North Island College 2014 Community Report

2014 REPORT TO OUR COMMUNITIES

EDUCATION MATTERS NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE 2011-2015 STRATEGIC PLAN: YEAR FOUR

TOP STORIES

WORKING FOR STUDENT SUCCESS Discover how North Island College is delivering education on the North Island.

IN COMMUNITY

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Success begins at home Read how Ahousaht students made post-secondary history.

CAMPBELL RIVER

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Job ready

Discover how education, industry, and technology collide.

COMOX VALLEY

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Globally connected Find out how NIC programs are preparing students for a global careers.

PORT ALBERNI

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WWW.NIC.BC.CA

ACE-ing the trades Learn how students kick start their trades career.

MOUNT WADDINGTON 9 Teacher to teacher Read how NIC educators share their passion for education on the North Island.

As we have demonstrated for many years, we remain committed to creating the strongest possible solutions for the communities we live in, working with our post-secondary partners to create economic efficiencies and educational pathways.

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s the President of North Island College, I know delivering education in today’s climate requires more innovation and flexibility than ever before.

At North Island College we measure our accomplishments in the success of our students. We listen to the needs of our communities to bring in relevant curriculum and consult with industry to prepare graduates to work locally and around the world. Above all, we proudly prepare our graduates for success.

The province has asked for more consultation with employers to ensure students have the skills they need to work in our economy.

JOHN BOWMAN NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE PRESIDENT

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

PG 3

“NIC consults employers and industry to prepare students for careers in our communities and across Canada.”

JOHN BOWMAN NIC PRESIDENT

EMPOWER COMMUNITIES

PG 7

“Students come out of the program as young professionals with real job prospects.”

SAMANTHA BANTON-SMITH NIC STUDENT COUNSELLOR

CREATE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES PG 9

“For many students high-school graduation was a lifelong goal. Now they can close that door. They’re the educators now.”

PATRICIA CORBETT-LABATT NIC INSTRUCTOR

Front cover photo 1

NIC’S CARPENTRY FOUNDATION PROGRAM RAN ON HORNBY ISLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2014.

COLLEGE WIDE Working with communities to support students Student Success No other college in British Columbia serves a region as vast and diverse as North Island College. The time and cost of travel present barriers to education. That’s why we’re working with our communities to make education accessible where it wouldn’t otherwise exist.

AHOUSAHT’S FIRST CLASS OF EDUCATION ASSISTANTS CREATE HISTORY IN THEIR COMMUNITY.

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“When a community comes to us with a request, we work very hard to make it a reality,” said Dr. Jocelyne Van Neste-Kenny, Conway took upgrading at the NIC’s Dean of Health and Human Cormorant Island Learning Centre Services, who retired this year. “It before studying Communication forces us to stretch our processes Design in the Comox Valley. “If I but when you look at our had to take the ferry and bus to successes, it’s worth it every time.”

Port Hardy, I wouldn’t have started,” In Ahousaht, where nearly half of Conway said. “It was hard enough the community’s 725 residents are learning how to do something under 19 years old, residents came I wasn’t good at in high school. to NIC with a specific challenge.

NIC built my confidence level and showed me I could do better.”

“They had educational assistants ance Conway knows the power of in-community learning first hand.

“It’s the first time an entire class of students in Ahousaht has completed a post-secondary program without leaving the community. It’s historic.”

VIVIAN HERMANSEN DIRECTOR, ABORIGINAL EDUCATION

THINK COMMUNITY

Vance’s success, and the success of nurses, education assistants, carpenters, and health care assistants in remote communities from Ahousaht to Fort Rupert epitomizes NIC’s students-first philosophy—a framework that builds relationships, empowers communities, and makes education opportunities possible across the North Island.

working in schools who wanted their certificate but didn’t want to leave jobs or family in Ahousaht to do it,” said NIC faculty Mary Pat Thompson, who worked closely with the group. “One of the students asked us to bring the program to Ahousaht.”

