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Pictured: Veterinary Technician program, King Campus.

Equipped with the practical skills and valuable connectionsthat you get from a Seneca education, you’ll join 190,000alumni who have taken their place as innovators and leadersaround the world, and have put their education to the test indemanding fields.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

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G

In order to innovatewith authenticity, cooking students needto understand traditions.

PAGE 3

CULINARY ARTS

Cooking upsome history

Report on CollegesF R I DAY , O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 S E C T I O N E

EDITOR: CHRISTINA VARGA

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Connect with us: @globeandmail facebook.com/globeandmail linkedin.com/company/the-globe-and-mail

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Rebecca Dunphy’s “aha” careermoment happened in her third

year of costume studies at universityin Halifax.

“Everyone around me was arguingabout the width that a buttonholeshould be,” says Ms. Dunphy. “Ididn’t see the value I was adding tothis program so I abruptly left andswitched to business administrationat Nova Scotia Community College(NSCC). I wasn’t sure if business wasfor me, but I liked their option of atwo-year program with the opportu-nity to go on to university and com-plete the degree if I liked.”

A job fair at NSCC turned out to bethe gateway to her current job at

Common Good Solutions, where sheis passionate about her work as asocial enterprise developer helpingnon-profit managers, small-businessowners and co-operatives through-out Nova Scotia.

Ms. Dunphy was able to talk withher future employer at the job fair,as well as take advantage of a résu-mé-writing workshop at the sameevent, staffed with career-servicesprofessionals ready to critique herrésumé on the spot. Before graduat-ing, career services helped her get afive-week work placement withCommon Good Solutions, which ledto her being hired as a summer stu-dent and then full-time.

“I made sure to take advantage ofthe many events and volunteer op-

portunities NSCC offered,” says Ms.Dunphy. “That’s how you get yourname out there, as well as findingfuture employers.”

NSCC president Don Bureaux sayshelping people with career transi-tion and career success begins at thecore of who people are. He believesthat for too long in Canada, thosevery questions of who you are, whatyou want to be and how you aregoing to get there were questionsthat college students were not giventhe opportunity to explore.

“If you could, you went to a uni-versity to find yourself, but therewas never this sense of going to acollege to find what you wanted todo,” says Mr. Bureaux.

Rebecca Dunphy: An ‘aha’ moment meant a switch from costume studies at university to business administration at Nova Scotia Community College.SCOTT MUNN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

FUTURE PERFECTWith the job market inrapid transition, collegecareer services areoffering a range ofassistance, includingexploring career options,virtual career fairs andpersonal branding

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DIANE JERMYN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Future, Page 5

Ontario college faculty went onstrike the past weekend, affect-

ing roughly 330,000 full- and part-time students at the 24 colleges inthe province.

The main point of disagreementbefore instructors walked out wasstaffing. The Ontario Public ServiceEmployees Union, which representsfaculty, wanted to see an even 50-50split of full- and part-time faculty –currently at 70 per cent part-time,according to OPSEU. As well as bet-ter pay, the union was asking formore job security.

The College Employer Council,which represents the colleges, toldThe Globe and Mail that uniondemands would add millions of dol-lars to the costs of running theschools.

However, the current setup haslong played to the advantage of col-leges across Canada, according toone expert.

“The things that the college facul-ty are going after … are actuallysome of the things that have beenthe colleges’ strengths,” says KenCoates, Canada Research Chair inregional innovation at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of PublicPolicy, University of Saskatchewancampus.

The capacity of colleges to adaptand adjust work forces according tomarket demands has long been astrong selling point of the system,he says. For example, if a new min-ing company is looking to hire tal-ent, colleges can launch anoperating training system and getpeople to the requisite standard infairly short order.

However, he also acknowledgesthe issue of job uncertainty amonginstructors: “Who among us wouldnot prefer a regular contract to aterm contract?”

