Kingstec strives to meet labour demands

BY KIRK STARRATT

kstarratt@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Making the college as accessible as possible to as wide a range of students as possible and meeting growing and changing labour demands in our province is top of mind for the new principal at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Kingstec Campus.

Isabel Madeira-Voss, who took over from former principal Don Bureaux at Kingstec in Kentville at the end of September, says the college has a strong base to work from in terms of meeting these goals.

“I’m thrilled to be part of the college and I’m absolutely honoured I was chosen for this position,” she said.

Madeira-Voss has been at Kingstec for quite a while now, but in different capacities. She was formerly the Academic Chair for the School of Access and the School of Trades and Technology. Prior to joining the NSCC, she was adult education coordinator for the Department of Education. She was responsible for the Valley region and was based at Kingstec. She has had an office at the campus since 1993.

“I feel very much at home here,” she said. It has been exhibited at the college for a long time that value is placed on being innovative in terms of the programs being offered and connecting with the community and employers to identify new trends and opportunities. She said she would like to continue promoting that philosophy in moving the college forward.

“It’s about access’: Voss

“It’s about access,” she said. “We want to make programs available to as many people as possible, full-time or part-time. We want to be accessible beyond the Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, September to May regular hours.”

The college is expanding delivery of programs in the evenings and they’re delivering more online. They’re working with employers, private and public, to create onsite learning opportunities.

The recent Employer Expo held as part of the Kingstec Open House was very important in providing a direct opportunity for students to meet employers in the community and help them find a meaningful place in the local economy.

As part of the recent alumni celebration held with the Open House, Kingstec identified 25 people currently employed at the campus who graduated from programs there. Madeira-Voss said the campus is a great place to study and work and they try to stay connected with people.

They also try to keep connected with all education providers and be part of a seamless system of learning opportunities for students. Kingstec students represent diverse backgrounds with some coming straight from high school and others being older individuals looking to reskill. About 30 per cent of the student population already has some other sort of post-secondary credentials or university degree.

Articulation agreements are important

“A lot of students start here and move on,” she said. The NSCC has articulation agreements with six universities. For example, once a student gets a business diploma from Kingstec, they can move on and earn their business degree from Acadia University in two years. Madeira-Voss said these articulation agreements are very important to the campus.

She said the spectrum of programming at Kingstec is quite exciting and there is a lot of research being undertaken on campus. Faculty members are very active in their fields and work hard to stay current and connected to industry.

“People are very lucky to have such an institution in the community,” she said. “I’m very lucky to be in this position; the college is an excellent place to be right now. We play such a vital role in the economy of this province and sustaining and furthering the quality of life in Nova Scotia.”

She said they have to be as creative as they can with encouraging employers and community partners to work with the NSCC in that direction and she said everyone from students to faculty and staff are encouraged to become involved in the greater community.

However, the greatest challenge for the college at this point is responding to and meeting the skilled labour demands that are growing and evolving in several economic sectors.

Madeira-Voss said she loved her work as academic chair with two schools, but sees serving as principal at Kingstec as an opportunity to broaden her commitment to the NSCC and re-engage with community partners in ways that were sometimes difficult for an academic chair.

“It was a way to build on that and expand the areas where I can offer my skills,” she said.