News Article

Ann Marie Vaughan, President and CEO of College of the North Atlantic, spoke to the Rotary Club of St. John's on Thursday, June 13.


Roaring power tools. Clouds of sawdust. Painstaking attention to detail. That’s what the audience and judges witnessed as Justin Bennett competed in the WorldSkills Americas competition in São Paulo, Brazil last year. Justin, a cabinetmaker from Corner Brook, and a graduate of the College of the North Atlantic’s Port aux Basques campus, created a beautiful hand-crafted cabinet from raw material. Competing against people from around the world, Justin brought home a bronze medal in recognition of his work.
 
Justin’s story illustrates the talent that exists right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Talent that is being honed in, and propelled by, the College of the North Atlantic.
 
And Justin is not alone.
 
Just this week, CNA sent a large group of students to Vancouver for the national Skills Canada Competition. At 23 participants, we sent the most number of students ever to this national competition and we had the highest participation in the Province. We’re so thrilled to announce that five of our students came home with awards – two of which were gold medals, in the graphic design and IT Network Systems Administration categories.
 
In the area of teaching and educational technology, we’ve recently received major accolades:
·          One of our faculty members, Holly Morris, has been honoured as one of five national teaching award winners by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education;
·          Our web development course offered by distance education received the national award of excellence in instructional design; and
·          In September, we will be receiving two international awards: one for student achievement and one for excellence in synchronous delivery of heavy-duty equipment training.
 
There are countless stories like these – of award-winning work and awe-inspiring talent – and they’re popping up in all of our 17 campuses across the province.
 
Although you may not be familiar with all of our success stories, make no mistake – the College of the North Atlantic has world-class students and faculty, we have world-class programming, and we’re a world-class organization. And we have an amazing story to tell.
 
The story we have to tell, though, isn’t just about our accomplishments today. Much of our story is about where we’re going tomorrow.
 
At CNA, we recognize the critical need to be constantly upping the benchmark, In fact, we have a plan of action for how we’ll do just that. And, we’re excited for what’s to come.
 
Five years from now, when you hear the name “College of the North Atlantic,” you’ll think: INNOVATION. You’ll think CREATIVITY. You’ll think FLEXIBILITY. And you’ll think RELEVANCE.
 
That’s what I want to talk to you about today: the exciting places CNA is going. But first, it’s important to acknowledge where we’ve been in the past, and even in the last few months.
 
As everyone in this room would be well aware, in the first quarter of this year, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians faced an incredibly tough Budget – and the College of the North Atlantic was no exception.
 
Our budget reduction was $15 million with 6.6 transitioning from the College to other providers of ABE training.
 
When faced with a $ 8 million shortfall remaining we had to ensure that we made the right decisions. Our first priority was to minimize impact on our students. With that in mind, I believe the decisions we made – although difficult – were the right decisions for the College given the challenge that we faced.
 
We only eliminated seven programs completely from our offering. These were bricklayer, adventure tourism, environmental engineering technology, natural resource technician, nutrition and food service management, and visual arts. Oil heat service technician was a program in suspension that we eliminated from our programming mix.   
 
Other programs were cut from specific sites, but not cut from our system entirely. For example, comprehensive arts and science transition was removed from some campuses, but we still maintain seats in this program throughout the province. This is the case for several other programs as well.
 
We made all these decisions based on demand. There were a number of classes for which demand was very low – with only 1, 2 and 3 students in them. In fact, when we eliminated 25 programs, only 50 students were immediately affected and are now in the process of being trained out from their programs of choice.  
 
Despite their high quality, we couldn’t continue to offer programs with low demand, particularly when we are experiencing significant demand in other areas. So much so that we’re looking at lengthy waitlists for some programs starting up in September! Currently, we are actively working on reducing these wait lists.
 
There are also programs such as machinist for which we need to understand why the student interest is so low when the labour market demand is so high.  We are currently reviewing the best option for delivery of this program.
 
I by no means want to be dismissive of the reductions that have been made to CNA. But today, as President of this wonderful institution I want to shift the conversation to talk about who we are, our wonderful students, and our talented faculty and staff.
 
As the college grows, we must also ensure our organizational structure coincides with the course we are on.  We need the right people in the right places at the right time.  To this end, CNA has engaged an external consultant to make recommendations so that we have the best leadership and management structure to deliver the best services and programs for our students.  It's about being able to achieve the vision we've set for ourselves and our province.
 
This kind of change is important for our organization.   
 
We must focus our programming based on three critical factors:
1)      Student demand
2)      Regional relevance, and
3)      Labour market needs
 
Firstly, in terms of student demand, we want to ensure the programs we offer match what students want to study. We simply have to address our lengthy waitlists. We must put our resources into offering and improving programs that are in demand – thereby increasing our ability to attract and retain students.
 