Ontario facultywalk out over staffing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PAUL ATTFIELD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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FIRST DEGREE

OF ITS KINDIN CANADA

E2 G T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L • F R I DAY , O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 7

Armed with PhDs and a wealth ofexperience, Shereen Shokry and

Humayun Kabir immigrated toToronto from Egypt with hopes ofpicking up where they left off intheir careers.

They soon faced a common chal-lenge for newcomers to Canada: Get-ting jobs in the fields they are highlyqualified for in other countries.

Today, Dr. Shokry, 43, and Dr.Kabir, 40, are back working in theeducation system, thanks to a spe-cial George Brown College bridgingprogram for internationally trainedprofessionals that prepares them toteach in Canadian colleges.

The one-year certificate program –which also offers students opportu-nities to network with prospectiveemployers – is just one example ofhow Canadian colleges are helpingimmigrants gain solid footing intheir new country.

“When I came here [to Canada],entering school again was some-thing very strange for me – to startfrom the beginning,” says Dr. Shokry.Despite her medical and teachingqualifications, initially she couldfind work only at a call centre afterarriving in Canada with her hus-band, an endodonist also aiming towork in Canada, and their two chil-dren in 2015.

Back home in Egypt, and also inJapan, she was a professor of dentis-try and an oral maxillofacial radiolo-gist – who has expertise in usingimaging techniques to diagnose dis-eases of the head and mouth.

After graduation, she landed a jobteaching biology part-time at GeorgeBrown. She also hopes to write herfirst exam in the coming months toqualify to continue practising herdentistry specialty.

Dr. Kabir, originally from Bangla-desh, has a PhD in cultural anthro-pology, taught in his home countryand Japan, and worked for interna-tional organizations. After settling inToronto with his wife, who also has aPhD in cultural anthropology, andtheir then four-year-old daughter, inMay of 2016, he ended up driving forUber for several months as a sourceof income.

“In the initial few months here inCanada, I kept sending résumés butgot few responses,” he said.

After taking a workshop for newimmigrants that led to job offers inwarehouses and restaurants, hisresearch connected him with GeorgeBrown. Near the end of his first sem-ester, he landed a position at Hum-ber College teaching sociology.Recently, he added another job: as aGeorge Brown instructor in world

civilizations.It is no coincidence that Canadian

colleges go to great lengths to wel-come and prepare immigrant stu-dents for school and work.

Immigration is key in helping soft-en the effects on the labour force ofthe aging population, an importantelement of long-term economicgrowth, according to the ConferenceBoard of Canada’s report, A long-term view of Canada’s demograph-ics, released in October, 2016.

Bridging, pre-arrival, and otherprograms and services are particu-larly important for immigrant stu-

dents, who, compared withinternational students (those in thecountry on study permits but whoalso may apply to immigrate to Can-ada), tend to be older, have moreextensive education and work back-grounds, and are also permanentresidents, notes Alex Irwin, directorof George Brown’s School of Immi-grant and Transitional Education(SITE).

Along with the one-year collegeteachers training program that Ms.Shokry and Mr. Kabir have com-pleted, SITE offers bridging pro-grams in nursing and construction

management.Among other Canadian colleges

with prominent immigrant pro-grams and services is Red River Col-lege, which has campuses inWinnipeg and other areas of Mani-toba, and this year has nearly 1,360immigrant students who are perma-nent residents.

“Our goal is to support immigrantsto Manitoba with a holistic approachthroughout their entire student lifecycle, and we have a large suite ofprograms and services across differ-ent departments and areas to worktoward this goal,” Nora Sobel, man-

ager of diversity and interculturalservices at Red River, said in ane-mail interview.

Red River recruits students fromother countries to aid in boostingManitoba’s skilled labour shortages,the school’s website says. In thespring, for instance, the collegelaunched a pathway program to con-struction skills, starting with 20 stu-dents from countries such as Syria,Sudan and the Democratic Republicof Congo. Also on campus, Red Riv-er’s Diversity and Intercultural Serv-ices department helps organize theannual welcome party for immigrantand international students, and of-fers services, including financial aidinformation sessions.

