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NAIT to be nation's largest tech school }* b7 C6 G: m" f; }& ]
$ f' |" Y/ ]4 _, N+ UStudent population will grow to 95,000 to help address Alberta's critical shortage of skilled workers8 Y- W8 S- T/ }
; Y5 v% O5 w6 T! Z3 gLindsey Norris 6 W1 X: Y/ V0 j0 S( K
The Edmonton Journal
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Thursday, May 25, 2006" l9 P' R7 v1 H- T) a. S: U4 C% ?
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EDMONTON - The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology plans to spend $750-million over the next decade on a project that will make it the largest technical school in Canada, and one of the largest in North America.% t* }+ t0 L" _
/ i, }! f4 D5 v* E. Z% A- EIncreasing annual enrolment to 95,000 students from 65,000 will address Alberta's critical shortage of skilled workers, NAIT president Sam Shaw said Wednesday.
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7 F/ \' k5 }8 W1 o: w9 h G: M: jA brand-new campus twice the size of the current main campus will be built somewhere in the south side, and the main campus in north-central Edmonton will be expanded to include a "student village" with residences and possibly an LRT station.
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7 ?3 B& o. G) q i% |1 u2 A% L5 Z" @Over the next 25 to 30 years, NAIT's other eight locations in the Edmonton area, such as Souch campus at Gateway Boulevard and 71st Avenue, will be consolidated into the two main sites.' X0 L! M, _# e3 e' d
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Shaw said consolidation will reduce operating costs and prevent duplication of services. He described the project as a "well-planned, economic approach to addressing the skilled labour shortage."1 V/ K) P c+ A* Z, a
; K* c! G* ~* s; I k3 Y: [Mayor Stephen Mandel said he approves of NAIT's expansion and the evolution of its programs. But he said while more spaces at NAIT will help address the skilled labour shortage, other issues, such as immigration policies, need to be looked at.
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"The (expansion) is excellent -- anything is helpful," said Mandel. "But we need more people."
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Shaw said NAIT is focusing on recruiting aboriginal youth, women and high school students to careers in the trades.
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! E& A; `8 v$ v( ^) ^9 e& y" n0 N"Only 30 per cent of high school students go on to post-secondary," Shaw said. "Of those, half go on to university and half to college and technical schools. Clearly we have to do a better job with getting high school students into post-secondary."7 o8 Y2 t. h+ S# { u8 N
: x. K$ o' g7 y0 _3 cTo date, NAIT has secured $44 million from the Alberta government, $15 million from the federal government, and $50 million through its "Building on Demand" fundraising campaign.# P, x# W3 g# {" k
) C% T. W0 V0 nShaw said he doesn't know if tuition fees will be increased to help pay for the expansion. But he thinks since there are so many jobs available, and $128-billion worth of building projects on the books in Alberta, higher fees wouldn't deter students from attending NAIT.
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8 W. I; N; d" w7 B7 {8 Q, d5 j9 F* Z"We've reached a 95-per-cent employability rate," said Shaw. "The number one reason students come here is to get jobs -- and they do get jobs."* U+ C1 d0 c8 v% j
. r9 _+ w. n3 a, [8 z0 I# E6 c% mlnorris@thejournal.canwest.com
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- Construction on the new south-side campus will begin after NAIT acquires the land. Shaw said the new campus will cover at least 8 hectares.* I* w7 Z! i; f& B
7 A- E* J3 t/ C) c, W7 l7 \- The number of spaces available at NAIT's Grande Prairie location will increase from 278 to 1,000, and there are plans to build student housing.
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- A Centre for Health and Wellness available to students and the public at the north-central campus could be completed as early as 2009. Among other services, it would include a fitness centre, aquatic facilities and a health clinic.
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' ~; X4 c' q e& }' ^: J- In 2004, several post-secondary institutions in Edmonton announced expansion projects.9 f' I+ K% Y: D* T4 Y
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The University of Alberta projected enrolment would increase to 50,000 students from 34,500; Grant MacEwan projected an increase to 22,000 from 11,000; and Norquest College projected an increase to 5,500 from the current 4,000.% f/ c5 \+ Z/ ?3 L) N3 x& P, C
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- NAIT is the largest apprenticeship trainer in Canada and provides training to 50 percent of tradespeople in Alberta and 17 per cent nationally.0 T4 J) `& r2 a/ U* z; R1 C% e
j' E. q1 l% R( M/ o; z( QNAIT delivers 34 different apprenticeship programs.
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Ran with fact box "Highlights", which has been appended tothis story.
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© The Edmonton Journal 2006 |
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