university, year, program level and/or keyword.
Program Approvals: Carleton University
The School of Computer Science is proposing a new Honours undergraduate degree: the Bachelor of Cybersecurity (BCSec). The program is designed to be a national magnet for high-achieving students who are strongly interested in a career in security. The main educational goal of the program is to prepare students to take on security-expert roles in government and industry. The program is focusing on a particular segment of the job market for security specialistsand mostly avoids covering “IT-department” work. While our program will need to expose students to some of the existing technologies, the focus will be giving students a deeper understanding of the broad range of current and anticipated future threats, and defenses against them. A typical job for a graduate would be as a security expert on a software development team, or as a member of a unit or organization specializing in computer/internet security.
Given our footprint in this field at the graduate level, Carleton leverages its strengths and background to create an undergraduate data science program to prepare students to rapidly enter the workforce. We are proposing a four-year, 20-credit undergraduate Data Science degree with two optional concentrations. This program is created through a collaboration between the School of Computer Science (SCS) and the School of Mathematics and Statistics. This collaboration creates a program with bases in data wrangling, inferential statistics, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and data ethics. Students that wish to further their expertise in Computer Science theory and AI can complete a concentration in AI. Students that wish to bolster their knowledge of inferential statistics and the theory behind it can complete a concentration in Statistics. Furthermore, the concentration and non-concentration paths have enough elective room for students to complete a minor and broaden the applicability of their degree. The proposed curriculum has a strong basis in project-based learning. There are capstone and honours project and thesis courses and co-op option available for students to highlight their data science abilities in applied, practical contexts. In alignment with Carleton University’s Kinàmàgawin Report and progress report, (Carleton University Strategic Indigenous Initiatives Committee, 2020, 2022) curriculum will draw on appropriate Collaborative Indigenous Learning Bundles with a focus on data and research ethics when working with Indigenous communities. The program will be delivered in an in person format, with online components. We will explore a completely online version of the program in the future.
The Faculty and Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) and the Faculty of Public Affairs (FPA) are proposing a new 15-credit online B.A. General Studies program that builds on the critical mass of online courses that are regularly offered across the two faculties. This flexible program, which will allow students to pursue their studies entirely online, or through a combination of online and in-person modalities, targets a potentially large audience of non-traditional learners who are not well-served by traditional programs.
Carleton’s 15-credit disciplinary B.A. degree programs generally caters to the needs and interests of the “traditional student” – typically one who has a well-formed academic interest that matches a specific disciplinary B.A. offering, enters direct from high school, devotes most or all their time to full-time study, and follows a structured pathway leading to graduation in three years.
Mechatronics is a multi-disciplinary engineering field that integrates the education of Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics, and Systems and Computer Engineering. The objective of this new engineering undergraduate program is to formally prepare its graduates for working in the design, manufacture, and end-use sides of mechatronic devices (the quintessential examples being any industrial, commercial, or consumer robotic-like device). By having three equal departmental partners involved in the development if this program, the goal can be a sincere synthesis of materials from the different root disciplines (instead of the commonly used approach of having a single department define the core of mechatronics and then add patches for the other departments).
Carleton University is proposing an Honours Bachelor of Science – Nursing program. The
nursing program will be housed in a new School of Nursing and builds on Carleton’s strong
pedagogical background in health, data, and social sciences. Our overall concept for the nursing program is based on the relationship between the nurse, the patient, and the community for which they are a part. We will leverage extended reality (XR; includes virtual reality [VR]), simulation-based, and work-integrated training to foster a strong theoretical basis which will build up to a high level of bedside competence, critical thinking, and innovativeness through clinical practicums. Thereby, fostering nurses who will be leaders in nursing practice amid the constantly changing health care landscape. The patient is an expert in their experience of their illness, a teacher, and a partner in the healthcare team. Nurses will be trained to welcome, respect, and integrate the patient’s beliefs, views and lived experiences when aiding in the patient’s healing. Finally, health is interprofessional and nested inside of a diverse local and global community. This program is based on a purposeful partnership with our community partner, the Queensway Carleton Hospital, and nurses will be trained by working alongside other professional healthcare partners and the community to promote equitable and sustainable health outcomes for all.
