University

NWC’s Strategic Plan has significant revenue targets for contractual training and a priority of diversifying revenue. The College is committed to engaging business, industry and Indigenous partners to respond to their training needs and contribute to economic growth. In 2021/22, the College is taking a conservative approach given the uncertainty of the pandemic. During the next three years, NWC will reengage current partners while building new relationships and strive for significant revenue generating. The College will access various funding opportunities federally and provincially to expand program offering. The College is committed to organizing training to maximize an employers’ ability to access the Canada-Saskatchewan Job Grant to assist with the fulfillment of their training needs. Efforts in this area will reduce our reliance on government funding.

University

The College’s fourth cohort of Bachelor of Education in Meadow Lake began in fall of 2018/19. Unlike the previous three cohorts, this program is under a contractual arrangement with the University of Saskatchewan. The program anticipates having 20 returning students for Year 4. These students are in the school setting in the fall for their final practical experience and then in the winter semester finishing their final classes that are expected to be delivered face-to face. In December 2018, the College signed an MOU with the University of Saskatchewan to partner on the delivery of the first year of the Edwards School of Business on the Battlefords Campus. Enrolment in 2020/21 was impacted by the university’s online delivery. It is anticipated that this year local enrolments will come to fruition. Building on the success of past degree programs, NWC is exploring with both universities opportunities for delivering cohort degree program in the region beginning fall of 2022. Of primary interest is the Bachelor of Social Work and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Currently, the Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program students can take Year 3 and Year 4 of this program in the Battlefords. It seems odd Year 1 and Year 2 are not available especially given the College already delivers six to seven of these 20 courses through our University Arts and Science program. NWC could be a quick win solution to the shortage of registered nurses the Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority identify. The College is also in dialogue with the University of Regina regarding the Bachelor of Social Work given the demand for this profession in rural Saskatchewan. The College is recommending to the U of R a collaborative approach with other Colleges to attract rural and northern people to the profession. The College has also investigated several university certificates to bring to the northwest. The cohort model has demonstrated that drawing university students from the local population contributes to longterm retention of professionals within the region. The detailed program plan for face-to-face university programming at each of our main campuses is listed in Table 8 below. The College has support from the University of Saskatchewan to deliver programming face-to-face in the fall given our track record on pandemic public safety measures. The course offerings are less than pre-COVID years, as it will take time to build our presence back. The Battlefords Campus offers several classes to provide individuals with opportunities to complete their first year of a university program in or near their home community. Individual courses are selected to complement those offered via alternate delivery methods – satellite, online, or multimodal – to optimize offerings available to students locally. University programming delivered at NWC improves access to cost-effective, quality education for rural residents. The subsequent years of the three-year plan show growth in university back to pre-COVID registrations and the start of a new cohort degree program as well as reflect impact of international student uptake.