Partnership to tackle skills shortage
January 31, 2007
By Brian Morton
Vancouver
Sun; D 13
A new partnership that will see community colleges in B.C. and Alberta join forces to tackle skills shortages will address ways of training more aboriginal students, according to the president of the B.C. College Presidents (BCCP).
"This is a one-of-kind partnership that we've formed between B.C. and Alberta," Jim Reed said in an interview. "For 2007, we've identified four areas of strategic focus for our 31 institutions. One is aboriginal education. We'll improve access and opportunities for aboriginal learners."
To that end, B.C. and Alberta colleges representing more than 500,000 students will hold a joint summit of educational and first nations leaders in Lac La Biche, Alta., in March, where strategies will be developed for aboriginal students. The BCCP said that less than 50 per cent of aboriginal students complete high school and only half of high school graduates continue with post secondary studies.
Besides addressing aboriginal education, Reed said the BCCP -- a consortium of 11 community colleges, two aboriginal institutes and the Justice Institute of B.C. -- will also look at ways in the coming year to collaborate with Alberta in the delivery of programs, develop a transfer protocol between jurisdictions and support applied research and innovation.
Over the next decade B.C. colleges have several goals, including ensuring businesses and communities are aware of the role colleges play in supporting businesses and communities; developing innovative programs that respond to the needs of businesses and communities; and securing the same level of base funding as universities.
While Reed cited the agreement with Alberta as a bright sign for the future, he also said B.C. colleges face challenges providing relevant, timely education and training "at a time when we're facing challenges in resources."
He said colleges and universities must abide by a two-per-cent cap on fee hikes, but that the ability of colleges to supplement their income through other sources is more limited than universities. "We haven't kept pace with inflation. Universities have received adjustments to help them alleviate limitations on tuition increases. We haven't. We continue to have discussions."
Reed said that colleges provide a more personalized education that's significantly cheaper than university. "Colleges provide high-quality education because they're learning-centred, not research-centred. Students can also stay and study in their communities."
Reed said there are fewer secondary students these days, a situation that will "eventually trickle down to post-secondary institutions."
For the future, he said, there will be plenty of new innovations at colleges. "We're looking at better ways to provide the mobile delivery of trades, as well as online learning.
"We have to be relevant, timely, work with industry and the community, and be flexible in responding to their needs."
Capilano College president Greg Lee agreed with Reed that college funding hasn't kept up with inflation. "You can't keep funding below inflationary costs," he said in an interview. "And that's the reality. We've been getting more money for growth, but we don't get the growth that's expected because of the inflationary costs."
He said the number of students at Capilano College declined about five per cent last year, possibly because more students are putting off coming back to college because they have good jobs.
Lee said colleges are particularly effective at working with industry to pinpoint where training is most needed and that Capilano College, with campuses in North Vancouver, Squamish and the Sunshine Coast, is no different.
He cited the college's film school, which has 300 students and is very successful "mainly because the people involved there have very close ties with the industry." However, he added: "We'd love to grow the film school, but we have no space."
As well, Lee said, the college has big plans to expand in Squamish, especially in the outdoor tourism industry. "We've been working to identify a long-term plan. There will be a lot more people [living] there."
Meanwhile, Lou Dryden, president of North Island College on Vancouver Island, has problems of a different sort.
"Our first challenge is the economy," Dryden said in an interview. "It's dependent on forestry, fishing and mining. But forestry is shrinking, so we have a lot of unemployed and undereducated people. They need upgrading and retraining."
Dryden said North Island College, which has four campuses and four training centres, has 9,000 full- and part-time students and serves 160,000 people over an area totalling 80,000 sq. km.
He said that as resource industry jobs are lost, workers have a hard time being retrained because their communities are often a considerable distance from the nearest campus.
He said the current funding formula is based on ratios of students in classes, but they may only have eight or nine students per class because of the distances involved. "We need a funding formula that recognizes the traditional funding formula doesn't work. There might be two or three students in Bella Coola or one or two in Tahsis. It's much more expensive [to educate them].
" We have one mobile unit. We'd like to see more funding for another unit."
Dryden said another problem is the cost of new technology in smaller communities. On the bright side, he said, North Island College is establishing several partnerships with other institutions so students can expand their educational horizons.
"We offer a bachelor of science in nursing degree in collaboration with Malaspina University-College. It's taught in our campus with our facilities."
As well, he said, students can get a bachelor of fine arts with the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, with Emily Carr instructors sent to the North Island campus. "We have a very vibrant arts community here in the Comox Valley."
As well, Dryden said, the college increasingly offers vocational training for high school students.
The college also has a very large number of aboriginal students, with "learning circles" introduced into the nursing program.