NIC worked with the Ahousaht Education Society to hire local instructors, find classrooms and computers, and develop an evening class schedule for working students. It also doubled the program length to 20 months so students could take two classes per term and complete both required practicums.

As a result, eight students changed the history of post-secondary education in their community.

“It’s the first time an entire class of students in Ahousaht has completed a post-secondary program without leaving the community,” said Vivian Hermansen, NIC’s Aboriginal Education Director. “It’s historic.”

The community has since requested additional upgrading and early childhood care and education programs.

On Hornby Island, the Hornby and Denman Community Health Care Society came to NIC looking for ways to better serve the residents’ needs with a Health Care Assistant program.

“We had never run a program there before, so the director thought we wouldn’t pay attention,” said Van Neste-Kenny. “We ran with it.

They provided letters of support, I submitted the request for proposal, and the whole community came forward to offer tuition as well as lab and instruction space. It was a real collaborative effort.”

The program ran successfully with six students, an example of how the college builds relationships and educational success in all of its communities—one student, one program, and one community at a time.

Learn how to help build a caring community. Browse your options at www.nic.bc.ca/communitycare.

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CAMPBELL RIVER Where industry, technology and careers meet Responsive Education Education opens doors.

This is especially true in Campbell River, where North Island residents are developing skills to become the community’s next trades people and business leaders.

By delivering programs that meet local demand, North Island College is supporting the economic and community well-being.

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he Campbell River campus is home to one of North Island College’s most innovative programs, drawing students from across Canada and around the world.

“People come to NIC’s Industrial Automation diploma for our smaller class sizes and the ability to learn a wide range of skills in one program,” said instructor Brad Harsell. “We don’t make you choose your specialty before you start.”

The credential is split into a year of core electronics curriculum and a second year of industrial automation, which combines engineering design and robotics with the ability to troubleshoot complicated manufacturing processes.

Graduates work as naval and electronic technicians maintaining and repairing automated equipment processes for aquaculture, oil and gas, forestry, the Canadian military, and more.

Student Mike McLean came from the BC interior in the fall of 2013 to complete his second year of class.

Like many of his classmates, he graduated with his choice of

“NIC consults employers and industry to prepare students for careers in our communities and across Canada.”

JOHN BOWMAN NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE PRESIDENT

EXPLORE TRADES 3

career locations. With offers in Campbell River, Nanaimo, and Alberta, McLean accepted a position in Campbell River.

Throughout the year, NIC faculty bring in employers to create an awareness of the highly skilled students about to enter the field.

SEAN DANDY PROGRAMS A ROBOTIC ARM IN CAMPBELL RIVER’S INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION WORKSHOP.

In 2014, Industrial Automation students partnered with Steve Morgan, of Island Telemetrics, to develop and test wireless sensors that communicate temperature, oxygen levels, and fish habitat conditions remotely to aquaculture industry technicians.

Streamkeepers’ societies and researchers can also use the technology to monitor stream conditions and collect baseline environmental data.

Morgan presented the sensors to the class, then worked with students Vince Vanjecek and Preston Wu to develop the sensor’s battery and underwater abilities.

“The expertise, technical training, and energy NIC students bring to the project is really valuable,” said Morgan. “They’re really willing to work through each challenge and meet the specifications required. If it wasn’t for them I would have to ship my project to Vancouver.”

Students get a chance to apply skills learned in class and work with clients to meet project timelines.

“We’ve walked through most of the technical skills in class, but now we’re learning about logistics,” Vanjecek said. “If you need a specific part, it has to be there before you need it, so the whole process runs smoothly.”

The program is grounded in the same principles that helped shape the BC Skills for Jobs Blueprint.

“The province has asked for more consultation with employers to ensure students have the skills they need to work in our economy,” said NIC President John Bowman.

“We do that. NIC consults employers and industry to prepare students for careers in our communities and across Canada. As a result, our students receive the best, most current training available. From industrial automation technicians to heavy duty mechanics, nurses, business managers, accountants, and web developers, we are constantly adapting and growing to meet the needs of local and global economies.”

