Joe McWilliams
For South Peace News
Northern Lakes College is feeling good about itself these days, for quite a number of reasons.
Student numbers, according to NLC president Glenn Mitchell, are up 23 per cent since 2020. This year, “it’s approximately 2,500 credit (course) students,” Mitchell says, and 5,000 non-credit.”
Last year’s graduation class was at an all-time high of 727.
Those are all domestic students, Mitchell makes a point of noting. Why becomes clear a few minutes later, when he gets to another piece of recent NLC news.
“For the first time in our history,” he says, “we have an international student cohort,” coming to study at the college. Where they are coming from isn’t settled yet, but Mitchell says it will probably be India. He expects 20 to 25 of them, all enrolled in the business program, to be in Slave Lake for the start of the 2024-25 school year.
The international students are coming as a result of recruiting efforts, which is something quite common for many post-secondary schools, Mitchell says, but until now, not NLC. New college vice president Brad Onofrychuk is the one who has been doing the recruiting work.
“We think it will be good for the college,” Mitchell says, “and great for the community.”
Pre-employment trades
A lot of things the college does could be called great for the community, and Mitchell has a list of them. One, a pre-employment pipe trades program, is in preparation for launch next fall. People wanting to get into plumbing, or pipe-fitting or even sprinkler system installation could consider starting here.
“It’s brand new for us,” says Mitchell.
The program will fit right in with the college’s mobile trades labs, which it sends around to communities as needed. Since COVID, Mitchell says, “demand has spiked” for the labs.
Dual credit programs, in partnership with various school divisions, continues to offer students exposure to post-secondary training while they are still in high school. Another, related program has been added to the mix. It’s called Collegiate Schools Initiative and is “to help the transition from high school to post-secondary,” Mitchell says.
Class 1 Driver
Class 1 driver training is another program the college is keen to talk about. There were some frustrating delays in getting delivery of a truck, but Mitchell says the Kenworth unit is now on the scene and ready for action.
“There’s lots of interest,” he says. “We can fill all the seats.”
Indigenous adminis- tration is another new program, one Mitchell calls “micro-credential.” That means it is quicker, with fewer courses than in a typical certificate program, but can be useful in seeking employment.
A diploma course in child and youth mental health is in development, Mitchell says. It’s the college responding to a need for such education “across the country,” he says.
Enrollment in NLC programs in early childhood learning has exploded in the past three years, Mitchell says. He provides some growth figures over that span that are almost unbelievable. In one of the two programs, for example, growth last year was a modest 79 per cent, down from 661 per cent the year before!
What else?
“We’re partnering with the Lesser Slave Regional Fire Service and Lakeland College on a fire and medical services program,” Mitchell says. This is a combination of two programs – one for firefighters (Lakeland) and one for paramedics (NLC). Part of it involves hands-on training at the LSRFS Hall #1 facility in Slave Lake. Students get to stay at the fire hall, go out on calls and so on.
In the area of services for students, Mitchell mentions a few items. One is an ‘Elders in Residence’ program. Betty Jackson serves in that role in Wabasca, and Priscilla Lalonde in Peace River. They are available for consultation for students; the program has been going for three or four years.
Manowapowin
More recent is the establishment of what’s called a ‘virtual Indigenous centre’ that goes by the Cree name Mamawapowin. Under normal circumstances, Mitchell says, something like this would exist in a room in a campus. But NLC being spread out over so vast an area, that wasn’t practical, so it’s online and easily available to all.
“It’s a cultural learning space,” Mitchell says. “Check it out!”
Mamawapowin was launched during Truth & Reconciliation Week in September 2023.
Any final words?
“I’ve got some other exciting news,” Mitchell says. “But I can’t tell you about it yet.”