Royal Roads University celebrates more Calgary graduates than ever
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As many Calgarians still struggle in a languishing economy, a growing number are reinventing themselves and their careers by upgrading their education in a specialized university program.
Royal Roads University, based in Victoria but offering flexible online degrees across Canada, has seen a 158 per cent increase in Calgary graduates since 2008, including a 35 per cent bump since 2014, when oil prices began plummeting.
“Calgary is one of our most popular markets,” said university president Philip Steenkamp, who visited Edmonton and Calgary this week for educational workshops and meeting with alumni.
“Your economy can suffer because of the heavy dependence on commodities. It suffers from that boom-bust cycle.
“But at the same time, Albertans have a really innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. They’re constantly looking at reinventing themselves. We really value those students.”
Steenkamp says economies across the country, not just Calgary’s, are evolving and universities need to respond.
“There has been a transformation in economies, and it’s Canada-wide.
People stay in touch years after they've graduated and they build an amazing network.
Philip Steenkamp
“Things are changing so quickly, with the rise of artificial intelligence, the gig economy, and the constant technological changes we’re seeing in everything. Everybody needs the skills to thrive in that emerging economy.”
Royal Roads welcomes students of all ages, many with multi-layered backgrounds and life experiences. They offer a multitude of undergraduate and graduate programs, including the increasingly popular masters in business administration degree, which blends flexible online studies with compacted on-campus learning to fit a full-time work schedule.
Students can learn online while they work but also attend campus two or three times over the course of their studies for brief, intense residencies with small cohorts of about 30 students. Students remain with the same group and often become close throughout their two-year post-graduate experience. Many go on to support each other professionally, building companies together or employing each other.
“We have an active post-graduate engagement program, where faculty can connect. People stay in touch years after they’ve graduated and they build an amazing network.”
Founded in 1995, one year from celebrating its 25th anniversary, Royal Roads is a public research university with an applied, professional focus. Of the average 5,000 students a year, the majority are graduate-level learners, which separates Royal Roads from most universities where undergrads are usually the majority.
Overall, 12 per cent of students are Albertans, and about eight per cent are from Calgary.
Governing legislation called the Royal Roads University Act puts in place a specific mandate that looks to respond to the changing needs of the labour market with programs designed to meet the needs of working professionals.
The campus sits on a natural location, just 20 minutes west of Victoria, at Hatley Park National Historic Site. Amid 260 hectares of old-growth forest, formal gardens and modern classroom buildings sits the spectacular Hatley Castle. Built in 1906 by coal baron and former B.C. premier James Dunsmuir, it now serves as the university’s administrative office.
Alumnus Benjamin Morgan, who now runs his own consulting firm, Centre for Crisis and Risk Communications, graduated in 2013 with a master of arts in professional communication, wanting to become more skilled in an area he had a passion for.
After working as an EMT, paramedic, public education officer and then superintendent operations for Alberta Health Services, Morgan said when he wanted to take his career to the next level, Royal Roads was the right fit.
“They have so many unique offerings … focusing on critical thinking, analysis, approaching things differently, moving away from the black and white and being comfortable with the grey,” Morgan said.
“The magic of Royal Roads is you really are not a number, you are a person. They care about you. They care about your success.”
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