Discover how to build your world. Browse your options at www.nic.bc.ca/trades.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - JUNE 2014 ISSUE; HOW TO GROW A BETTER FISH

GIANT JAPANESE SCALLOPS FEED OFF ORGANIC FISH WASTE AT AN EXPERIMENTAL AQUACULTURE SITE NEAR KYUQUOT.

NIC researcher captures global attention Last June, National Geographic Magazine profiled the work of Dr. Stephen Cross, the North Island College scientist bringing innovative aquaculture methods to life off BC’s coast.

Cross, who is NIC’s Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in Sustainable Aquaculture, layers sablefish, scallops, sea cucumbers, and kelp at an experimental farm near Kyuquot to develop more economically viable and environmentally sustainable fish farming methods.

His research is part of a $1 million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the federal agency that supports innovation in post-secondary research. NIC’s Centre for Applied Research, Technology and Innovation (CARTI) administers the five-year grant and connects Cross to local industry and innovators. Already, the project has fostered new environmental monitoring technology, alternative farming site restoration methods, and unique educational tools.

Read the full National Geographic profile at www.nic.bc.ca/research

Working in the woods

Demonstrating trades careers

Serving up success

In 2014, NIC and the Truck Loggers Association (TLA) created new scholarship opportunities for students entering an industry many Island residents thought was shrinking. Not true, says the association, which sees a need for 26 per cent more skilled forestry workers over the next decade. The TLA continues to provide scholarships for students becoming provincially certified log scalers, trained to accurately measure the quality and quantity of timber leaving BC woods.

In April, NIC partnered with Timberline Secondary to invite high-school students and community members inside shop doors to explore trades and technology training and career options. Attendees of the first annual Education and Industry Expo tried out a number of trades tools and met with 30 exhibitors including the Industry Training Authority, Discover Trades, NIC instructors, and potential employers.

Dining at Dolphins Resort? You’ll be surrounded by graduates from NIC’s Professional Cook and Tourism and Hospitality Management programs. The resort is gaining a reputation as one of Campbell River’s best places to eat, thanks to Executive Chef Joe Volk and his wife Carmen Amberson, who runs the resort’s front-end operations. “We seek out NICtrained chefs and tourism students because they have the practical training we need,” said Amberson.

“We know because we went there.”

www.nic.bc.ca/trades

www.nic.bc.ca/trades

CAMPBELL RIVER

ALSO IN CAMPBELL RIVER

www.nic.bc.ca/tourism

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COMOX VALLEY Preparing students to work in the global workplace Student Success In today’s rapidly changing world, students need the latest skills and knowledge to excel in their field.

With excellent facilities, curriculum, and educational pathways, North Island College students are prepared for success. As educators, our hope is to give students something more; to empower and encourage them to reach their potential, to make a difference in this world, and to leave our college truly inspired.

NIC STUDENTS GET CONNECTED THROUGH A SERIES OF COMMUNITY EVENTS.

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orth Island College’s International Education program is growing, again. This time, it’s expanding into the community, creating intercultural opportunities on campus, and off.

In five years, North Island College’s International Education program has grown from 68 students in 2009 to 234 students in 2014 from

“As NIC becomes increasingly international, we’re finding tangible ways to connect students to communities, creating rich cultural experiences for both.”

MARK HERRINGER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

DISCOVER BUSINESS 5

more than 30 countries, including India, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, the Ukraine, Mexico and Bolivia. With growth comes new opportunities.

“As NIC becomes increasingly international, we’re finding tangible ways to connect students to communities, creating rich

cultural experiences for both,” said Mark Herringer, NIC’s Executive Director of International Education.

Since 2011, the college has created three post degree diplomas and certificates in global business and tourism, nine new program options, and registered international students in every educational division from trades to fine arts, engineering to business, and beyond.

To Herringer, it’s vital for local students, such as Sue Lessard Gaudreau and Cory Christensen, to be prepared to work in a globalized workplace, where employers and clients may have different expectations than what many students experience at home.

