Vol. 1, Issue 4 March/April

College has first two WebCT Certified Trainers in CanadaThe college’s Kevin Deveau,

Instructional Design Specialist,and Maisie Caines, FacultyDevelopment Specialist, havebecome Canada’s first WebCTCertified Trainers.

WebCT is the world’s mostpopular Web-based learning sys-tem. More than 148,000 facultymembers at nearly 1,600 collegesand universities are usingWebCT products and servicesenrolling some 6 million stu-dents world-wide.

Both Caines and Deveau havebeen using WebCT since itsinception and have presentedpapers on its use at internationalconferences. Caines was a col-lege pioneer in online coursedevelopment using WebCT. Herrole involves the delivery of

In their roles at theDistributed Learning Centre,Caines and Deveau have offeredtraining to college faculty at anumber of campuses, the Centrefor Nursing Studies, MemorialUniversity of Newfoundland,Telemedicine, Marine Institute,STEM~Net, and DiscoveryCollegiate High School.

WebCT training and support tocollege faculty as well as exter-nal clients and partner institu-tions. She is currently research-ing international examples ofbest practice in online coursedelivery in a project funded byWebCT.

Deveau’s main role asinstructional design specialist isto assist faculty and clients inthe conversion of classroomlearning to an online environ-ment. He is currently working ona project with North AtlanticRefining as well as providingsupport and guidance to collegeinstructors who are developingor delivering online courses.Through the DistributedLearning Centre, Deveau has alsodone instructional design andmultimedia consulting work forinternational clients in Ireland,India and Africa. Deveau hasalso developed a WebCT coursedesigned to teach faculty how touse the online service andexplore teaching strategies.

Maisie Caines Kevin Deveau

What’s Inside

Cultural Awarness Day...................Page 3

College under newdepartment......Page 5

Murphy receives vol-unteer award....Page 9

New mural unveiled atGander...........Page 12

Money raised for charity

Staff members at the GrandFalls-Windsor campus would liketo thank everyone there whohelped make their ChristmasRaffle a great success, especiallythe student council who spentmany hours gathering donationsand selling tickets.

A total of $686 was raisedand the money was donated tothe Happy Tree and the localfood bank.

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For this article, let’s focus ontwo programs at the college thatare definitely artistic by nature,namely Visual Arts and MusicIndustry and Performance.

Professionals from outsidethe college structure meet infocus groups to advise the us asto the skills required by industry,and the college in turn createsprograms to address thisdemand. With the arts recentlyidentified as a major contributorto the province’s Gross DomesticProduct, the college has becomea key player in the art industry.

Both of these programs arevery intensely creative and stu-dents are required to producework in many areas and presentthis work to peers and public inthe form of exhibitions and con-certs.

In the case of Visual Arts,works by the students are actual-ly for sale at the exhibitions. Ihave purchased some beautifulsculptures myself. Many of the

Bay St. George campus buildingsare adorned with work fromthese students. In the case ofMusic Industry and Performancestudents, the work is presentedin the form of free concerts aswell as larger shows with a mini-mal admission charge. In eachcase, there is a dollar valueplaced on the students’ work,empowering the students with asense of potential for a viableincome upon graduation.

It is difficult to integrate theidea of a “work-term” for thesestudents. They are destined tobecome independent entrepre-neurs. These concerts and exhi-bitions are as close as they get toa work-term. The benefit of theseevents however, is that they helpto develop the organizationalskills required in order for grad-uates to succeed independentlyin the work force.

The Music Industry andPerformance program’s curricu-lum contains more business-ori-ented courses than Visual Arts,

but the focus of the program is totrain students in areas outside oftheir art form as well as thedevelopment of musical skills. Itis a combination of creative andentrepreneurial skills that is theformula for success in the worldof art.

With programs such as these,College of the North Atlantic isleading the field in public sectorartistic training. We are supply-ing the workforce with studentswho have acquired the technical,artistic and business skillsrequested by industry and art isindeed an industry. By support-ing the arts in this manner, thecollege is also breaking downcommon misconceptions regard-ing the “artist”. With the type oftraining available to artists here,they will no longer be viewed asa burden to society, but rather asstrong contributors to ourprovince, both economically andaesthetically.

The Arts on CampusBy Wade Pinhorn

Students at thePrince Philip Drivecampus didn’t letthe St. John’s snowget them down.

Instead theywent to work andcreated someincredible snowsculptures on thecampus grounds.

The sculptureslasted just longenough for our ownHarold Baker tocapture these terrif-ic shots.

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A day was set aside inFebruary at the Happy Valley-Goose Bay campus of the Collegeof the North Atlantic to promoterespect for Labrador’s variouscultures.

“Labrador is really a reflec-tion of what Canada stands for,in regards to a pluralistic socie-ty,” said campus district admin-istrator Bob Simms.

“One of the extremely impor-tant things we all need to do isrespect each other’s cultures andthe value systems of all the cul-tures. That’s very important forus to be promoting as a collegeand it’s very important for ourstudents to also have that respectfor various cultures of Labrador.”

The college delivers a two-day cultural awareness work-shop to students and localprovincial employees. That’show the whole idea to hold aCultural Awareness Day cameabout, said Mary LeBlanc, amember of the organizing com-mittee.