Many programs don’t just delveinto the fine points of the jobs them-selves; they also give immigrant stu-dents insight into the “culturalnorms and social cues in the work-place,” notes Mr. Irwin.

He gives this example: “The Cana-dian workplace can be seen as morecasual, but there are a lot of socialclues we take for granted that haveto be learned if you’re new to thecountry, like what to call your boss.Calling someone ‘sir’ may not be ap-propriate in Canada.”

Prominent among pre-arrival pro-grams is a federally funded one-dayorientation and information sessioncalled Planning for Canada, which isoffered free, both online and in per-son, in countries including India,China and the Philippines.

Partner colleges include Red River,George Brown, Bow Valley College inCalgary, Vancouver Community Col-lege, and Parkland College, withcampuses in Saskatchewan.

One goal of Planning for Canada isto “dispel any misunderstanding ormisconceptions earlier in the [immi-gration] process,” says CIIP directorHolly Skelton.

She says a bulk of immigrants arechosen to come to Canada based ontheir high levels of academicachievement, yet one common mis-understanding is that credentialsearned in another country will berecognized fully in Canada.

“We’re there to provide a realitycheck and provide information theyneed to take action right away,before they come, so they can hit theground running and don’t wastetime,” says Ms. Skelton.

Colleges and Institutes Canadavice-president Alain Roy says the CIChosts more than 50,000 internation-al students annually, and surveysshow about half plan to apply for awork permit, which can be done upto two years beyond their studies.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special to The Globe and Mail

New to Canada, struggling to find workCollege programs help break down employment, cultural barriers for Canadian immigrants

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MARLENE HABIB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Despite PhDs and dual careers, immigrants Shereen Shokry and Humayun Kabir had trouble finding work in Canada.After participating in college programs for immigrants, they are now college instructors. GLENN LOWSON /THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Here is a brief rundown ofsome free college programs toaid immigrant students intheir Canadian journey (makesure to check with each col-lege for eligibility require-ments and where theprograms are being offered):. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Collège BoréalFrench-language college based inSudbury, Ont., with locationsacross OntarioLanguage Instruction for New-comers to Canada (LINC):courses that help develop Eng-lish skills in comprehension,speaking, reading and writing,and familiarize students withthe workings and require-ments of the Canadian work-place and culture.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Conestoga CollegeBased in Kitchener, Ont., with

several Ontario campusesEntrepreneur Program forNewcomers: a 16-week pro-gram that offers entrepreneur-ship training to set up abusiness and support withbusiness planning, with an op-portunity to tour think-tanksand hubs.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Douglas CollegeCampuses in New Westminsterand Coquitlam, B.C.Career Paths for Skilled Immi-grants – Tri Cities: free pro-gram for internationallytrained professionals whomeet eligibility requirements.Students work one-on-onewith career coaches.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nova Scotia Community Col-legeThirteen campuses across theprovince including in Halifax,

Dartmouth and SydneyAlong with its InternationalStudent Guidebook, a register-ed immigration consultant isavailable ; has created guideson how to apply for study orwork permits, and what docu-ments are needed.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Parkland CollegeCampuses in Saskatchewancommunities including Canora,Esterhazy, Fort Qu’Appelle, Mel-ville and YorktonEnglish as an Additional Lan-guage classes help improvespeaking, reading, listeningand writing skills in English.Instructors assess student pro-gress using a system mandat-ed by Immigration, Refugeesand Citizenship Canada.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marlene Habib

PROGRAMS FOR NEWCOMERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• REPORT ON COLLEGES

SEAN STANLEIGH, MANAGING EDITOR ELIZABETH HOLLAND, EDITOR, CUSTOM

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humber.ca

T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L • F R I DAY , O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 G E3

Think of Julia Child gleefullystuffing a goose.