The B.Sc in Interdisciplinary Science and Practice integrates concepts and knowledge from different science disciplines to be applied to real world problems through local and global perspectives. This program innovates the conventional science curriculum to entrench the principles and practice of interdisciplinarity, and includes a 15-credit degree and 20-credit Honours degree. Students are asked to complete 8 interdisciplinary science courses and one minor within the Faculty of Science. Honours students are also encouraged to complete a second minor within the Faculty with learning culminating in an academic capstone experience (group research project; research essay or individual research project). Program graduates will be well prepared to balance specialized technical knowledge with the transferable skills of critical thinking and problem solving, teamwork, and science communication.
The program was developed entirely around the notion of providing students with a unique learning experience. From the first year where students will participate in seminar courses which in part will orient them to university life and to their group research proposal on community or citizen science projects, students will feel engaged with their peers and connected to the community beyond the classroom. Students will be exposed to a broad base of scientific fundamentals and also learn about science communication, data and knowledge synthesis, and collaboration with diverse partners.
The program has adopted a learner-centered, experiential pedagogy to reach across disciplines and into the community. The program will build on collaborations with Indigenous groups to introduce students to different “ways of knowing”. The program will also utilize “citizen science” and “peer-to-peer science” models as innovative means to demystify science through effective communication, to build bridges between our students and the community, and to engage students and community in forging new models of critical analysis. Throughout each course, students will navigate the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity to strengthen their capacity for collaboration, critical inquiry, and science communication. To showcase this, all students in their third year, will contribute to the proposal of an interdisciplinary project. Honours students will be asked to develop capstone projects to reflect their interests from an interdisciplinary perspective, as well as involve them in an aspect of academic-community engagement.
Carleton University’s Bachelor of Media Production and Design (BMPD) responds to the opportunities for new forms of storytelling flowing from the convergence of media, information, public engagement and design. This convergence has resulted in a growing demand for individuals who can combine the non-fiction storytelling and explanatory skills of journalists with design and online production capabilities, turning ideas into informative and engaging online content.
The BMPD, which is the first of its kind in Canada, is housed in Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication (SJC). It draws on three sources: new courses created for the BMPD program; some existing courses offered by the SJC; and some existing courses tailored for the needs of BMPD students that are taught in Carleton’s School of Information Technology (SIT). A combination of intensive hands-on workshops and lecture courses will give students a strong foundation in data, research, writing, and narrative abilities across media formats (text, photography, audio, video and graphics) as well as design and production skills.
The 20-credit degree includes 12.0 prescribed core credits, with an optional one-year co-op placement commencing in the January after the fall term of the program’s third year. The emphasis throughout the program is on experiential learning in workshops that creatively combine narrative, public engagement and design into distinctive online storytelling. The classroom experience will foster fundamental production and design skills and thinking in the development and application of narratives, with the understanding that design influences information pathways, making “story” and “design” inseparable. The BMPD will thus prepare students to innovate and operate across all facets of narrative that engage, inform, entertain and ultimately contribute to a broader and deeper understanding of how we connect with each other in the 21st century to build stronger societies.
The Combined B.A. Honour’s in Indigenous Studies, which builds on Carleton’s existing strengths in this area, will engage students with aspects of Indigenous peoples’ ways of knowing and living in the world that include, among other things, ecological epistemologies, histories, cultural practices and traditions, languages, diplomacies, politics, and community dynamics. It will expose both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to the historical and contemporary experience of Indigenous peoples in North America and globally. It will also train students in cross-cultural communication with an aim towards building bridges between communities and will embody principles of Indigenous pedagogy. The program will be innovative in that it will include a practicum and community-engagement capstone course animated by the Mamiwininmowin (Algonquin language) concept of aditawazi nisoditadiwin, or walking in two worlds. It will also set itself apart from Indigenous Studies programs in other Ontario universities insofar as it will be thoroughly interdisciplinary, encompassing a wide range of courses designed specifically for Indigenous Studies. The program will also have the distinctive advantage of being located in the nation’s capital.