“We have International Weekin the college system, so wethought it would be nice to rec-ognize our own cultures here atthe campus - to have a daywhere we looked at ourselves,”said Ms. LeBlanc.

College students and staffmembers were invited to dress intraditional clothing of their cul-ture, or bring in traditional itemsto be placed in a display area setup at the college’s hospitalityroom for public viewing.

“The students seemed to beinterested in it - some of themdressed up,” said Ms. LeBlanc.“Maybe if we have it again nextyear, there will be more partici-pation.”

The college’s cafeteria alsoserved up traditional foods forthe occasion, including cariboustew, Arctic char, flummies andfish and brewis. Students fromthe college’s Learning Centre inNorth West River also took partin the day by making Innu andInuit donuts.

Mr. Simms said, for the mostpart, students at the college havea deep respect for each other, nomatter their cultural background.

“For the most part, we do seethe respect, but cultural aware-ness is still something that weneed to continually promote,” hesaid.

CorrectionsIn the last issue of Currents

there were a couple of errors inthe Doug Cole story. The phonenumber published for ordering acopy of his book on RhodesScholars was incorrect. It shouldhave been 1-877-995-2920.

Also, in the same story itstated former NewfoundlandCabinet Minister John Crosbiewas a Rhodes Scholar. In fact itwas John Crosbie’s son Ches whohas the distinction.

College campus holds first Cultural Awarness DayBy Bonnie McLean - reprinted from The Labradorian

The Happy Valley-Goose Bay campus ofCollege of the North Atlantic held acultural awareness day recently topromote the different cultures within theregion. Shunee Byrne (top) dressed intraditional Innu dress to promote herculture. She’s shown here standing infront of a model of a shaking tent, whichis one of the most important symbols inthe yearly cycle of harvesting and ritualactivities of the Innu people of Quebecand Labrador. Mary LeBlanc (left),dressed in traditional Inuit clothing anddisplaying an ulu, was one of theorganizers of the cultural awareness day.(McLean photos)

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On February 8, after 33 yearsof dedicated, efficient, profes-sional teaching, MohinderGrewal, instructor extraordi-naire, walked through the doorsof the campus at Prince PhilipDrive in St. John’s... as aninstructor... for the last time.

Those of us left here at thecampus already miss that uniquestyle that is Mohinder’s veryown: his gentleness and respect,his unhurried, patient way ofexplaining things to students andcolleagues alike, and the veryobvious delight and satisfactionhe got from teaching his stu-dents.

Mohinder started his teach-ing career in the province in1967 when he was hired to teachMath and Science at the DistrictVocational School in Port auxBasques. In 1970, he moved tothe Vocational School in Ganderand in 1975, he started work atthe College of Trades andTechnology on Prince PhilipDrive in St. John’s. He has hadabout three different employerssince then, although he has beendoing pretty much the samething, in the same place.

“Mohinder has always beenable to get things done exactlythe way he would like them, buthe rarely upsets anyone,” says acolleague who shared his office,but would like to remain anony-mous.

“For example, his corner ofthe communal office, delineatedby two (very) movable walls, wasan oasis in an otherwise chaoticroom of nine other instructors.This ‘corner’ became graduallyand suspiciously larger; this ‘sep-arate peace’, only 6’ x 6’ in 1975,had expanded to the point that

only four instructors could workcomfortably in the office! Iwould like to add that I don’tthink I ever saw Mohinder makea pot of coffee.”

A Short InterviewInt: Mohinder, what is upper-

most in your mind, with tomor-row being your last day at work?

MG: To tell you the truth, Iwonder if, when I walk throughthat door tomorrow... I wonder ifI will lose my identity... thatessential part of me that makesme Mohinder. I have spent somany years here and enjoyed itall, for the most part. I enjoygoing to work in the morning. Ienjoy the students... they keepme young. I enjoy my col-leagues... they keep me on mytoes. And so, I wonder, tomorrowwhen I walk out of here, whowill I be?

Int: Any plans?MG: Lots of ideas, but no real

plans right now. We’ll see howthings go.

Int: What do you think youwill miss most?

MG: Most definitely I willmiss my students. They havekept me young at heart... theyare wonderful, energetic, andunpredictable. I shall definitelymiss teaching them and learningfrom them. And of course I’llmiss my colleagues... a wonder-ful, unpredictable group, too.But professional.

Int: You must have seen quitea few changes in 33 years. Wouldyou comment on what you see asthe most critical ones?

MG: Let me provide a per-spective... a frame of reference:When I started here, JoeySmallwood was Premier; thisbuilding was a college, not acampus; our headquarters weredown that hallway, not on theother side of the province. Yes, Iguess you could say there havebeen some major changes. Now Iam one day before retirement ata very large college with manycampuses: College of the NorthAtlantic. Even though I have hadmany different employers since Istarted teaching, I haven’t actual-ly moved anywhere since 1975...well, a few inches here and therewith my movable office walls.My last assignment, the one Ihave had for about 12 years now,was with the School ofBusiness... a good place to finish.I have had two excellent man-agers there: Bruce Baker and GailGosse.

