Columbia Academy broadcasting school suddenly closes

Nearly 100 film and broadcasting students have had their academic careers end up on the cutting room floor after Vancouver’s Columbia Academy closed abruptly this week, leaving some students out-of-pocket for tuition without diplomas to show for it.

Director of operations Gord Peters said the school’s new owner, a Kelowna accountant, ran into personal financial difficulties in January, but that the staff had put up money to buy out the school and had taken over operations in February.

But ultimately, as the previous owner owed money to the government, the banks weren’t willing to sell his assets to new owners and the school was forced to close.

“It’s not that the school was doing badly, we have plenty of students, the issue was really with the banks,” said Peters, who has been with the Academy for 11 years.

The West Broadway school, which has been in operation for 45 years, specializes in entertainment and communications training, with courses in broadcasting, recording and sound design, and video and film production.

Sixteen staff have been laid off and 98 students have been affected.

Peters said the school is doing its best to help students finish their education and recoup some of their tuition.

He explained that students with good marks who were a few months away from graduation would likely receive diplomas while others would be offered the chance to transfer to similar programs in the region.

He said the school was in contact with institutions such as the Art Institute of Vancouver, the Pacific Audio Visual Institute, the Vancouver Film School and the Nimbus School of Recording Arts to try to place their film and sound students.

The real difficulty, Peters explained, will be finding space for the broadcast students, as the British Columbia Institute of Technology was the only other comparable program in the region and they are a public institution nearing the end of their school year.

“We’re trying to do the best thing for our students to allow them to finish their education,” he said.

The Academy, along with 354 other private career schools in the province, is registered under the Private Career Training Institutions Agency of B.C. (PCTIA), which offers students some financial recourse.

Under the Private Career Training Institutions Act, the Crown Agency provides consumer protection to the students of registered institutions, establishes standards and manages a student training completion fund. In the event an accredited school closes, the PCTIA can refund outstanding tuition.

That’s good news for students, as tuition at the private career college isn’t cheap.

Canadian students in the video and film production program can expect to pay up to $20,000 for a year-long course, while those in the broadcasting program pay $17,000 for a 10-month course, and recording and sound-design students pay $15,000 for an 11-month program.

International students pay even higher rates: $25,000 for the video and film program, $20,000 for the broadcast program and $19,000 for a recording and sound-design diploma. Fewer than 10 per cent of the Academy’s students are from abroad, Peters said.

Typically, the PCTIA is not responsible for issuing transcripts, tax receipts, wage or employment claims or other student records from closed institutions, but in this case, they will be able to help students access their documents, according to Karin Kirkpatrick, Registrar and CEO of the PCTIA.

Kirkpatrick said that the Academy was “co-operating with us to ensure proper student transcripts and records will be available.”

Kirkpatrick added that the PCTIA would attempt to mitigate disruption to the students’ studies.

“We will be working with the students and with other schools in an attempt to transition these students to similar programs with as little interruption to their education as possible,” she stated.

Former Columbia broadcast student Kari-Lyn Twidale said she was very happy with the quality of education she received from the school and she hoped the disrupted students would land on their feet.

“I think its an unfortunate day for a lot of people, staff and students. The school was around for 45 years and a lot of great people came from there.

“The more you worked, the more you got out of it, and I know that the teachers I had put their heart and soul into it,” said Twidale, a Vancouver-based freelance broadcaster who has worked for News 1130, Breakfast Television and CKNW.

“I hope that the students don’t give up yet. If it is something you want, go after it, look into other opportunities or other schools, just pick it up and keep going,” said Twidale, who graduated in 2002.

The temporary suspension or outright closure of private career colleges in B.C. isn’t uncommon.

According to the PCTIA, at least 40 have lost their accreditation (ability to issue degrees and diplomas) and/or their registration (ability to operate as an approved institution) for various infractions since June 2009.

The Columbia Academy was created in 1967, when founder and former owner George McNeill took over a Vancouver branch of a school owned by the U.S. Columbia School of Broadcasting.

McNeill retired last year and sold the school in October of 2010, only to watch his life’s work fall apart a few months later.

The school boasts notable grads such as Global TV News anchor Steve Darling, Eve Savory, an award-winning CBC reporter, Kevin Zaruk, sound engineer for Nickleback, and Leah Hextall, an anchor with TSN.