With stately joie de vivre, she gaveNorth Americans fistfuls of fineFrench cooking, focusing on kitchentechnique and whipping her butteryconcoctions into shape. Yet eachhalf hour of The French Chef hadtime for the only merest intimationsof culinary history.

That’s a big difference between TVand a true culinary education.

Fine cooking is based on layerupon layer of history. Students inculinary programs are encouragedto develop flair and inventiveness,but first come the history lessons.

“We are a skills-based program,but you have to understand thebackground of cuisine,” says Chris-tine Walker, a chef and academicchair of the chef school at GeorgeBrown College in Toronto.

The emergence of trade colleges,particularly after the Second WorldWar, was centred around teachingjob qualifications, but there oftenwasn’t much study in the history ofthose professions and trades. Culin-ary training was a little differentbecause it was based on some basichistoric precedents, often Frenchones.

“When I talk about a julienne knifecut [that is, cutting long, thinstrips], or a brunoise [a cut that isfirst julienned and then diced], or aroux [the use of flour and fat] tothicken sauces, we need to under-stand where they came from.”

The organization of a commercialkitchen also stems from history,namely the brigade de cuisine setupattributed to chef Auguste Escoffier(1846-1935), who famously assignedeach cook to a station in the kitch-en, giving each a specific job andeffectively a rank. To know the hie-rarchy and work flow of a profes-sional kitchen, you must knowabout Escoffier.

Food studies, however, havegrown explosively over the pastthree decades, incorporating discus-sion of larger social changes and

issues of science and sustainability.Chef education has followed suit.

The question, then, is not whetherhistory is important in cookingschool, it’s how much history is nec-essary for a student still masteringthe broiler or whipping pastrydough in the Cuisinart.

“Students often ask, ‘Why? Whythis certain garnish?’ Well, the an-swer is usually always historical,”says Ryan Whibbs, professor and co-ordinator of George Brown’s under-graduate bachelor of commerce pro-gram in culinary management. Heholds a PhD in food history.

“You’ll often see in food writingtoday, people will argue about auth-enticity, and authentic ingredients,that [in order to have] authenticitywe have to return to a certain geo-graphic place and usually a certainhistorical time,” he says.

What, for instance, is boeuf bour-guignon without the pearl onions,the bacon and red wine? You needto know the tradition in order tobuild upon it or change it, Dr.Whibbs noted.

All national and regional cuisineshave rich histories. An Asian dish

will typically have stronger spicesand richer recipes than what’sserved in North American restau-rants. This is where the new searchfor authenticity comes in. And thereis more of a drive now to teach that.A contemporary chef de cuisine with-out a knowledge of, say, broth reci-pes from around the world and theirorigins is a chef with limitations.

“If I’m going to talk about broth, Ihave to speak about Asian stylebroth, what they do with ramen andpho,” says Olaf Mertens, chef andprofessor at the Canadian Food andWine Institute at Niagara CollegeCanada in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

Crucially, this expanded sense ofhistory now goes beyond famousmale chefs and looks more andmore at women, from those leadingMichelin-starred restaurants, to thecenturies of home-cooking tradi-tion.

“In the past, we have had a lot ofwhat you might think of as theGreat Man Theory of this recipeinvented by this person, or thiscooking method invented by thatperson,” Dr. Whibbs at GeorgeBrown says.

“What we’ve found since the earlypart of the 2000s is that actually alot of these kind of nice, black-and-white stories don’t reflect the realityof what happened. If we go back fur-ther in time, we can see evidence ofdifferent recipes in different places,and it really breaks down theseGreat Men or, as I call them, GreatRecipe Theories,” he says.