As for other changes... wellthere were no computers, ofcourse, when I started teachinghere. I suppose they are a goodthing, but I would like to see stu-dents have much more under-standing of the basics beforeusing the computers. Sometimes,

Grewal retires after 33 years

Mohinder Grewal

Con’t on next page

5

I feel that perhaps computersmake it too easy. I don’t know, Iguess there’s a positive and anegative for everything - if you’llforgive the mathematical point ofreference.

Int: Any regrets?MG: No, not really. I have

enjoyed my work here. My fami-ly is well. My wife and I do nothave any real plans, although Iam sure she hopes that I do getsomething to occupy my time.My son and daughter are doingvery well: one in research andone in medicine. I have a lot tobe thankful for. Of course,there’s my pension too.

Int: Well, Mohinder Grewal,thank you very much for sharingyour thoughts with us. I am surethat when I say “Take care, andGod bless” that I speak for every-one that has had the pleasure ofworking with you.

Take care and God bless.

The new department willfocus specifically on developingthe potential of the province’syouth providing an avenue fortheir concerns to be heard with-in government.

It will also strengthen thefocus on developing the poten-tial of the province’s youth toaccess opportunities associatedwith the new economy and toimprove their capacity to partici-pate in and gain from economicdevelopment.

The department will alsofocus on the province’s post-sec-ondary education system, toimprove access and affordability,and to enhance the academicand technological excellence ofgraduates and course offerings,as an essential component forachieving social and economicprogress.

In addition, it will worktowards enabling the post-sec-ondary institutions to assume aposition of leadership nationallyand internationally in teaching,research and development tosupport economic developmentand build recognition for areas ofspecialized knowledge andexpertise.

Among other things, thedepartment will also provide a

mechanism for input into thesocial and economic needs ofyouth; have responsibility forcareer development to improvechances for successful labourmarket attachment; administerstudent loans and financial assis-tance; focus on marketing theprovince’s post-secondary educa-tional services and productsnationally and internationally;administer apprenticeship train-ing and provide for the develop-ment and monitoring of industri-al training programs; andprovide for the operations of thepublic library services through-out the province.

The Department of Educationwill continue to have responsi-bility for the Kindergarten toGrade 12 education system aswell as for Literacy.

Mohinder con’t from page 4

With the recent cabinet shuf-fle comes a new minister anddepartment overseeing post-sec-ondary education.

Sandra Kelly, former Ministerof Industry, Trade andTechnology, was named Ministerof the new Department of YouthServices and Post-SecondaryEducation.

College under new department

Sandra Kelley

Three correspondents still neededCurrents has had to say good-bye to its first correspondent (liter-

ally) as Jeff Mercer, who worked in the library at the Gander campus,has moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Currents staff would like to say thanks to Jeff for all his work.This now means there is a correspondent position vacant at the

Gander campus. If anyone there is interested in filling Jeff ’s shoes,please contact Stephen Lee at 643-7928, or via email.

We are also still looking for correspondents at the Port auxBasques and Burin campuses.

The International Office atthe Prince Philip Drive campuscelebrated InternationalDevelopment Week (Feb. 5-9) byopening its doors and invitingstaff and students to stop by andlearn more about internationalcooperation, and the college’srole in it.

Each day, visitors were greet-ed with refreshments and a dis-play of information describingthe many international activitiesthe college participates in. Staffof the International Office werealways on hand to give furtherdetails of project work, to explainopportunities for staff and stu-dents overseas, and to sharesome interesting stories aboutexperiences gained through par-ticipation in international devel-opment.

Visitors were encouraged tofind out about internationaldevelopment by learning what isbeing done right here in theirown college. Also, anyone whothought they might have aninterest in being involved infuture international activitieswas encouraged to submit aresume to be kept on file, or totake a look at the materials beingdisplayed in the InternationalOffice describing opportunitiesbeing offered by external agen-cies.

To cap off the week-long cele-bration, the office presentedprizes to four lucky winners whosubmitted their names into adraw. This was a week toincrease awareness and educatethe college community about themany activities, opportunitiesand benefits international devel-

opment provides. It was a suc-cess, with many new and famil-iar faces visiting theInternational Office, sharingthoughts and experiences ofdevelopment issues.

On the West Coast,International Development Weekwas highlighted by a number ofspecial presentations and lec-tures to students in the TravelTourism, Community Studies,and Journalism programs. Topicsincluded “The Role of the Mediain Developing Democracies,”“Tropical Diseases - Avoiding get-ting sick on vacation,” and a veryspecial interactive multi-culturalimmersion delivered by Bay St.George’s World UniversityStudent Canada (WUSC)Committee, “The Albatrosians.”The Albatrosian demonstrationplaced students in a fictional cul-ture and had them interact withcostumed actors. Frank Carroll,Journalism instructor at Bay St.George said, “I liked the way itchallenged people to questiontheir own cultural assumptions. Ithought it was a valuable experi-ence.”

International activitiesextended into other areas of cam-pus life. The cafeteria servedunique global cuisine. There wasalso a general presentation formembers of the college commu-nity entitled “How to get aninternational career.”

