School of Continuing Studies
Made by the drive to never stop learning. Empowering a future-ready workforce.
Your support can help the School of Continuing Studies prepare its students for the future of work.
As the world changes around us at an unprecedented pace, and advancing technology demands ever-evolving skills, it is essential that people of all ages and backgrounds have opportunities to keep learning.
McGill’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS) transforms today’s adult learners and mid-career workers into the skilled thought leaders of tomorrow’s workforce. It serves as an essential connector across the University, the community and the world. It advances lifelong learning through innovative programming, cross-disciplinary curricula, and specialized resources. And it helps learners realize their personal and professional goals; to thrive, no matter where their lives or aspirations take them.
Human society and the work environment are changing at lightning speed, propelled by innovations in artificial intelligence and automation, dramatic demographic shifts, ever more porous boundaries, and socio-economic trends that suggest greater uncertainty for years to come.
The School’s core mission to respond to the educational needs of our learners and partners is more essential than ever before. Lifelong learning starts here.
Discover our vision for the future
Advancing the integration and resilience of diverse communities
Serving communities that do not have ready access to a world-class McGill education lies at the heart of SCS’s vision. It is also one of the most significant ways we can contribute to society and the economy. We aim to expand the depth and breadth of the programs we provide, and the learners we can reach.
Your support can:
- Establish a welcome centre and outreach strategy to connect McGill with the surrounding community, and to reduce barriers to education for those newly arrived in Canada and for underserved populations by combining learner support services like admissions, financial aid and academic advising in one accessible location
- Expand Career Advising and Transition Service (CATS) to provide wrap-around guidance for adult learners and to better serve the talent needs of employers, by adding more specialized career and guidance counsellors, as well as technology-based assessment and coaching solutions
- Expand gateway programs to better integrate SCS students into McGill’s challenging academic environment, and Quebec’s society and workforce
- Expand student financial aid to remove financial barriers for learners, particularly those from economically disadvantaged populations
Shaping the future of work and learning
Our vision is to establish SCS as a centre of excellence and innovation for the future of work and learning. Multi-disciplinary research into innovative teaching practices for lifelong learning will allow us to build collaborative partnerships across disciplines within McGill, and with public and private organizations.
This approach will position SCS as a thought leader in substantive areas critical to the future of Montreal and Quebec, and to a healthier global civil society and economy.
Your support can:
- Establish funding for faculty lectureships and applied research to undertake critical research in topics that directly feed into the future of work and learning
- Endow a Chair in Adult Education to advance lifelong learning, teaching and applied research that is grounded in theory and best practice for adult pedagogy
- Create a state-of-the-art professional leadership learning centre to help working professionals seamlessly integrate lifelong learning into their work and personal lives
- Enhance soft skills development to provide access to these essential soft skills to individuals and organizations who might otherwise not be able to afford such training, including non-profit and public sector organizations and communities most at risk of financial instability or job insecurity
- Create more agile and responsive learning options by refreshing existing micro-programs and credentials
Expanding the mobility and network of lifelong learners
Access to lifelong learning, regardless of age or location, is a central mandate for SCS. As we live longer, we must learn longer. While face-to-face cross-cultural encounters remain essential, technology offers us the ability to overcome the barriers of distance, while minimizing the environmental impact of travel and the financial and opportunity costs that put such travel out of reach of many. Your support can:
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