Ryerson program gives high-school students a taste of university life
October 8, 2009
Kristin Rushowy
EDUCATION REPORTER
Samihullah Nouri was still in high school when he earned his first university credit.
So when he began studying information technology management at Ryerson two years ago, he was already ahead of his classmates.
"It was an easier transition," says Nouri, 19, of having the credit under his belt before arriving on the campus of the downtown university. "It helped me, it prepared me more."
Nouri, who attended Toronto's Central Commerce College, is one of dozens of students who have earned a Ryerson credit through its newly revived RUN program. It's part of a growing number of similar programs to get students thinking about post-secondary studies who otherwise might not.
RUN, which stands for Ryerson University Now, lets students take a university course at their high school or at Ryerson's campus. It is targeted at youth at risk of dropping out, or who think post-secondary studies are out of reach.
"It's all about how you create ways to connect people to post-secondary education who would otherwise not connect," explains Rona Abramovitch, Ryerson's outreach and access adviser.
"The way I would describe it is scaffolding, or support – that first chance for students who are involved in high school who may be the ones who might not finish, or they'll finish but not consider (university)."
"It's about the fact that if you are a kid from a marginalized, racialized, low-income background, it's often hard for you to see what the point of it all could be, or to see yourself going on to post-secondary," she says.
"It's a way of trying to get these kids to see they can get here, too."
Even though the teens often take the course at their high school – taught by a Ryerson professor – they are officially registered at the university through its continuing education department, get a student card and have full access to everything other students do.
The program also partners with Pathways to Education to offer Regent Park teens a course in marketing 101.
"It's the same material for these courses," Abramovitch adds. "They read the same books, do the same assignment and take the same exams – it's the university curriculum."
Professors might start out a bit slower, but classes are small and "otherwise they get the exact same experience."
"It turns them on," she says. "The material is relevant to them and they enjoy it."
Nouri studied popular culture and says having the credit helped him get accepted into the Ryerson program.
"It was my first time taking a university course, and it was surreal," he says. "But at the same time, it wasn't a big change because I was still at my own high school. But the course load and reading was a lot more than I was used to."
RUN students had a lot of trouble with the first mid-term exam, but after that, Nouri says everyone got the hang of it and noticed an improvement.
"It was my first university exam, so it was overwhelming at first. I did not do that well (on the mid-term) but my study habits weren't what they are now."
Toronto Star