François Pierre de la Varenne isrecognized for having created in the1600s the basics of modern Frenchcuisine, with an emphasis on butterand herbs bringing out natural fla-vours, rather than a reliance on spic-es which had previously givenFrench cuisine a more piquant taste.Yet rather than just being laVarenne’s invention, research showsthat he was part of a broader trendin noble households at the time, Dr.Whibbs says. For contemporarychefs, this provides a new, widerlens in viewing the development ofFrench dishes and their authenticity.

Also, as it turns out, Escoffier’s bri-gade de cuisine really wasn’t such amodern creation, Dr. Whibbs says,but is better seen as a codification oflong-standing tradition dating as far

back as medieval times.Yet, the Escoffier template remains

key. It means that the preparation ofdifferent foods is sectioned off in thekitchen. This chef at that station isin charge of cooking a certain dish,fish for instance, while that cook atanother station cooks a differentdish, perhaps vegetables. So whenstarting from that historical context,that lingua franca, trained chefs havea common footing, but are thenconstantly learning throughouttheir career how to incorporate newdishes into the menu and the kitch-en workflow.

“I think the best are those who, asthey mature, see themselves moreand more as a student of cooking,instead of being a master. Quiteoften if you’re talking to someonewho is a know-it-all, they don’tknow it all,” says Michael Olson,chef and professor at Niagara Col-lege.

But Escoffier can seem a worldaway from today’s cooking showsand food media, with their flash andemphasis on technique, hot tempersand chilly egos. They also ramp upthe sense that chefs are there towow foodies.

And then there is social media andthe incongruity of people postingcellphone snaps of restaurantdishes. (What about how theyactually taste?) Is this threateningstudents’ view that a historicgrounding is even necessary?

“Now with social media, peopleare always alert and finding newdishes and pastries to create,” saysdirector of operations and pastrychef Hervé Chabert at Le CordonBleu’s school in Ottawa, in ane-mail. “We allow students to havean element of their own creativity intheir final pieces and a lot of thiscomes from trends that they’ve seenand discovered.”

Yet, he indicates it all still circlesback to historical context, especiallywhen it comes to French cuisine.“We continue to teach these tradi-tional techniques … as they can beapplied across many current trendsin the culinary world,” he says.

Can you cook without knowing your history?Many culinary programs emphasize authenticity and a grounding in tradition in order to have a base on which to innovate

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GUY DIXON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chef Alan Kerr, centre, and students in the integrated culinary production class at Niagara College Canada preparechicken in several international styles. GLENN LOWSON/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Kathryn Jocsak got a science andpsychology degree at university

but something was missing.“I have a university degree, but it’s

in science and psychology. I wantedto study business because I havealways had an interest in numbers,”says the 30-year-old Toronto resi-dent.

“I didn’t really use this interest inmy undergrad; it was kind of a hobbyof mine. I needed more tools.”

Ms. Jocsak enrolled in an eight-month business program, with sixclasses a semester, at Centennial Col-lege, one of many full- and part-timeprograms offered at the school’scampus in Toronto’s Scarboroughneighbourhood and at other collegesacross Canada.

“Through this program I’m lookingat becoming an investment brokerand advisor. The beauty of this pro-gram is that you get all these tools sothat you can do a bunch of differentjobs in different sectors,” she says.

Linda Franklin, president and chiefexecutive officer of Colleges Ontario,says: “The great thing about collegeprograms is that they give you theflexibility to start your career rightaway or use your credential as aspringboard to more education and

specialization.”It is not necessarily a question of

one or the other when it comes tochoosing between university andcollege – it is often a matter of doingboth, she says.

Her organization, the umbrellagroup for Ontario’s 24 colleges, hasnoted an increase of as much as 40per cent between 2009 and 2014 ofcollege students arriving for classwith previous degrees. Colleges On-tario’s research, released this spring,shows that 46 per cent of Ontariocollege students have either com-pleted or enrolled in a previous post-secondary program.

“At colleges the focus tends to be alot more intense,” says Barry O’Brien,dean of the business school at Cen-tennial.