As part of her first freelance consulting position after graduating with a business degree, Sue worked with a Vancouver physician, a New York marketing agency, and an Indian IT firm to develop an educational website for elderly Indian clients.

world,” she said. “NIC’s business programs helped me do it well.”

Cory plans to work in Japan after graduation, and knows his NIC experiences will add depth to his degree. “In my two years at NIC, I’ve learned to form groups faster, communicate with less conflict, and confidently work with people from different cultures,” he said.

In the community, Herringer now sees international students moving from internships to employees.

Students and graduates are working in businesses and banks, and co-hosting popular community events such as the Immigrant Welcome Centre’s multi-day Global Fusion Fest.

Jim Brennan, of the Immigrant Welcome Centre in Campbell River, saw the impact of international intern Gammy Brar on fellow staff.

“North Island College interns, such as Gammy, bring with them unique perspectives, passion, and a business acumen that motivates people,” said Brennan.

“As we graduate, chances are we’ll be working with people around the

Learn how to drive change, locally and globally. Browse your options at www.nic.bc.ca/business.

Building community on Hornby Island Hornby Island students are giving back to the community as part of their custombuilt Carpentry Foundation certificate.

C O M O X VA L L E Y

ALSO IN THE COMOX VALLEY

The program was developed to support the learning schedules of nine students.

“There was a lot of support bringing my math up to speed,” said student Evelyn Blanchard. “The hours worked coincided with when my kids were in school and the final piece—which really made it seem like something I could do—is that they split the program up. We studied for three months in the spring, broke for the summer, and will complete the program in the fall.

Students graduate with the first year of their technical training required as part of their carpentry apprenticeship. As part of the project, they also built an affordable eco-house for a community-run housing project. www.nic.bc.ca/trades

CARPENTRY FOUNDATION STUDENTS BUILD AN AFFORDABLE HOUSE ON HORNBY ISLAND.

Engineered to succeed First-year engineering students say college is key to their success. Immersed in small classes with hands-on learning and personalized instruction, students are well positioned for seamless transfer into the second year of UVic’s Engineering degree.

“I would recommend NIC to anyone. It’s fantastic.

Having access to professors that really care makes you want to succeed more than anything,” says past student, Mike Demone. www.nic.bc.ca/artssciences

For the love of nursing

Accepted to medical school

Each June, North Island College nursing faculty, students, and family come together for a pinning ceremony, dating back to Florence Nightingale.

The annual ceremony honours each student’s achievements and welcomes them as colleagues into the nursing profession. The pin easily identifies NIC nursing graduates and becomes a proud token of the lessons learned at NIC. Since 2003, almost 300 nurses have received their NIC nursing pin—26 of those nurses graduated this year.

NIC science graduate, Sylva Falk, attributes her acceptance into UBC Medical School to her strong start at NIC. “NIC shaped me as a learner,” she says. “It molded me into an academic who strives for excellence and questions the world we live in; it has been instrumental to my success.” Falk is one of 222 students who have taken advantage of NIC’s dual and guaranteed admission agreements to UVic, SFU, Royal Roads, VIU, UNBC, and VIU since 2011.

www.nic.bc.ca/health

www.nic.bc.ca/ut

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PORT ALBERNI AND THE WEST COAST College kickstarts automotive careers Strategic Partnerships North Island College is well known as a place for learning and developing careers. But there’s more.

As a community resource, we are also focused on celebrating culture, pursuing research, developing custom training projects, and expanding pathways in Port Alberni. By sharing ideas and working with community partners, from students and staff to local industry and business, we are expanding learning opportunities and enriching community life.

AUTOMOTIVE STUDENTS LEARN THE TECHNICAL SKILLS TO START WORKING BEFORE GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL.

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ustin McCoombs graduated in 2012 with the skills to work in a career he loves, thanks in part to a North Island College program.

