News

What's New at BC Colleges: January 18, 2012

Message from Jim Reed - President, BC Colleges

Happy New Year and welcome back. BC Colleges is looking forward to a productive and exciting year. Work is already underway to ensure our institutions are meeting the demand for job-ready graduates in 2012 and beyond.

This month a number of our institutions have announced how they will be utilizing the funding provided by British Columbia’s Employment Skills Access Initiative (ESA). This year ESA is investing a total of $13 million at post-secondary institutions throughout the province to provide people who are unemployed and in need of additional skill development with tuition-free, group-based training that will prepare them for entry or re-entry into the workforce. The initiative targets training based on labour market research, which identifies areas of the labour market that are currently experiencing or projected to experience labour or skill shortages. This training is vitally important to the BC economy. Our colleges need to educate and retrain people to fill the more than 1 million job openings forecast for the coming decade - 75% of which will require some form of post-secondary education. At Selkirk College close to $700,000 is being put toward the delivery of Administrative Skills Training (AST) and Early Childhood Care Education Assistant (ECCE) programs. At Langara close to $700,000 will be allocated to Advanced Administration Skills, Office Administration Skills, and Business and Computer Essentials programs and Camosun CollegeNorth Island College and Vancouver Island University are each offering a Leadership and Capacity Building program for eligible First Nations students funded through the Employment Skills Access (ESA) program.

As we move forward, it's important that we match the students graduating from our institutions with the market demand. This is not an easy task as it varies greatly by region and involves a high degree of co-ordination between government, post-secondary institutions and employers. To ensure this co-ordination happens, we are actively participating in and working with the provincial government to help facilitate regional workforce tables. The first of these tables will occur in the northwest on January 30th and will be hosted at the Northwest Community College followed by another session in the northeast on February 10th hosted by Northern Lights College. These sessions will bring together key stakeholders to ensure that supply meets demand in the coming decade. Next month we will provide an update about the results of the regional tables and next steps.

Read on to learn more about the projects, collaborations and announcements from our 11 member colleges. For a full list of this month's news,  please check out  "In the News" on the BC Colleges website. As always, I welcome your feedback, you can reach me by e-mail.

Sincerely,Jim Reed, President BC Colleges

Six NLC students earn awards from Encana and Four NLC students receive Minerva awards
Northern Lights College Media Release, January 15, 2012

Six Aboriginal students at Northern Lights College are the beneficiaries of financial awards provided by Encana Corporation. The awards, valued at $1,000 each, are available to Aboriginal students enrolled in full-time studies at NLC. Plus, four Northern Lights College students have been named recipients of the Minerva Foundation for BC Women Award. The award, valued at $1,250 per recipient, seeks to assist Aboriginal women in full-time studies in any credit program at NLC.  Read more.

Top in Trades
Vancouver Community College Media Release, January 12, 2012

At VCC, there are no tricks of the trade, just the right tools for the trades. Vancouver Community College is the proud recipient of a Consumer Choice Award for best trade school in Vancouver. The annual awards recognize and promote business excellence across Canada. Trades at VCC include baking and pastry arts, culinary arts, esthetics, hair design and transportation trades such as automotive service technician and auto refinishing. “We’ve always known VCC offers high-quality training in relevant, in-demand vocations,” says Sandra Bailey, dean, transportation trades, “and it’s validating to know that consumers see us in the same light.” Read more.

Okanagan College Practical Nursing grads quick to enter workforce
Okanagan College Media Release, January 12, 2012

There’s a good chance that practical nurses graduating from Okanagan College this weekend will be on the job within a month – that is unless they’ve already found work in their field. The 77 Practical Nursing graduates will be among 340 students who will receive credentials at Okanagan College’s annual Winter Convocation in Kelowna on Saturday. Of the 77 nursing students, 37 finished their program in December – another 40 completed their studies in August and many have already found jobs. According to figures released Jan. 6 from the Ministry of Advanced Education’s Student Outcomes Survey, even in today’s economy 58 per cent of those who graduated from the College’s Practical Nursing program between 2009-2011 landed jobs in their field in less than one month. Another 24 per cent obtained jobs within two months of graduation. Read more.

Introducing the New Douglas College Brand
Douglas College Blog, January 10, 2012

The purpose of updating Douglas College's brand identity is simple: do a better job of helping people understand what makes Douglas College special. And do a better job of reflecting the high quality of our programs, our teaching and our student services. The new brand package is the product of a lot of listening and research. We conducted focus groups with students and employees, and hosted an online forum. Read more.