One of the biggest differences be-tween studying business at a collegecompared with an undergraduateuniversity business degree or anMBA is that colleges enable studentsto focus on precise career goals, hesays.

“You may take seven or eightcourses [in a college business pro-gram] and the programs can be veryfocused on a particular field and veryhands-on,” he says.

There is also the practical aspect.“If you go back and look to the foun-dation of the community college sys-tem [in Ontario] you’ll find thatmany of the programs are tied toparticular industries,” adds Mr. O’Bri-en. College courses tend to be fine-tuned more closely than universitycourses, which teach wider, moregeneral skills.

For example, when the advisorycouncil for Mr. O’Brien’s course incorporate account managementmeets to review the program, “theymight say that we should transitionto a new piece of software. It’s a morenimble, be-ready-to-work-nowapproach than university. That’s howwe frame the difference between the

two systems.“You’ll come out of college with a

really good understanding of a spe-cific area of study, which can com-bine well with a universityeducation,” Mr. O’Brien says.

The tie-ins can be specific, rightdown to a particular company. Lastyear, for example, McDonald’s Cana-da entered a partnership with Col-leges Ontario that enables itsmanagement trainees to receive thefirst year of credits toward a businessdiploma at any of the province’s col-leges.

McDonald’s management traineesstill have to take courses at the com-pany’s head office or at the com-pany’s Hamburger University, but byrecognizing credits, the college part-nership is worth up to about $4,500in tuition savings.

In its 2017 survey of communitycolleges, Colleges Ontario lists 16types of business programs availableacross the province. They range fromaccounting and finance to specialtiessuch as aviation management, hos-pitality, human resources and indus-trial relations, small business andtravel and tourism.

Ms. Jocsak says that in her ownprogram, “there’s much moreapplied work, and you can movedirectly toward your designation” –

in her case, to be certified as a finan-cial planner or advisor.

She says she gets the best of bothworlds – practical programmingwhile still getting to mingle with“like-minded individuals” wholearned about the wider world inuniversity or the working world andhave now come to school to focus onparticular goals.

“It’s a common path,” and it’s onethat makes sense for students likeMs. Jocsak, says Mr. O’Brien. Theinsights she learned studying psy-chology at university will come inhandy when she eventually encoun-ters customers and clients in thefinancial world who come with emo-tion-laden questions that requirehard-and-fast financial decisions.

“In my own case, I graduated witha history degree,” Mr. O’Brien says.“There are a whole bunch of skillssomeone like me can get from a col-lege in a relatively short time.”

“Our graduates find rewarding po-sitions in a wide range of careers,from finance and accounting to mar-keting and international businessadministration. A number of today’smost influential executives are grad-uates of the business programs atOntario’s colleges,” Ms. Franklin says.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special to The Globe and Mail

They mean businessStudying business at college allows students to focus on precise career goals, says one college dean

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DAVID ISRAELSON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kathryn Jocsak wants to become acertified financial planner.

REPORT ON COLLEGES •

E4 G T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L • F R I DAY , O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 7

‘A ll our dreams can come true,if we have the courage to pur-

sue them.”While Walt Disney wasn’t talking

about Canadian college studentswhen he uttered his memorablequote, Vancouver’s Langara Collegeis happy to tap into the magic of theworld he created.

As one of six Canadian postsec-ondary institutions taking part inthe Disney International’s AcademicExchange program, Langara stu-dents have the opportunity to mixstudies at the University of Califor-nia, Riverside, and Disney Univer-sity, with six months of paid work atthe famous Walt Disney WorldResort in Orlando.

Pearlena Hamilton, a 23-year-oldVancouver native, calls it an “essen-tial experience” to have at her age.After starting her degree in businessmanagement with ambitions to bean event planner, she says her aspi-rations have changed a bit.

“Now I’m just trying to figure outwhat I want to do and, essentially,that’s why I moved away fromhome: to discover new experi-ences,” she says.