ACE-IT, a provincially funded trades training program, armed him with employer connections, solid references, and a resumé that includes top placements at regional and provincial skills competitions.

Austin graduated from high

“Graduating high school with my NIC trades certificate showed employers my enthusiasm for cars and made me a lot more employable.

It was my jump start.”

AUSTIN MCCOOMBS NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE AUTOMOTIVE GRADUATE

START A TRADE 7

school with the first year of his automotive technician apprentice technical training and started working at Alberni Toyota a month later. He’s been there ever since.

This year, the Alberni car dealership will sponsor the upper levels of his apprenticeship training, so

he can keep his skills up to date and be qualified to work on more complicated tasks. He’ll also receive his journeyperson’s ticket which will allow him to earn higher wages and work across Canada.

Through the program, high school students attend college four days a week and complete their Grade 12 English on Fridays. All tuition is paid by the Industry Training Authority, in partnership with NIC and the local school district.

ACE-IT was perfect for Austin, who took apart family vehicles as a teenager just to see if he could put them back together again. It also gave him a huge advantage in finding his first job.

“Graduating high school with my NIC trades certificate showed employers my enthusiasm for cars and made me a lot more employable. It was my jump start.”

For Samantha Banton-Smith, who has overseen the college’s ACE-IT programs in Port Alberni for the last 10 years, the program has a positive effect on the whole community.

“It’s not unusual for students to come into the program uninspired by the academic side of school and come out of the program as young professionals with very real job prospects,” she said. “In Port Alberni, where the unemployment rate is one of the highest on Vancouver Island, that’s something.”

Every year, Samantha and Alberni School District teacher Greg Freethy choose 18 to 20 students for Professional Cook, Automotive, Joinery and Welding programs. The program choice is usually limited to local programs but this year, two Alberni students will also attend Electrical Foundation programs in Campbell River.

“We work closely to figure how each student is going to be most successful,” said Samantha, who ensures students are ready to work in an adult learning environment.

Along the way, the school district monitors their progress.

“This is a fabulous opportunity on so many levels,” she adds. “We really support them so they get to where they want to go faster.”

Build a secure trades career from high school. Browse your options at www.nic.bc.ca/trades.

Ucluelet Oceans Workshop Last spring, NIC brought together academics, engineers, and students to discuss ocean science in the most pertinent of locations—the new Ucluelet Aquarium.

PORT ALBERNI

ALSO ON THE WEST COAST

Co-sponsored by the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust and the Ucluelet Aquarium, over 150 Ucluelet Oceans Workshop participants discussed topics such as radiation, aquaculture, and wave energy.

The cutting-edge agenda, which included researchers from UVic, NIC, and VIU also drew interest from dozens of students from BC post-secondary institutions, who learned about the relevance of science research to small communities.

“For West Coast residents, Fukushima, aquaculture, and wave energy are very real,” said NIC instructor Bill Morrison. “If the impacts are going to be felt anywhere in BC they’re going to be felt here first. What better way to understand the science and inform the debate than to learn first hand from people at the forefront of research.” www.nic.bc.ca/ut MORE THAN 150 PEOPLE DISCUSSED OCEAN HEALTH AT NIC’S WORKSHOP AT THE UCLUELET AQUARIUM.

From essential skills to forestry career For Richard Charles, NIC’s Bridge to Success program is perfectly named. The program helped him develop the skills and industry connections to find a chokerman position he loves at Western Forest Products. “I enjoy the outdoors and physical labour, so forestry is the perfect fit,” says Richard.

The NIC program was created to help community employers such as Catalyst Paper and Western Forest Products fill positions left by retiring staff. www.nic.bc.ca/pa

Success starts at home Graeme Benzie knows the value of starting university at college.

When he started his first degree he was quickly overwhelmed by large first-year class sizes. He came home to the Port Alberni campus and enrolled in first-year university transfer courses before completing his degree at UBC. Last year, when he began his second degree, he knew his road to success started in his home community.

He credits his college experience for boosting his confidence and preparing him for university.

