Beginning in fall 2021, students will be able to enrol in a bachelor of business administration (BBA) degree at Redeemer. It is the first new degree for the university since the bachelor of education in 2003. The new BBA will build on the university’s strengths as a liberal arts and sciences institution. Like all Redeemer undergraduates, BBA students will take the interdisciplinary Core studies program alongside a business concentration in accounting, management, marketing or not-for-profit management. Redeemer recently added two new faculty positions to teach in the Core program, reinforcing its commitment to see all students benefit from a broad-based, interdisciplinary approach to learning.

With enrolment increasing by more than 30 per cent since 2018 and forecasts indicating continued growth this September, new faculty positions will be opened in the coming months in business, social work and education, programs where demand is high and growing. A new Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is also scheduled to launch this fall. The Centre will enhance the university’s liberal arts and sciences approach, enabling arts, humanities, social science and sciences students to showcase their creativity, versatility, critical thinking and problem solving abilities. 

While overall enrolment has surged, some programs remain under-enrolled or have decreased in enrolment. Recognizing shifts in student expectations as well as financial challenges common to higher education, the university has systematically reviewed its program array to ensure long-term financial sustainability at the lower tuition level announced two years ago. 

The program review has resulted in the difficult decision by Redeemer’s Senate to discontinue programs in french studies and theatre arts. Throughout the postsecondary sector, programs in the dramatic arts and modern languages have struggled to attract students in recent years, and Redeemer’s experience is no different. At Redeemer, both programs have flat or declining enrolment and shrinking market demand. The university will work with french studies and theatre arts students as quickly as possible to maintain pathways to graduation. 

For any university, program closures are painful processes that often impact long-serving faculty who have legacies of transformative impact. Three faculty positions in french and theatre arts will end this summer, and the Redeemer community will dearly miss faculty members who dedicated decades of excellence and mentorship to shaping hundreds of alumni who are making an incredible difference in many callings and careers.

“Today’s announcements bring both optimism and sadness. As a growing Christian liberal arts university, launching new degrees and investing in growing programs are a natural outflow of strategic planning processes that are critical for the future. Part of the challenge is that we must build on current momentum while making difficult decisions that will help us maintain lower tuition levels and avoid making deeper cuts down the road, the kinds of cuts we are seeing at other institutions,” said Redeemer president Dr. Robert Graham. “As we manage growth and launch new degrees, we have to take actions that help us achieve long-term financial sustainability for our liberal arts and sciences mission. Together, these changes help us ensure that Redeemer can sustainably continue to prepare students to be innovative, collaborative problem-solvers who will reflect the love of Christ into all their callings and careers.”