Special presentations arebeing planned for Corner Brookcampus, including a special dis-cussion on Irish Economics forthe college’s BusinessAdministration students.

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During this semester, manyCollege of the North Atlantic Co-op students will be gaining valu-able professional experience at avariety of different industry loca-tions throughout Newfoundlandand Labrador, and perhaps evenin other parts of Canada. For fiveof the college’s co-op students,work-placement locations aresomewhat more exotic.

Through a project called TheLearning Through ServiceProgram, which is administeredby the Association of CanadianCommunity Colleges (ACCC) andfunded by the CanadianInternational DevelopmentAgency (CIDA), five co-op stu-dents will be completing theirwork terms in one of three loca-tions: China, India or thePhilippines.

Our intrepid students left thefamiliar surroundings ofNewfoundland in early January,eager to experience life in theirrespective host countries. Now,with more than a month in-country, our five students havestarted to get accustomed to allof the new sights, sounds andflavours of their new surround-ings.

Michael Noble of Nipper’sHarbour and Gary Glass ofTorbay, students in theProgrammer Analyst Co-op pro-gram, are spending their co-opterm in Thanjavur, India.

Impressed with their hosts,as well as the new surroundings,Gary remarks, “The architectureis phenomenal and so is the his-tory behind it.”

International Update

College celebrates International Development Week Students gain experiencein exotic locations

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Before leavingNewfoundland, Michealrevealed, “I’d be lying if I said Iwasn’t a little nervous about thewhole thing,” but now he reportsfrom India, “Me and Gary havereally settled in here now. Wehave met a lot of people andhave made some good friends.As excited as I will be aboutgoing home in April, it will stillbe difficult to leave everyonebehind.”

Work is keeping Gary andMichael busy, but they havescheduled some free time for siteseeing, as Michael describes, giv-ing some insight into what he isreally missing from home.

“We have a trip to Bangaloreplanned for some weekend soon,as well as Pondicherii. We arelooking forward to Bangalorebecause we heard they have aMcDonald’s there!”

Tammy Patey of CornerBrook, and Jill Miles of St.Teresa’s, are spending their termin Chengdu, China. Students ofthe Environmental TechnologyCo-op Program, Jill and Tammyarrived in China during ChineseNew Year celebrations, a veryexciting time of year.

“Everything is going well,”says Jill.

“There are so many peopleand they are going in all direc-tions. We are trying all newfoods. Some are good and others,not so good. That is an experi-ence all in itself! The peoplehere are really nice to us. Theyare trying the best they can tomake us fit in.”

Tammy agrees.“When I first arrived I was

like, how am I going to stay herefor four months. Now, each day

seems to be gone before I thinkabout it! Everyday is an adven-ture and I can’t wait to see whatnew things I will see and discov-er!”

Traveling solo, LauraWareham of Corner Brook jour-neyed to Manila, Philippines tocomplete her work term. Laura isalso a student in theEnvironmental Technology Co-op Program.

Settling in quickly, Lauratells us, “I was really nervousand excited about coming here,but I have to say that the staffhas made me feel very at home.”

When asked about her hopesfor the placement, Laura said,“What I would like to gain out ofthis experience is to get somedirection as to what I would like

to do with my life, and so far thisprogram has done exactly that!”

Laura assures us she is doingwell despite being in Manila dur-ing the coldest time of year(average temp. 30C), and adds,“Enjoy the snow...hee, hee!!”

These five students will beback in Newfoundland in lateApril and will certainly havemany experiences to share. Ifyou are interested in learningmore about these placements,and the potential of future over-seas co-op and intern place-ments, please contact theInternational Office. We are fre-quently developing internationalopportunities for our studentsand staff.

International Update

Winners of the prizes handed out at the Prince Philip Drive campus duringInternational Week are, from left, Bill Haynes, Deanne Hulett, Pat Ralph and SandyMorgan.

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Newsletter Notes

Environmental project

Rajendra Jani, instructor atthe Ridge Road campus, left onThursday, February 8, for fourweeks in India to work with ourEnvironmental Education projectbeing executed in partnershipwith Cambrian College fromSudbury and NachimuthuPolytechnic in Pollachi, TamilNadu.

Raj and Larry Bouchard fromCambrian will be conducting aneeds assessment with localindustry in order thatNachimuthu can develop andupgrade, with our assistance,their environmental programs.

What a blast!

Derrick Richards, seasonalblasting instructor, travelled toPeru to make a presentation atthe Fifth Annual InternationalMining Safety Seminar in Limaon “Safety issues in Blasting” atthe end of February. This oppor-tunity has arisen through thecollege’s project with the

National EngineeringUniversity’s Mining Centre inLima and the InternationalOffice’s ongoing business devel-opment activities in Peru.

Upcoming InternationalOpportunties

This Mining Programs projectin Peru is currently looking foran instructor with DiamondDrilling expertise to travel toPeru for three to four weeks laterthis month. Anyone who is inter-ested, or who knows of anyonewith these skills, should contact:Vicki Shawyer, InternationalOffice, St. John’s.