“Let’s face it, if you want to go to UBC you have to be ready,” Graeme said. “NIC instructors believed in me and helped me achieve my goals. When I came back, I knew I would learn the material and get a supportive teaching experience. What more could I ask for?” He plans to write his medical school entrance exam next year. www.nic.bc.ca/ut

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MOUNT WADDINGTON REGION Education degrees and high school diplomas Active Community Partner North Island College is working closely with residents, industry, agencies, and businesses in the Mount Waddington region to create flexible and innovative learning solutions that strengthen communities, and meet the needs of local families and employers.

INSTRUCTOR PAT CORBETT-LABATT ENCOURAGED PATRICIA DAWSON-HUNT AND HER COLLEAGUES TO GET THEIR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS THIS YEAR. ON THE RIGHT, NIC DEAN TONY BELLAVIA AND STUDENT DAVINA HUNT AT GRADUATION.

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atricia Dawson-Hunt spent the last four years working on her degree, when the most unexpected thing happened.

She and eight other classmates realized they also earned their high school diplomas.

“We were utterly amazed when Pat Corbett-Labatt told us we could apply for our Grade 12 graduation,” Patricia said. “I didn’t have a great experience in high school but as I watched friends and family members graduate, it stuck with me.

“They’re the educators now.

They’re setting a precedent where they are the role models and encouraging others.”

PAT CORBETT-LABATT NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR

I knew I hadn’t accomplished the same success and I thought I should have.”

EXPLORE UPGRADING 9

The graduates ranged in age from 20 to 70 and are enrolled in the Indigenous Language Revitalization program, a Bachelor of Education degree specialization offered in

collaboration with the University of Victoria that allows students to teach traditional languages in schools. The degree combines culturally relevant English, math, and science at NIC’s Mount Waddington regional campus with elder-led language classes, and university courses from visiting UVic instructors who guide their studies.

It’s a lot of class time for someone who grew up feeling alienated from school. Patricia was in Grade 8 when she was sent from Kingcome Inlet to complete high school in Surrey, where she lived with a non-Aboriginal family and went to school with predominately white students. “I felt like a complete outsider,” she said. “All I wanted to do was go back home. I didn’t bother trying to get A’s and B’s because I didn’t believe I could do it.”

In Grade 11 she became pregnant and left school. When her boyfriend died, she returned home to the Island with her six-week-old daughter.

Twenty three years later, Patricia works as a Social Development Coordinator with the Gwa’sala’Nakwaxda’xw Nations. She’ll complete her final practicum at the Wagalus School in Fort Rupert this fall.

“This is my chance to give back to children in my community, to give them what I didn’t have,” she said.

She praises NIC instructors for helping her purge old expectations of herself and the education system.

“I realize I can do it after all. The teachers here treat you like equals.

If you don’t understand something, you can reach out to them. It makes a huge difference.”

As future educators, they’re reinforcing the value of education to students in the district, where 35 per cent of students don’t finish high school.

“For many of them graduating was a lifelong goal,” said Corbett-Labatt, who retired this year. “Now they can close that door. They’re the educators now. They’re setting a precedent where they are the role models and encouraging others.”

She urges anyone interested in getting their high school diploma to drop by NIC’s campus. “There are all sorts of people out there who don’t have their Grade 12 and don’t know they need it until they apply for a job. It’s not hard to get—you can combine all kinds of different courses to meet the requirements.”

Discover your educational pathway. Browse your options at www.nic.bc.ca/upgrading.

Determined to succeed Tanya Kernachan completed her Applied Business Technology certificate her way: with determination and a smile. She took one course at a time for seven years until she graduated this spring.

“It feels amazing,” said Tanya, known locally for her positive attitude. “It definitely has improved my job skills. At work, I feel more confident handling paperwork and I know I’m ready to branch out into something new when the right opportunity comes up.”