Having spent two weeks in Cali-fornia for training earlier in thesummer, Ms. Hamilton has been inOrlando since July. She startedworking in merchandising at theMagic Kingdom, but was recentlytransferred to the Epcot Centre forattractions.

When she is not busy working atthe parks, she is also taking twocourses, one relating to Disney andone that gives her a transferablecredit that she can take back toLangara in January.

“Just having an education in bothmy degree and the history of Disneyhas been quite a unique experi-ence,” she says. “You can’t get thatanywhere else, other than workingand studying in a program like this.”

Outside of the classroom andaway from the massed throngs thatfill the parks 365 days a year, Ms.Hamilton has had the chance to mixwith other college students who arealso along for the ride. Disney alsoprovides a number of opportunitiesfor its employees to socialize togeth-er, from subsidized cruises to theCaribbean, to short-break trips toplaces like New York.

Though she is coincidentallyrooming with another Canadian,hanging out with people from herown country has been more theexception than the rule.

“Going on an international pro-gram, it’s not only showing peoplethe way I do things back home,” shesays, “but it’s also learning whatthey do back home and the endgoal is seeing how we do it differ-ently.”

Outside of deepening her under-standing of different cultures, theexperience may also stand her ingood stead when it comes to gainingemployment, when she has figuredout exactly what she wants to do.

According to Heather Workman,department chair of Langara’s co-opand career development centre, an-other student who was looking toget into sports marketing didn’t getany traction with any of the localVancouver teams at first. But afterundergoing the Disney program, sheapplied to one of the bigger profes-sional teams in the area and got thejob, paving the way for other Lang-ara students to follow in her foot-steps.

“They brought her in just becausethey saw Disney on her résumé andthey didn’t typically hire studentsfrom Langara College before that,they just stuck with universities,”Ms. Workman says.

“They said, ‘Disney understandsbrand, this sports organization is allabout brand.’ So they knew that shewould get how important it was tokeep the brand intact.”

Langara College is also in the pro-cess of selecting a pair of studentsin business or computer science togo to New Delhi in January as partof a partnership the school has withlocal company Optimus InformationInc.

Ms. Workman says she has seen ashift in the number of studentswanting to expand their horizonsand look abroad. Increased employ-ability is just one of those reasons.

“If you’re applying for a job at theRoyal Bank and 10 candidates allhave bachelor of business adminis-tration but you, as a candidate, havebeen working overseas in New Delhiand understand what it means towork in a new culture, I know thatyou’ll stand out,” she says.

Others with experience in thefield say that it’s not just a matter ofstanding out, but that getting inter-national exposure is part of becom-ing a well-rounded member ofsociety.

“International experience is partof a set of 21st-century skills ofbeing a global citizen,” says ScottLehbauer, chair of developmentaleducation at Lethbridge College inAlberta.

Lethbridge College offers fiveexchange programs for one or twosemesters during a program ofstudy. So, for instance, a businessstudent can experience life at theUniversity of Burgundy in France orKajaani Polytechnic in Finland,while those pursuing studies inculinary arts can spend time honingtheir skills in Austria.

“You see them grow in a lot of dif-ferent ways,” Mr. Lehbauer says. “Astudent that goes abroad and stud-ies at a foreign institution createsrelationships, creates contacts,creates a network of support in acompletely different place in theworld.”

At Durham College in Oshawa,Ont., an emphasis on global alli-ances has led to involvement in twoprojects in Kenya, while the facul-ties of journalism and filmmakinghave sent students to Peru to docu-ment some of the work being donethere in the field of culinary arts.

The school has also built a rela-tionship with Eqwip Hubs, an inter-national organization providingopportunities for young peopleabroad.

“For our students, the practicalside of their education is key,” saysMark Herringer, dean of internation-al education at Durham College. “Sowhat we’re able to do throughEqwip Hubs is to provide studentswith three to four months of inter-national opportunities in a varietyof different project opportunitiesaround the world.”