International Update

Four co-op students (top) whorecently left St. John’s to work

around the world included, fromleft, Michael Nobel, Gary Glass,

Tammy Patey and Jill Miles.Laura Wareham (right), who is

also working internationally, leftfrom Deer Lake.

College of the North AtlanticTotal Full-time & Part-time Students Registered for Semester

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Fall, 1997 Fall, 1998 Fall, 1999 Fall, 2000

# Re

gist

ered

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Faculty members Rick Martinand Paul Tilley, and 12 of theirBusiness Administration stu-dents from the Clarenville cam-pus, traveled to St. John’s on Feb.2 to attend the 36th annualBusiness Day held at the DeltaHotel.

Business Day is sponsoredand organized each year by thegraduating class of MemorialUniversity’s BusinessAdministration program.

The theme for this year’sevent was “Breaking the Mold:Leading Business Revolution.”

Students were treated toinsightful guest speakers includ-ing Allen Vansen, event managerof the Corner Brook Triathlon;Jason Trask, former business stu-dent, now president of internetstartup company Two Lofts Inc.;Elaine Martin, president of A

Day in the Country; Gary Bruce,VP of Petro-Canada’s East Coastoperations; Emad Rizkalla, presi-dent of Newfoundland’s owndot.com success storyZeddComm Inc.; and AndyNulman, president of AirborneEntertainment.

“It was a great experience forus - we got to hear from themovers and shakers inNewfoundland and CanadianBusiness - and they were veryencouraging,” said ChantilMuggridge, who is in her secondyear of the Business program atClarenville.

For some students it wastheir first time at such an event,but they vowed after this experi-ence it wouldn’t be their last!

The trip was made possibleby the efforts of the college, thecampus Student Council, the

Clarenville Chapter of ACE, andthe students themselves.

“It was such a great experi-ence for our students that we’llbe doing it again next year,” saidMartin. “We’re inviting othercampuses to do the same!”

Students in the Business Administrationprogram at the Clarenville campusrecently went to St. John’s to attendBusiness Day. The students say the eventwas a great experience for them.

Business students attend Business Day

Darryl Murphy, an instructor in the ComputerSupport Specialist program at the Corner Brook cam-pus was honored on February 3 with a surprise partyat Marble Mountain in recognition of her 15 years ofvolunteer service to the Canadian Ski Patrol Systemfor the Humber-Dorset Zone.

During this period, Darryl has held the positionsof President, Division Training Officer, and for thelast eight years, Zone Training Officer, which coverstraining for western Newfoundland ski patrol mem-bers. This position includes overseeing first aid train-ing, exams, toboggan training, and lift evacuation.

Fifteen years is a long time for anyone to commit,but Darryl still enjoys serving with the Ski Patrol.

“I have met a lot of awfully nice people over theyears and hopefully I will be involved for another 15years,” she says.

In June of 2000 Darryl also won the Instructor ofthe Year award at the Corner Brook campus.

Congratulations, Darryl!

Instructor receives volunteer award

Darryl Murphy works at the Corner Brook campus, but alsovolunteers as a member of the Ski Patrol. She was recentlyhonoured for 15 years of service as a volunteer with theorganization.

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Most staff and faculty areaware of restructuring of collegedistricts, but for those who arenot, below is a list of the newdistricts and their DAs andADAs.

District 1-Happy Valley-Goose Bay:Robert Simms, DA, WinnieMontague, ADA-Labrador West: Robin Walters,ADA.

District 2-Corner Brook: Glen Dicks,DA, John Edgar, ADA, BrentHowell, ADA-St. Anthony: Gregory Chaytor,ADA-Bay St. George: Cyril Organ,ADA, Lorne King, ADA-Port aux Basques: GeorgeAnderson, ADA

District 3-Grand Falls-Windsor: Cyril

Farrell, DA, Geoff Kelly, ADA-Baie Verte: Colin Forward,ADA-Gander: Mac Moss. ADA

District 4-Bonavista: Marilyn Coles-Hayley, DA-Clarenville: Larry Reid, ADA-Burin: Blake Cryderman,ADA-Placentia: Gerald O’Reilly,ADA-Carbonear: Betty Johnson,ADA

District 5-Prince Philip Drive: SteveQuinton, DA, Bruce Baker,ADA, Gail Gosse, ADA-Ridge Road (ETC): DannyWong, ADA, Everett Facey,ADA-Topsail Road: DonnaHenderson, ADA-Seal Cove: Bill Whalen, ADA

Long Term Service Awards

On Friday, February 16th theCorner Brook campus held a spe-cial staff meeting during whichLong Term Service Awards werepresented to employees followedby a reception in their honor.Staff members receiving theseawards of recognition included:

30 Years of ServiceRoy HutchingsBarb Stone

25 Years of ServiceNada BordonGuy BrownPeg ChaffeyDorothy CollinsMarie St. CroixPhyllis DelaneyGlenn Dicks John EdgarSid ParsonsBeryl SmallJoan Thistle Wayne WattonVeronica Walsh

20 Years of ServiceMarion AndrewsCarolyn ColbourneHoward St. CroixDiane HollowayCarol JonesHedley ParsonsFred Pittman

A number of other certifi-cates were presented at that timefor which the recipients deserveour congratulations for theiraccomplishments! GlendaEzekiel was presented with her“Vocational and TechnicalInstructor Certificate”. NorrisEaton and Leyon Williamsreceived certificates of comple-tion for the “College of the NorthAtlantic SIMATIC Training”.