The program will be structured around four main thematic areas or suites of courses centered on: 1) Indigenous Peoplehood Studies; 2) Indigenous ways of knowing and epistemologies; 3) The history of Indigenous-Settler relations and colonization; and 4) Indigenous recovery, vitalization, and reclamation and decolonization. It will be comprised of a total of 20.0 credits, 7.0 of which will be in Indigenous Studies, including 4.5 core credits distributed over the four years of the program and 2.5 credits of elective courses. It will culminate in a fourth-year capstone course entitled “Indigeneity and the City.” The program will be housed in the School of Canadian Studies. It will have a Program Coordinator and a Committee of Management that will include Elders, faculty members, community members, administrative professionals and students from across the university. Day-to-day administration will be conducted by the School’s regular staff. It is important for staff members to be versed in the specific needs of Indigenous students. Therefore, the School will develop a specialized training program to ensure staff can assist Indigenous students in ways that are culturally appropriate.
The Bachelor of Information Technology – Information Resource Management (BIT-IRM) is a fully integrated joint program offered collaboratively by Carleton University and Algonquin College. Students attend both Carleton and Algonquin on a weekly basis in each of the program’s four years, experiencing theory at Carleton and reinforcing the theory with practical skills provided at Algonquin. At Carleton, students benefit from the expertise of highly trained faculty engaged in advanced research projects, and modern facilities including a dedicated computer lab for IRM students in a new building and dedicated group study rooms in MacOdrum Library’s new Discovery Centre. Students also have the opportunity to work on practicums and senior research projects with professional librarians and paraprofessional staff at the Library.
The IRM program provides a carefully designed multidisciplinary curriculum which covers both mainstream library science/information management and information technology in order to develop a skillset in demand by employers. Library science and information management are covered by courses in cataloguing and metadata, collections management, subject analysis and indexing, and reference services. The program also offers substantial coverage of information technology to reflect the requirements of the modern information economy, including courses in web interface development, programming, database theory and development and network technology. In addition, students take courses delivered by Carleton departments outside the School of Information Technology, including courses in statistics taught by faculty from the School of Mathematics and Statistics, communication skills taught by faculty from the School of Linguistics and Language Studies and business courses taught by faculty in the Sprott School of Business. Finally, the program includes a four-credit Minor requirement intended to provide a subject-area specialty for graduates of the BIT-IRM program.
The BIT-IRM is a unique program in Canada that fills a need in the education and labour markets. There are four library technician programs in Ontario and 17 across Canada. None offers the opportunity for a combined degree and diploma in four years; none emphasizes the management of digital information resources including research data; and none offers the extensive practicum and experiential learning opportunities that are a feature of this program. University programs in the related fields of librarianship and information management occur only at the graduate level. Consultations with major government and other employers in the National Capital Region indicate strong support for this program as well as the potential for co-op and practicum placements.
The BIT-IRM program builds on the success of three other joint BIT programs currently offered collaboratively by Carleton and Algonquin: Interactive Multimedia and Design; Network Technology; and Photonics and Laser Technology. Graduates from the program will be awarded a Bachelor of Information Technology degree from Carleton and the Library and Information Technician (LIT) diploma from Algonquin. Graduates will thus obtain in four years two credentials that would otherwise take six years. In the four years that students engage in the program, they are considered students of both institutions and enjoy full rights on both campuses.
The Bachelor of Global and International Studies is jointly offered by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Public Affairs. It is intended for students who want to learn more about, and engage constructively with, the world in which we live. It is expected that it will allow students to pursue a wide range of career options related to global and international studies, including graduate school in a number of different disciplinary areas. It is both multidisciplinary, in that it introduces students to the many different disciplinary perspectives on global and international studies, and interdisciplinary, in that it places these disciplinary perspectives in critical dialogue with each other.
There are four components to the degree: 1) a multidisciplinary core course sequence which provides all students with a common foundation in global and international studies; 2) 12 specializations, some defined thematically and some defined in terms of geographic regions of the world, which allow students to acquire a more in-depth knowledge of a subject of particular interest to them; 3) a language requirement intended to make students capable of engaging with another culture in a second language and 4) an overseas experience requirement to ensure that all students have practical experience of living and studying abroad. External admission is only to the 4 year (20 credit) Honours degree, though students in program may transfer to the 3 year (15 credit) General degree.
The Bachelor of Health Sciences program is designed to prepare students for employment as well as for the advanced graduate or professional training required for a diverse array of health careers. This BHSc program features several novel attributes. Through these attributes it develops a distinctive range of expertise and skills in students to equip them to adapt effectively to the rapidly changing and increasingly multi-disciplinary and collaborative nature of health delivery and research. The program offers an interdisciplinary look at health that draws on social, geographical, economic, psychological, technological and other factors.