Secondly, when it comes to regional relevance, we want to strategically offer programs in areas where they are needed. For example, we’ve just added our Powerline Technician program to St. Anthony in order to prepare local people for jobs associated with bringing electricity from Muskrat Falls through to the rest of the province. We also added cook and carpenter to our Happy Valley-Goose Bay campus in light of the need for supporting infrastructure in the region.
 
And thirdly, one of our most important responsibilities is to ensure our program offering coincides with Newfoundland and Labrador’s labour market. And not just for the jobs that are available today, but 5, 10, 20 years down the road. For CNA – and for that matter, for all of us, collectively – we need to put more emphasis on preparing our people for the jobs that exist in our province, right now and into the future.
 
To that end, we have added extra locations and capacity in our campuses to grow paramedicine, powerline technician, construction/industrial electrician, cook, personal care attendant, welder and non-destructive testing.
 
Further to the program reductions, the leadership review of the College is also helping to effect positive change for CNA. It’s all about putting the right people with the right skill sets in the right jobs to deliver our mandate and fulfill our mission. It allows us to focus on the academic perspective, the technology transfer and the students – rather than the administrative functions. We must ensure we put our students and community needs are first.
 
All of this allows CNA to play a very important part in Newfoundland and Labrador’s growth. Never in our history have we been so intricately tied to the prosperity of the province. We’re looking at the labour market, and we’re saying “How can we prepare students for the careers that exist right now?” But we’re also asking the even more important questions like, “How can we prepare students for the careers that will exist in 15 years? Or 30?” and “What happens after the Hebron Project and Muskrat Falls?”
 
We’re also expanding beyond the “trades programming” that people typically associate with the College. We offer professional programs like Engineering Technology, Medical laboratory science, Aircraft Maintenance, Community Studies, and Business to name a few.  
 
Our progress is not all about our program offering, though.
 
We have an amazing division dedicated to applied research. Our researchers, who are technical experts, producing ground-breaking knowledge and innovative products and services. This research contributes to the learning environment and complements the economic and environmental assets of communities for local business development and new investment. 
 
As an example, our research project “Just Nice to See the Light on Again”, explored how to conduct research and establish research facilities in rural areas. Specifically, we were looking at Lord’s Cove, which is the home of CNA’s Wave Energy Resource Centre.  This research provides insights on how to implement research projects that affect rural communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.
 
Another example exists in Labrador City, where one of our faculty members is undertaking research to do with nanotechnology. It promises to revolutionize industry and make people’s lives easier by making data storage devices (like CDs, DVDs, and memory sticks) more efficient, cost-effective, and portable. This type of research is not only contributing to the growth and development of CNA, but also it’s also putting Labrador City on the map – and a national and international level.
 
And that’s just what’s going on here in Newfoundland and Labrador!
 
On a global stage, the College of the North Atlantic is paving the way for technical education.
 
You may not be aware of what a gem the Qatar campus is for the College of the North Atlantic. CNA-Q is a benefit to the College, our students, staff, and Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole.
 
CNA receives in excess of $10 million annually from our Qatar operations – and we’re able to reinvest this revenue in programs and services throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Every campus in this province has benefitted financially from the contract.
 
More broadly, CNA-Q provides a means of establishing relationships abroad and introducing Newfoundland and Labrador to new students, markets, tourists, businesses, the list goes on.
 
But for CNA, and me personally, the significance of our relationship with the State of Qatar is much deeper than the economic and labour benefits of the contract.
 
More than a decade ago, when the State of Qatar was in search of a partner to help develop its technical education program, it pinpointed Canada as a leader in technical training. And that was very exciting. Then, they selected CNA as the distinguished leader they wanted to partner with – and that was even more exciting. It validated for us the caliber of our programs and our organization. It was – and still is – a point of pride.
 
As the operator of CNA-Q, we’re in the company of organizations like Cornell University, Georgetown, and Virginia Tech – all of whom have been invited by the State of Qatar to operate educational institutions. But our contract, valued at nearly $1 billion, is the largest post-secondary international contract ever awarded to an institution in North America! In fact, most other institutions offer just one program; we offer 34. And, CNA was the first educational institution in the State of Qatar to allow males and females to study together.
 
We’re truly pioneering education in Qatar.
 
Now and into the future, we want you to see:
·          That we’re an organization in transition.
·          That we’re paving the way in innovation and creativity.
·          That we’re fueling the growth of Newfoundland and Labrador.
 
In today’s climate, that’s the only way for us to operate. Across our nation, and the world, employers are up against fierce competition for skilled workers – and it’s only getting fiercer. At the College of the North Atlantic, this leaves us no choice but to be ahead of the game. And I know we’re up to the challenge.
 
Our programming, our applied research, our technology transfer, our international reach – and all the other areas of expertise that make CNA a world-class organization and a leader in education – will ensure that we stay ahead of the game!
 
We’re looking forward to what the future brings for the College, our employees, our students (like Justin, the award-winning cabinetmaker), and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.


Thank you.