District appointments

The staff of the Baie Verte campus raised $1,000 for the South and Central HealthFoundation by participating in Jeans Day. Members of the Staff presented Barry Oake,the foundation’s representative, with the donation.

Staff raises $1,000 for charity

College of the North Atlantic haspartnered with several otherCanadian and European institutionsto carry out a program to improveinclusion of students with disabilitiesin post-secondary education. Fromleft are, front, Annikki Pulkkinen,European Director - Kemi - TornioPolytechnic, Finland, Sheila Bennett,Brock University, Jamie Fillion, NovaScotia Community College. Back,Basil Favaro, University of PEI, EiraKorpinen, University of Jyvaskyla,Finland, Patricia Noonan-Walsh,Dublin College, Ireland, Ian Forsyth,Institute for Entreprise Education, Brock University, Tuula Matikainen, University ofJyvaskyla, Finland, and Dan Goodyear, Canadian Director, College of the NorthAtlantic.

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College of the North Atlantichas started a groundbreakingproject which focuses on theinclusion of students with dis-abilities at post-secondary levels,bringing together eight principleand three associate partners.

According to the CanadianProject Director, Dan Goodyear(Prince Philip Drive campus, St.John’s), the project pioneersefforts to promote more authen-tic inclusionary practices acrossmany disciplines in post-second-ary classrooms, including anexchange of 64 post-secondarystudents for practicum/coursecredit.

The project, “AdvancingInclusionary Practice in Post-Secondary Education,” addressesone of the most significant newdevelopments in education at alllevels: the full inclusion of stu-dents with exceptional learningneeds in regular classroom set-tings. It brings together eightpost-secondary institutions: fourCanadian and four European and36 Canadian and 28 Europeancollege and university studentswill participate directly in thisexchange project. In the thirdyear, up to eight secondaryschool students will accompanytheir respective Canadian andEuropean delegations.

Each of the eight partnerscurrently provides educationalopportunities to a wide range ofstudents, and continues to takeinnovative steps to improve sys-tems by which it delivers educa-tion; in so doing, they havebegun the journey toward moreinclusive practices for studentswith diverse learning abilitiesand needs. All partners have thepromotion of inclusive learning

environments as a primary focusand all have begun to make sub-stantive contributions to promot-ing innovative classroom-com-munity links as a vehicle forimplementing change.

Our Current PracticeThe college has developed a

four-stage model for inclusion:one of the most innovative andcomprehensive in NorthAmerica, according to Goodyear.The model complements the cur-rent college programmes,increases service delivery to awide range of students in specif-ic areas, and allows seamlesstransition from the K-12 educa-tion system. The model supportsthe regular, modified, and alter-native curricula currently inplace.

Our Role in this ProjectWe will design and facilitate

host programs for two groups ofstudents from Europe and willsponsor to Europe three studentdelegations for our currentCertificate, Diploma, andModified programs. As leadCanadian partner, the collegewill also be responsible for the

accounting of all Canadian con-sortium funding and for theformative and summative evalu-ation reports.

Goals of the ProjectWhile Dan hopes that all of

the goals of the partnership willbe achieved, he also foresees anumber of initiatives which willbe sustained beyond the dura-tion of the current project: mostimportantly, the strengthening ofpartnerships, both local andinternational.

International Conference inNewfoundland

“Best practices in inclusiveeducation” will be highlighted atan InternationalConference/Showcase to be host-ed by College of the NorthAtlantic in the fall of 2004.

Good luck to Dan Goodyearand his team with this very inno-vative and challenging project.

Ground breaking project for college

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By Jeff Mercer, M.L.I.S.Librarian, Gander campus

On the evening of February12, Gander campus held the offi-cial unveiling ceremony for itsnew mural in the main entrance-way. The evening began withopening comments by Mac Moss,ADA, and the unveiling of themural. This was followed by adiscussion of the piece hosted byartist Paul O’Reilly. The eveningconcluded with a receptioncatered by Gander’s ownCommercial Cooking class.

The mural, entitled TheInevitability of Change, washand carved by O’Reilly, a localartist, using 400 separate piecesfrom five different types ofwood. Overall, it took approxi-mately 12 months to conceive,design, and build the mural.

Mr. O’Reilly, a formerComputer Aided Drafting stu-dent at Gander, has been work-ing with wood as an art mediumsince 1978, but this mural is hisfirst attempt with a piece of thissize and with a wall for place-ment. Gander campus commis-sioned this mural as part of aprogram to make the schoolmore inviting. Other projectshave included new furniture forthe staff room and making thedisplay case in the lobby morefunctional.

As a whole, the muralencompasses the theme ofchange, as indicated by thename. Some examples of changeinclude the ripple effect of theletters in the college’s name,waves near and raising theprovince, and the appearance

and disappearance of waves intothe background of the entirepiece.