M O U N T WA D D I N G TO N

ALSO IN MOUNT WADDINGTON

She credits the support of NIC instructors and tutors at the Mount Waddington regional campus for her success. The ability to customize courses around her schedule allowed her to learn without disrupting her work and family life.

Instructor Donna Ley credits Kernachan’s persistence. “Tanya never left her computer or work space until she completed her day. If there was a particular course she needed help with, she would arrive early the next day. She put in the effort to be successful.” www.nic.bc.ca/business DONNA LEY AND TANYA KERNACHAN IN THE COMPUTER LABS AT THE MOUNT WADDINGTON REGIONAL CAMPUS.

Supporting students

Writing with Duncan Mercredi

Culturally significant studies

Students’ enthusiasm was obvious as they tried out the trades at North Island Secondary School’s first-ever Trades Fair in Port McNeill.

The fair demonstrated the combined efforts of 25 employers, First Nations, municipalities, and education partners who came together to inspire secondary students. The event highlighted the work of the newly created Mount Waddington Learning Council, which works to improve education opportunities for North Island learners.

Métis poet, writer, and storyteller Duncan Mercredi led a two-and-a-half day writing and storytelling workshop in Port Hardy last March.

“It was such an amazing experience, as nervous as I was, I couldn’t help but feel proud of all that we accomplished,” said student Mantlidas Wallas.

The workshop ended when each participant read their work at Café Guido. Mercredi encouraged authors to keep writing, form a local writers’ collective, and publish their work.

Students travelled to Yukusam, or Hanson Island, for an ethnobotany field trip that changed the way students think about traditional forestry. The island, home to 10,000 culturally modified yew and red cedar trees, is living proof of ages old Kwakwaka’wakw forestry methods. Students in NIC’s Foundations of Ethnobotany course learn about plants and their traditional relationships to the cultures and communities on Vancouver Island.

www.nic.bc.ca

www.nic.bc.ca/mountwaddington

www.nic.bc.ca/programs

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“OUR STRENGTHS ARE MEASURED IN THE SUCCESS OF OUR STUDENTS AND FINDING INNOVATIVE WAYS TO HELP THEM ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS.” JOHN BOWMAN, NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE PRESIDENT

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, MARCH 31, 2014

 North Island College opened its doors in 1975

72%

 College facilities include four campuses and one centre serving a population of 159,000 and a geographic region of 80,000 km2 that includes northern Vancouver Island and the BC mainland coast from Desolation Sound to Klemtu

15% 12%

4

0 , 992 , 70 $4

1%

$4

7%

0,9 8 9,3 2

9

REVENUES EXPENDITURES

FAST FACTS 2013|2014

69% REVENUES

24%

 9,110 students enrolled in credit and short-term vocational, continuing education, and contract training courses  Student tuition is $1,343 per semester for full-time university transfer and career technical programs; $2,685 per year for full-time vocational programs; Adult Basic Education is tuition free  NIC offers over 100 programs and 1,000 individual courses  Co-op Education is available to Adventure Tourism, Business Administration, and Tourism and Hospitality Management students

EXPENDITURES

Province of BC

Salaries & Benefits

Student Fees

Other Expenses

Other

Amortization

Contract Services

 The Ministry of Advanced Education provides $21.8 million for approximately 2,198 full-time students  The Industry Training Authority provides $2.83 million for approximately 724 trades and apprenticeship students  North Island College employs approximately 400 people

EatDrinkMedia

Fox & Bee Studio • Art Knapp Plants & Gifts • Cascadia Liquor Store • Water Pure & Simple • First Student • Comox Valley Farmers’ Market PRESENTED BY

Thank you for your photos

JENNIFER ARMSTRONG, MICHAEL ALBERT, ALF BAUER, NEVILLE BLACK, GREG HOWARD, NORA MORRISON, MARNIE RECKER, LEE SIMMONS, NORTH ISLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, WESTERN FOREST PRODUCTS, AND NIC STAFF.

WWW.NIC.BC.CA

North Island College Foundation gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our partners, sponsors, exhibitors and volunteers in making our third annual event so successful.