"The College says that only about 6 people will be lost to the rolls of the faculty, because the emphasis has been shifted to the trades program where new instructors will be sought."

Good Lord!! Is that the level of thinking at the College Board? The number of faculty members is the important issue???

I always thought that the important matter is how many get to loose their job. It looks like 24 if they cannot find places in other programs for them or they get some surprise resignations or early retirements.

The College has a responsibility to provide stable, quality programs to industry and students in this community. If that means recruiting students from other parts of the province, so be it. CNC needs to become known for excellence in a few programs. At this time I do not know what those are. You cannot create excellent programs by playing musical chairs with them.

The side benefit of providing relatively stable programs founded on some core competencies which drive such programs is the security of individuals, whether faculty or not.

We are entering a time of scarce skills based resources. College instructors are one of those resources. If jobs are open in other locations in the province, we may end up once more in having to pay more to keep skilled people in this part of the Province, including college instructors.

Its high time BCIT opens a satellite campus in PG to service this part of the province better. Something to work on for 2010. Let that be our Olympic Legacy. It will do more for this community than any of the other proposals.

Owl, I'm not sure I understand what you are saying.
Is "the number of faculty members the important issue?" Why is this more important than meeting the demands of the community?

"..how many get to loose their job." Again your concern is for instructors, and not for spending that money on the right instructors.

The College has a responsibility to provide educational programs to industry and students in this community, not to provide jobs for unneeded instructors.

"..the security of individuals, whether faculty or not." By not faculty, do you mean students? Surely there isn't such thing as professional students? Do we pay for the college so professional students can hang out there?

"We are entering a time of scarce skills based resources. College instructors are one of those resources. If jobs are open in other locations in the province, we may end up once more in having to pay more to keep skilled people in this part of the Province, including college instructors."

Yes, but what do we do with these instructors that no one is showing up to see?

The college has to adjust to the needs of our world, not the other way around.

Sorry that I was not clear on the first item YamaDPC ....

Regarding the size of the faculty body, the way the college spokesperson was reported as stating it, it appeared that the size of the faculty body was important. To me it isn't.

Just as you say, the most important thing is whether we are serving the community. However, the way I would go about serving this community appears to be different than your approach.

The college has short and long term programs. For instance, they run a one semester certificate program which provides the formal training component of how to run a small business of your own. There are many others which are very specific skills oriented which vary from a couple of months to a full year. Then there are programs such as Dental Hygiene, Forest Technology, Business Administration, Criminology Diploma, etc. which are two year programs. In addition, they have the ability, although I believe I am right in saying that they have not been too successful at this, to do industry and company specific training.

The shorter programs would tend to be more flexible, with numbers increasing and decreasing as the marketplace changes. The “standard” diploma programs should, however, not be facing such situations if the programs are of a high quality. People from all over the province would want to come here for programs with a reputation of excellence; a program which employers will want to hire students from because they know the quality of the graduate is among the best in the province. You do not get that quality program if there is no support for it though hiring the best instructors, getting the best facilities and equipment, and selecting the best qualified students. You cannot be playing musical programs and have excellent programs at the same time.

As with any place of work, you want the best employees, you need to make a committement to your employees. That is true whether it is Canfor, XYC Contracting, ABC consulting Ltd. or the College. If you are head of a company where you feel people are an expendable commodity and you go for the lowest bid when hiring, rather than hiring quality and committment, then your company will typically not be a superior company. With the skills shortage looming, that will be truer than it has been for a long time.

I am interested in a quality college for this community, not a paper mill.

Oh, I'd rather have the paper mill. And a container port, an airport with a 13,000 ft runway, a new Cameron Street bridge, another bridge on the Fraser across from PG Autowrecking and the bypass road and an indoor soccer building.

I really feel for you YamaDPC that you do not understand what a "paper mill" is in relation to the college.

As far as having a quality College and University ... most of your other "wants" will be sitting unused if we do not provide the "full meal deal" for both industry looking for skilled people and residents wanting local educational amenities for their children and for themselves. To me, that is a need.

What do I want you may ask? I want an Olympic Ski jump. If Thnder Bay can have one, then we should have one too. Soon there will be one in Whistler. That way we can have a UNBC ski jumping team competing against UBC.

I want a Bob-Sled run for the same reason.

Indoor soccer? Face it, this is a winter city. You want soccer in the winter? Move south! You don't see the south building indoor bob-sled runs or ski-jumps, do you?

;-)

If we have an education institution that is not offering courses that are sensitive to the needs of the community, then we will have a problem. We cannot offer courses with 4 students in them at CNC when we have a limited budget to operate within.

Sorry, but the instructors need to be a part of the solution here.

Now, of the demand is for trades, how about stepping up to the plate as a board and expanding the trades program. Listen to the needs of the marketplace. They have been speaking loud and clear. Percy

Owl, I've never seen a Bob-Sled run, or an Olympic Ski jump system. But I have been to two of those huge indoor soccer complexes in Edmonton, and they are fantastic. These structures are loved by young and old, and the weather be dammed.