There are three main focalpoints on the mural: in the lowerleft are two abstract figures (maleand female) entering a doorway,in the centre is the college nameand logo, and in the upper rightis the province of Newfoundlandand Labrador. The two figuresrepresent all students as theycontinuously pass through thedoors of the college and otherinstitutions and workplaces dur-ing their lives. The representa-tion of the province is meant toencompass community, from thecollege to the town, theprovince, the country, and theglobal village.

More than 40 people arrivedfor the unveiling. Attendeesincluded former GanderPrincipal Frank Pollett, Board ofGovernors member JoanRobbins, college staff, and mem-bers of the local arts community.The mural was well received,sparking many questions andconversations, and the eveningwas a great success.

If you wish to learn moreabout Mr. O’Reilly and his art-work, including a greaterdescription of the college mural,you can visit his Internet homepage atwww3.nf.sympatico.ca/paul.oreilly.

The Inevitability of ChangeGander campus unviels sculpture

Close upimages fromthe sculptureThe Inevitabilityof Changewhich wasrecently put ondisplay in thelobby of theGander cam-pus.

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Information Technology Programs and Accreditation

The Department of Education, in partnership with OperationOnline and the Canadian Information Processing Society, are current-ly in the process of accrediting Information Technology programsfrom both the private and public sectors in Newfoundland andLabrador.

College of the North Atlantic is working with the Special ProjectAccreditation Council (SPAC) of the Department of Education to verifythat accreditation standards are being achieved. The accreditationprocess, involving several phases, is a rigorous and detailed documen-tation process followed by a site visit and an evaluation report.

Some major benefits of accreditation include graduate confidence,employer assurance of student qualifications, and continued profes-sional development for faculty.

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The following letter was writ-ten by Aircraft Maintenance stu-dent Ron Aucoin to go with anapplication for a bursary awardfrom the Aircraft MaintenanceEngineers Association. The appli-cation requires the student writea letter of introduction explainingwhy they are doing the programand how the award can helpthem.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am in the third year of theAircraft Maintenance andEngineering program at Collegeof the North Atlantic in Gander,Newfoundland. It’s been a longhard road to get to this stage, butin a few months I will finish thisprogram and begin another chap-ter in my life.

When I graduated from highschool in the spring of 1986, Ijoined the military as anArmoured crewman. I was sta-tioned in Ontario for prettymuch the whole time I was inthe Forces. For the next 10 and ahalf years I would travel all overCanada, the USA, and abroad.

I participated on two peace-keeping missions, the last beingto Bosnia in 1994. I have seenthe ugly side of humanity andthe tenacity of human spirit. Ienjoyed the meeting, living andlearning about different cultures

and have made many friendsalong the way. I have livedthrough some experiences andseen things that people do notnormally see in their life timesand have become a stronger per-son for it.

One aspect of my life that Iwas dissatisfied with was mylevel of education and the trade Iwas doing in the Forces, as Iwould not have any job skillsthat I could transfer when it wastime to leave. After many yearsof trying to get another trade inthe military and always beingfoiled by red tape, I started tothink very seriously about theprospect of breaking my contractand going to college.

I heard about the AircraftMaintenance program on a tele-vision show I was watching and,after talking to some friendsabout it, I was very interested. Ihave always gotten a feeling ofaccomplishment from perform-ing maintenance tasks on ourarmoured vehicles and problem

solving, so I thought this wassomething I would enjoy.

It would still take me a cou-ple of years to commit. I was atthe point in my career where itwas time to make a decision. The10-year mark is like the crest of awave where you start to slidedown the other side. I was nothappy where I was going. It wasa very hard decision to leave thepension, the pay cheque and thesecurity that I was accustomedto. It is also very hard beingunhappy with your occupationand still having to maintainexcellent standards of work.

In the fall of 1998 I startedthe program in Gander - afterhaving been out of school for 12years. It was a little hard gettingback into books and studyingagain. I did however have a lot ofconfidence in my ability. Thingshave gotten a lot easier for mesince the first year. I am veryhappy with my decision to enroll

The Social Committee of District 5 - St. John’s, raised $3,000 for the NewfoundlandCancer Treatment and Research Foundation. A cheque was presented at the NCTRFfundraiser held at the CEI Club on February 16 and was attended by 200 people. Takingpart in the presentation were, from left, John Dawe, caterer CEI Club, Otto Pike, SocialCommittee, Debbie McCarthy, Social Committee, Brenda Lockyer, Funds Manager,NCTRF, and Bob Gulliver, Social Committee.

Raises money for cancer researchCollegechangeslife ofsoldier

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in the Aircraft Maintenance pro-gram. It gives me a great sense ofaccomplishment as new theoriesand skills are learned and prac-ticed.

I feel that this will be a veryrewarding career for me. Thework ethics and the high per-formance standards that Iacquired through my militarytraining and the excellentinstruction at College of theNorth Atlantic are requirementsto being successful in this field.To be excited about each andevery day, meeting new peopleand, in essence, a new start ismore than I would have thoughtpossible a short time ago. I haveno regrets except maybe that Iwould have found this programsooner.