Selkirk College Awarded $675,000 for Employment Skills Program
Selkirk College Media Release, January 10, 2012

For the third year in a row Selkirk College and the Kootenays will benefit from the Province of British Columbia’s Employment Skills Access Initiative (ESA), with nearly $675,000 in funding. This year the funding will be put toward the delivery of Administrative Skills Training (AST) and Early Childhood Care Education Assistant (ECCE) programs. This year ESA is investing a total of $13 million at post-secondary institutions throughout the province to provide people who are unemployed and in need of additional skill development with tuition-free, group-based training that will prepare them for entry or re-entry into the workforce. The initiative targets training based on labour market research, which identifies areas of the labour market that are currently experiencing or projected to experience labour or skill shortages. Read more.

Camosun offers leadership course for First Nations students
Camosun College Media Release, January 5, 2012

Camosun College, North Island College and Vancouver Island University are each offering a Leadership and Capacity Building program for eligible First Nations students in their respective communities starting this winter. Each of the three institutions participating in this delivery has strong working relationships with First Nation communities in their area, and received commitments to recruit, select, and support the training program participants before creating the program. The program is tuition-free to eligible participants and sponsored by the Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Agreement. Camosun is offering the course through its Employment Skills Access (ESA) program. “This regional skills training program teaches practical skills that can help participants find and maintain meaningful employment,” says Marion Knost, Regional Coordinator of the Leadership and Capacity Building Program. Read more.

Trades workers of the future have a cool new tool
Northwest Community College Media Release, December 21, 2011

Current trades students or those looking to enter what is emerging as a sector of huge growth and job openings, especially in the Northwest, have a new online tool to help answer any number of questions about a career in trades. The Trade School Initiative and TradesLinks.ca is a joint provincial-federal initiative that aims to help future trades people with the complementary skills they’ll need to look for a job or start a business, whether they are about to start a trades training program or are finishing up their apprenticeship requirements. “It’s not enough just to be skilled at a particular trade,” said BC Finance Minister Kevin Falcon, who announced the Trades School Initiative with federal counterpart the Hon. Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue. “Successful entrepreneurs today also need to be financially literate and business savvy. TradeLinks.ca is an important business and financial tool to help individuals in the trades industry start their own businesses and succeed in their trades.” Read more.

NIC Communication Design Student Creates Magazine, Clothing Line
North Island College Media Release, December 21, 2011

Taylor Leigh is designing his own career, with the help of NIC's Interactive Media program. The second-year communication design student is the art director, photographer, editor, graphic designer and publisher behind FOE Magazine, a glossy lifestyle magazine geared toward Vancouver Island art, culture and fine art. Read more.

Provincial Funding Leads to Makeover for Nursing Education Resource Centre
Langara College Media Release, December 20, 2011

Langara College’s Nursing Education Resource Centre (NERC) has been refitted with a suite of new equipment, following a $250,000 endowment from the provincial government. The funding, granted in April to enhance health education programming at Langara, has provided 22 new electric beds, 17 simple nursing mannequins, and a complex, computer-operated simulation mannequin. Five mobile ceiling lifts will complete the project. The upgrade has allowed for the School of Nursing to arrange for the donation of 26 beds and mattresses to the Rotary World Help Network (RWHN), who will distribute them to areas in need of aid.  “These beds will be very valuable for countries in need,” says D’Arcy Warner, Secretary for the RWHN. “Some of them will likely go to the Phillipines, to help with their current crisis. We send equipment all over the world, including Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and Asia – wherever we get a request for aid.”  Read more.

Canadian Institute of Mining digs deep to help CNC students
College of New Caledonia Media Release, December 16, 2011

The Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) donated $30,000 to CNC on Friday to help support those students interested in a career in mining. A total of $28,000 will go into an endowment fund, which will continuously generate scholarships and bursaries. The remaining $2,000 will be handed out next year as four awards worth $500 each. “The mining industry is a rapidly growing field with excellent career opportunities,” said Jamie Hull, Vice Chair of the North Central B.C. branch of the CIM. “We wanted to help CNC students attain the education that will allow them to excel in this growing industry, which has a very bright future in northern B.C.,” said Hull, who is also the general manager for Wolftek Industries in Prince George. Read more.

Construction Continues on Aboriginal Gathering Place at COTR
College of the Rockies Media Release, December 15, 2011

Carpentry and Timber Framing students installed the main door and windows on the Aboriginal Gathering Place this week. The Gathering Place is located at the College of the Rockies Cranbrook Main Campus. The windows will improve the interior lighting allowing students in the Plumbing program to install the in-floor heating system. Read more.














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BC Colleges is a consortium representing BC’s 11 public, community colleges serving almost 200,000 students annually with campuses in close to 70 communities throughout British Columbia. BC’s colleges offer a comprehensive range of programs from university studies and baccalaureate degrees to career, technical and trades education. All of BC’s colleges offer programs that are designed to be accessible, affordable and responsive to the evolving needs of BC communities and industry. For more information, visit our website .