BCIT is pleased to announce that Michael Currie has been appointed Associate Dean, Building Design and Construction Technology, School of Construction and the Environment (SOCE).
Michael comes with a wealth of experience in academia. Previously, he was the Program Head of the Architectural and Building Technology Diploma (ABT) program at SOCE. In this position, his primary responsibilities included academic leadership in support of BCIT’s mandate of providing entry-to-practice credentials that lead to rewarding careers.
As Program Head, Michael was effective in running a large program of more than 230 students with over 15 faculty. His duties included consulting with instructors on faculty hiring, course and program development, student registration, concerns and issues as well as curriculum decisions across the program. He was also deeply involved with the ABT Program Review in 2014 and curriculum updates, and sat two terms on both the BCIT Education Council and Architectural Institute of BC Council.
Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1991 in Sociology, with a minor in Geography and an Urban Studies concentration. Since then, he has had over 20 years of architectural industry experience and over 15 years of teaching and academic administrative experience. As a faculty member, Michael was a highly regarded instructor who taught a very wide range of courses in both part time and full time studies. His teaching experience has given him a broad view of education.
Michael sees creative opportunities in academic administration, particularly with regard to fostering new lines of research and teaching collaborations across the school, institute and world. In order to accomplish these goals, Michael believes an administrative approach centers on fostering faculty success, innovation, inclusiveness, and engagement in our educational mission.
Congratulations, Michael!
BCIT from what I have seen in comparison to the other polytechnics and universities is amazing. Your school (BCIT overall) has an hybrid offering in that there able to offer University Baccalaureate degrees, yet also offer Diploma Programs. Your diploma programs in business and engineering technologies are REALLY GOOD in terms of transferring credits to continue a University Program or starting from scratch (amazing grounding in academics and skills received in the diploma programs).
Please don’t change to become a University. Why ? University is not for everybody, however the training and grounding received in Diploma programs (which cannot be offered if granted University Status) really prepare people for jobs and the real world, with pragmatic and real-world application skills.
Your Bachelor in Engineering Programs are amazing. Loves your programs, because it is an actual University degree, however where BCIT is not a University, the professors, and TA’s are not tied down being “slave to their research” and have lots more time to provide classroom instruction, really giving an excellent grounding and foundation to BCIT Engineering Grads. For all intents and purposes, please stay a primarily undergraduate institution, as the most important degree is your Undergrad and where your skills and grounding is received.
Believe me, total BCIT wannabe for Business/Engineering, but I think my English skills say otherwise.
Keep doing what your all doing, you all seriously have it down, and don’t fix that isn’t broken.