Sincerely,

Ron Aucoin

sion recognizes that the conceptof “work” as we have traditional-ly known it, is changing dramati-cally, and that we individuallyand collectively need to continu-ously develop our skills as theorganization evolves. Considerthe following global trends, asprojected in the literature:

By the year 2005, 100% ofbusiness will have e-commerce

Growth in the service sectorwill continue

One third of workers will beworking from home

Personal offices and deskswill be a thing of the past

Part-time work will beprevalent

There will be a large num-ber of highly skilled, short-termproject workers

There will be no fixed jobdescriptions

The focus will be on“doing” a job instead of having ajob

We will be working onmany concurrent projects as ateam member or team leader

People will need multiplecompetencies

People will need to beadaptable - to develop cross-functional skills

Workers will need to learnat least one new skill per annumfor life

We will be continuouslylearning

Self-development will beour own responsibility

Workers will be expected tobe creative and innovative - con-tributing to providing solutionsand ideas, and adding valueinstead of basically performingtasks

Workers will need to devel-op skills “just-in-time” to meetevolving needs, technologies andprocesses

Teamwork will be a majorwork process

Some of these trends havealready surfaced as realities inour work environment. What canwe do to prepare? The most con-sistent answer throughout the lit-erature is this: each of us needsto accept and assume ownershipand responsibility for continu-ously developing our employa-bility by managing our learning.This means learning how tobecome a self-directed learner.

The self-directed learner isable to look forward - to antici-pate change and develop anappropriate response to change.Within this context, self-directedlearners can identify the gapbetween where they are now andwhere they’re going to be in thefuture from a personal, occupa-tional and organizational per-spective, and subsequentlydevelop a learning process (plan)to fill this gap. Because constantchange is the predominant char-acteristic of our time, self-direct-ed learning becomes a lifelong

Soldier con’t

The Public CollegeConsultative Alliance recentlyasked each college employee tocomplete a questionnaire. Thecumulative results of the ques-tionnaires will be used to facili-tate human resource, programand organizational planning asthe college prepares to meet theneeds and challenges of theprovincial labour market in thenew millennium.

The Alliance is a partnershipbetween the college, NAPE andHRDC. The Alliance’s question-naire included a section on pro-fessional development. Its inclu-

Continuous Learning in the WorkplaceBy

SheldonBrown

Professional DevelopmentCoordinator

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process, and as such, a very sig-nificant life skill.

The process of becoming aself-directed learner is not as dif-ficult as one might think. Mostadults are self-directed bynature; in fact, the adult need tobe self-directed is oft cited as afactor that distinguishes adultsfrom children as learners.

How self-directed are you inyour learning? There are severaltools available to facilitate thedevelopment of self-directedlearning mind-sets and strate-gies. Some of these will be exam-ined in the next newsletter.

Incidently, the individual’scommitment to becoming a self-directed learner does not relin-quish the organization’s respon-sibility to provide and supportlearning activity. Rather, self-directed learning principles andpractices should complement theorganization’s professional devel-opment policies and procedures.Therefore, continuous learningin the workplace becomes ashared responsibility driven bythe needs of the individual andthe organization.

That brings us back to wherewe started - the concept ofalliance. An alliance is formedwhen individuals, groups and/ororganizations agree to collabo-rate, network, share resources orotherwise interact to meet eithermutual or individual goals. Allplayers benefit, and there is gen-eral recognition that the whole isgreater than the sum of its parts.As an adult learner, identifypotential resources and formyour own alliances. After all,self-directed does not meanlearning alone!

Continuous learning con’t

As you are probably aware,the college is undertaking toimprove its accountability (seearticle this issue). In September2000 the college submitted aproposal to the SteeringCommittee of the ProvincialPublic Service Commission’sGraduate Recruitment Programto employ a Graduate Recruit inthe coordination of anAccountability project. The pro-posal was accepted and, as aresult, Kelly Lynch was assignedto the position of InstitutionalAccountability Coordinator forthe college for an eight-monthperiod, beginning October 10,2000.

The Graduate RecruitmentProgram is an initiative of thePublic Service Commission. Fora recruit, it involves a two-yearcontractual engagement withthe Public Service which entailsthree eight-month employmentstints with three different gov-ernment departments or agen-cies. Any department or agencyinvolved is committed to pro-viding a meaningful work expe-rience, coaching, mentoring,and supervision for theGraduate Recruit and to evalu-ate his or her performance.

Since October, Kelly hasbeen researching the subjects ofaccountability and performancemeasurement. Beginning inJanuary, she has been workingon the project with a newlyformed Accountability SteeringCommittee.

Kelly has previously bothstudied and worked at the col-

Kelly Lynch

InstitutionalAccountability

Coordinator

Lynch coordinatingAccountability project

lege: she has been a student inthe Adventure Tourism programand an instructor in theHeritage Interpreter program,Adventure Tourism, and FirstYear Engineering Technology.

Kelly also studied atMemorial University ofNewfoundland and obtained aBachelor of Science with amajor in Physics and a Bachelorof Education (Secondary) withmethods courses inMathematics and Physics.Besides instructing with the col-lege, she has taught in the sec-ondary system and worked asan Instructional Assistant forthe Physics Department and theEnvironmental Studies(Outdoor Pursuits) Departmentfor Memorial University.