C. COLLABORATIVE PLANNING

North West College seeks collaboration with other regional colleges and institutions.

School Divisions

Try-a-trade is returning in the fall of 2022. This is a large trade show promoting trades to over 1500 high school students in the northwest. School division staff participate in planning and operating the event.

The College and North Battleford Comprehensive High School oversee the operation of an onsite daycare facility. College staff serve on the board, and Early Childhood Education graduates have found employment at this daycare.

Developed with a school division, a piloted Educational Assistant (EA) program to attract and prepare EAs led to the offering of a certificate program starting September 2022. This is the first time in over 15 years that Educational Assistant program has been offered at North West College. This program offering helps to fulfill the province’s budget goal to create 200 EA positions in the upcoming year.

Saskatchewan Health Authority

Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) valued Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Continuing Care Assistant (CCA) program and invited NWC to offer it in Lloydminster. For the past eight years, they provided the College with an excellent classroom and facility for training and the program has produced over 50 graduates. Similarly numerous SHA facilities and staff generously allow clinical placements for our students in CCA and nursing programs. These placements are in high demand with other institutions vying for space yet our College has been fortunate to have the support of managers knowing our students are well trained and soon available for employment.

The Board and Management of NWC advocated for more Psychiatric Nursing seats in North Battleford. A working committee was formed with SHA, Saskatchewan Polytechnic and NWC to ensure the increased student intake, effective September 2022, will have access to the required number of acute care placements.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System

A new student information system incorporating financial and HR data is a project that NWC has invested time on development. Senior academic officers at Cumberland and North West colleges selected the software solution and are working on next steps towards implementation.

Health Human Resource Committee

The Provincial CEO Council endorsed and supported NWC’s Senior Academic Officer to represent the College sector on this committee. Participation on this committee allows for advocacy on behalf of regional colleges and provides for timely receipt of information.

Community Engagement/Local partnerships

NWC is working with regional business and industry to determine and develop a micro credential framework that will provide support for small and medium enterprises. For example, Tolko Industries initiated essential skills for the workplace training in Meadow Lake. Similar short programs that meet training needs will build connections to employers and help staff upgrade their skills.

Provincial Cyber Security Committee

In addition to the CNET committee work, and efficiencies created through other technology partnerships (phones, software licensing, and policy sharing), cybersecurity enhancements is another area of collaboration between regional colleges. IT staff at each regional college have a SharePoint site where they exchange procedures, ideas and provide general support. North West College is preparing to implement a two-factor authentication process to enhance security, and has benefitted from the knowledge shared by other colleges who have done this work.

Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology

Classroom and shop space in our Meadow Lake campus is provided to Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT) for their Process Operator Technician program. This partnership has been in place for over twenty years.

NWC’s representatives attend SIIT’s steering committee meetings at their Industrial Career Centres to collaborate on program planning and sharing of training needs information.

Gabriel Dumont Institute

A strong relationship with GDI Training & Employment has resulted in support for summer students and a significant number of sponsored students in North West College programs.

University of Saskatchewan

Discussions are in progress to bring a U of S degree nursing program to North Battleford.

NWC is working with the Distance Education unit at the University of Saskatchewan to ensure the offerings of university courses are meeting student needs.

University of Regina

NWC has established a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Regina to offer the Bachelor of Social Work program.

NWC is working with the Distance Education unit at the University of Regina to ensure the offerings of university courses are meeting student needs.

Ministry of Advanced Education

International Education and Jurisdictional Initiatives branch works with regional colleges to support their international recruitment efforts. Regular meetings with regional college staff help to share knowledge and build capacity in college staff.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic

NWC continues to deliver in partnership many Saskatchewan Polytechnic programs. The program with the most significant joint planning is Psychiatric Nursing given both Saskatchewan Polytechnic and NWC have students learning and undertaking clinical in the Battlefords. There has been a focus on continuous improvement and collaboration between NWC and the local Saskatchewan Polytechnic instructor/quality assurance resource.

The Regional College Senior Academic Officers have been working with Saskatchewan Polytechnic representatives to finalize the operational manual for 2022-23 that was initiated once the renewed partnership agreement was signed by all parties. This manual will guide the administrative relationship and will be reviewed after the first year to ensure it is working for all parties.

The College also collaborates with the University of Regina/Saskatchewan Polytechnics’ Collaborative nursing program through the provision of space and resources. This has been a long term partnership and has helped to solidify our North Battleford campus as a hub for health care training. As testament to our reputation, students from across the province apply for NWC’s nursing programs and we consistently have students move to North Battleford from across the province to take their nursing training.