Cambrian Blogs

We have been reinventing Cambrian over the past 2 years into a 21st Century College.  We are a corporation of over 700 full and part time employees, with an annual operating budget of over $70M.  Our business is education and training and we provide a workforce to the agencies, businesses and industries in the northern, provincial and global economies.

As such we have been looking at our strengths and our core business.  We have recognized that there are services we provide that are not funded by government and that can be delivered more effectively and efficiently by experts in the field.  One of these is Residence Life for students.

Up until two years ago, Cambrian operated its own Residences and Residence Life program.  In addition to being very costly, we also did not have the expertise to offer a robust residence life experience, leaving our young students to their own devices for entertainment.  Two years ago we contracted Campus Living to operate our Residences and our students have seen incredible improvements in their engagement in healthy, fun activities that have kept them motivated and connected to their peers in positive interactions.  Our behaviour issues have declined drastically.  Evictions have been reduced dramatically.

Through a competitive process, Cambrian undertook to sell the Residence buildings and 18 months later we have succeeded.  This will result in a continuation of the robust Residence life program, well maintained buildings and happy and safe students.  It removes the responsibilty for the maintenance of the buildings from the College but through the land lease, the College will continue to be a partner in ensuring standards are maintained and costs remain competitive.  The best part is that now we will see new Residences built that will meet the needs of more mature learners – something Cambrian could not afford to undertake. 

This truly is a win for all parties and one example of  how collaborations among partners results in outcomes that are stronger than working alone.

Yesterday Cambrian College and Lauentian University renewed several agreements and signed some new opportunities for students to move between the two institutions to enhance their qualifications while receiving recognition for the learning they have already completed at their home institution.

A college education is directly linked to the workplace and prepares graduates with skills and understandings that enable them to enter the workforce in their chosen career.  College education is known to be more practical in its approach, providing students with the hands-on, practical application of theory instruction and practice needed for the workplace.

A university education, outside of some specific professional schools, provides learners with the opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding in their chosen field.  Students work with ideas and concepts.

So why pathways from one to the other?  Because in the workplace of the 21st century we need people who can problem-solve, make decisions, and act on those decisions; people who can blend theory and practice to overcome every day challenges; people who can work in collaboration with co-workers across departments and divisions.  Employers tell us that the graduate who has had exposure to both theory and practice in the formation of their career skills is more effective and productive to the workplace.

So, Cambrian and Laurentian continue to provide what employers need to thrive, what our community needs to prosper – students with an opportunity to seamlessly experience both sides of the post-secondary education system.   

Yesterday we signed an overarching agreement of our intent and commitment to work more closely together and we signed agreements in the fields of communications, labour studies, and fine art.  There are more articulations to come and more collaborations that will continue to provide our learners with the best of both learning experiences, and prepare them for the global workforce.

This week we have launched a new initiative known as Career Week.  Each evening we are providing Career information on a theme or cluster of programs.  We have panels including employers, students, graduates, and faculty.  These panels provide information about career opportunities in the field and respond to questions.  Employers also set up booths where potential students can engage in dialogue to learn more about the opportunities available to them.

This evening was Trades and Technology and I was the moderator for the panel.  We had nearly 100 people turn out to learn more about the job and career opportunities in these fields.

What a great service.  When I went to school, women basically had three options – nurse, teacher, secretary.  And it was common knowledge that we went to post secondary education not only for the education but to meet the future husband, someone who was educated and would take care of us for the rest of our lives.  Afterall, we were expected to work only until the children came.  How life has changed in just 40 years!

Today’s workplace offers so many different challenging careers that no one can really know all of the options.  That’s why events like tonight are so important.

Cambrian also offers career counselling and opportunities for students to take a tour or talk to a prof before making their decision.  The other thing that has changed so much is that in my day you made a decision on what you were going to do “for the rest of your life”.  Now, careers and opportunities change so much and skills become so transferable that job changes and career renewal are just a way of life. 

The only wrong door is the exit door out of education entirely.

As we all know, the number of young people in Northern Ontario is declining.  In fact this is a trend across Ontario, just faster in the North.  The area of growth continues to be Toronto and a few urban centres in southern Ontario, due to the settlement of new immigrants each year to these areas.

So if we are to grow as a college and attract potential employees to move to the north, we need to attract students from the south. 

On Tuesday October 25, the Ontario Colleges hosted an information fair at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto for potential college students.  Several thousand students, their teachers and some of their parents attended.  Some travelled from other parts of southern and central Ontario as well as from the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe cities.

Cambrian’s new high tech, interactive trade booth set a new standard among its 24 college peers for recruitment.  The 10 x 40 foot booth featured mural sized photos of the urban and natural environment of Sudbury, 7 monitors ran loops of video about student life, programs, student services, as well as travel routes to Sudbury.   Our team of 25 Cambrian staff, faculty and students were easily identifiable by their consistent clothing.   The team readily used ipads and the Cambrian apps in order to respond to questions and provide information about our college. 

We distinguished ourselves not only through the use of technology, our cool giveaways, our booth, and our appearance even though these all had a great impact.  What we heard was that we had people who were well informed and could provide indepth information and alternatives.  We heard that we were friendly, inviting and responsive – people didn’t wait more than 8 seconds before someone approached to assist them.

Congratulations to our marketing and recuitment teams who developed the booth, the materials and the approach.  Thank you to the faculty, staff and students who were part of the team,  who were on their feet from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with smiles and engaging approaches to all visitors.

We have contact information for most of the visitors to our booth so we will continue to develop our relationship with these folks.  September 2012 we will have a better idea of the level of impact our new approach has had in its first year.

Today the Rainbow District School Board and Cambrian College launched their School within a College.  Barrydowne College is a secondary school operated by Rainbow Board on Cambrian’s Barrydowne campus.  Over 180 secondary school students are attending Barrydowne School.  These are students who are coming back to complete secondary school.  They can take courses through independent study, online, or other alternate delivery methods.  Rainbow Board teachers provide one on one support to students in planning their program and completing their courses.  A social worker and other resources are available to the students on site.  Students also are able to take dual credits where they attend a Cambrian class and receive both secondary and college credit.  The facilities and services of Cambrian are also available to support the students. 

The adult learning environment at Cambrian suits their needs and enables them to feel more comfortable than the traditional secondary school  experience. 

This is an innovative and exciting project that Cambrian is proud to be part of.  I know how hard it is to try to complete secondary school after you drop out, I was one of those drop outs.  I’m so pleased that Cambrian can be part of offering a solution and second chance to these bright young people by providing them a comfortable supportive environment.  Hopefully we can also help them see their way to post secondary education.

Barrydowne College  – Cambrian has a place for you.