Ever since the GNWTSA国际影视传媒檚 Aurora College Foundational Review report was released in 2018, there has been much interest in post-secondary education in the NWT. In particular, folks are interested in the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university and how this will unfold.
Over the past few years, ISA国际影视传媒檝e spoken with many people who are highly interested in this topic. As ISA国际影视传媒檝e had these conversations, a number of questions often arose: exactly what is a SA国际影视传媒榩olytechnicSA国际影视传媒� university (and how does it differ from regular universities)? Do we have enough students SA国际影视传媒� and enough SA国际影视传媒榪ualifiedSA国际影视传媒� students SA国际影视传媒� in the NWT to sustain a polytechnic university? What types of programs should this new polytechnic university offer? Exactly where should we locate this new polytechnic university (this raises the very thorny question of SA国际影视传媒榤ain campusSA国际影视传媒� and community campuses)? Other questions were also asked, but these were some of the most pressing ones.
Recently, I was walking my dogs at Tin Can Hill and as my mutts were swimming in the lake (retrieving balls), I met two former politicians also walking their dogs. One politician was a former MLA and the other was a former city councillor. As we talked, one of them recognized me as a former president of Aurora College and we immediately began talking about various aspects of post-secondary education. The conversation which ensued was in-depth and varied, and it immediately reminded me of the high level of interest within Yellowknife (and the NWT generally) around the transformation of Aurora College.
As a result of my encounter with these two former politicians at Tin Can Hill, I went home and put together a proposal to SA国际影视传媒 to write a regular column on post-secondary education in the NWT. The premise for writing these columns is based on my extensive experience as a long-time post-secondary educational leader with extensive knowledge of the Canadian college system.
Over my career, I have worked at eight different colleges in six different jurisdictions (including the U.S. and Qatar) and have served as President of Aurora College. As well, I have taught a variety of courses for four different universities in Canada. Fortunately, my proposal was met with enthusiasm by NWT News/North and the result is this regular column which will begin today.
ISA国际影视传媒檓 also hoping we have the opportunity to be interactive with this column. ISA国际影视传媒檇 be delighted if readers provided comments, feedback, and questions to me via email and I could respond to questions and issues of interest in future columns. As a continual supporter of post-secondary education, ISA国际影视传媒檓 thrilled with the level of interest and engagement in post-secondary education in the NWT.
ISA国际影视传媒檓 hoping this will be the basis of a lively and thriving conversation. If you have any questions or something important to say about post-secondary education in the NWT, please email them to me at nwtpostsecondary@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
SA国际影视传媒擳om Weegar is a post-secondary educational leader who has served six years as president of two Canadian colleges.