A stint abroad can boost employabilityCollege exchange programs can build 21st-century global skills

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PAUL ATTFIELD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Langara students Pearlena Hamilton, left, and Sae Nakajima, are taking part in Disney International’s AcademicExchange program, which mixes studies and paid work. LANGARA COLLEGE

If you’re applying for a job at

the Royal Bank and 10

candidates all have bachelor

of business administration

but you, as a candidate, have

been working overseas in

New Delhi and understand

what it means to work in a

new culture, I know that

you’ll stand out.

Heather WorkmanDepartment chair of LangaraCollege’s co-op and careerdevelopment centre

While there are many bene-fits to students who includean international experienceas part of their postsecondarystudies, not many takeadvantage of these programs.

Only 1.1 per cent of full-timeCanadian college studentshave a credit or not-for-crediteducational experienceabroad annually, according to2010 figures from a report bythe Canadian Bureau for In-ternational Education on in-ternational education andmobility. The same reportlists 82 per cent of Canadiancolleges and institutes as of-fering such experiences.

Financial hurdles are one ofthe main obstacles, soschools such as Durham Col-lege in Oshawa, Ont., haveinstituted education-broadscholarships.

But even such financial

resources are not always suf-ficient.

In response to this, DurhamCollege professor Lon Apple-by founded the Global Class,an initiative that uses high-definition videoconferencingtechnology to bring togethergroups of students fromaround the world for live dis-cussions.

“There’s actually a real needto provide a forum for freewhere students can have anintroductory intercultural ex-perience through technologyand meet people from allover the world and learnabout their ideas and seethem clearly and study theirbody language,” he says.

So far, the program hasconnected students fromabout 34 countries and fos-tered in-depth conversationson topics from music, educa-

tion and racism to climatechange, ethics and fake news.

The development of tech-nology to the point wherethere is little to no lag ordrop-off in signal provides acompelling forum and helpskeep students engaged withthe experience, Mr. Applebyadds.

Though he doesn’t suggestthe Global Class is the sameas being there, he does thinkthere is a benefit to such anintroductory experience.

“I think that’s really impor-tant in getting students theability to engage with ideasfrom other countries in dia-logue that can open theirminds and begin to fill thatneed that students must sat-isfy of beginning to be moreglobal,” he says.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Paul Attfield

VIRTUAL TRAVEL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• REPORT ON COLLEGES

Responsible journalism does.So does responsible readership.

During an era of great transition in the worldof information, opinion and news, the NationalNewsMedia Council of Canada fights to ensure both.

Check us out at mediacouncil.ca

What helps tokeep a democracy

strong?

Learn onyour termsWith our large and flexible selectionof online programming, explorewhat works best for you.

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Changing Educationalgonquincollege.com/online

T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L • F R I DAY , O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 G E5

CanadianUniversityReport

Advice,features andprofiles ofmore than 70Canadianuniversities tohelpprospectivestudentsconsideringpostsecondaryoptions.

tgam.ca/CUR2018

Students and faculty at Canadiancolleges and polytechnic insti-

tutes are taking on even more inno-vative research, thanks to morefunding.

An increase in partnerships be-tween Canadian businesses and thecountry’s colleges has resulted in arise in applied research across thenation for the past few years.

According to a 2015-16 survey byColleges and Institutes Canada(CIC), “colleges and institutesworked with over 6,800 partnersfrom the public and private sectorslast year on a variety of appliedresearch projects.”

Traditionally, universities havebeen partnered with the bigger busi-nesses and multinationals, but CIC’ssurvey reports there is a 51-per-centincrease in partnerships betweencolleges and these large enterprises.The survey also notes that in thepast five years, college partnershipswith small and medium-sized enter-prises have also risen, by 23 per cent.

An increase in government fund-ing is also fuelling innovativeresearch, but remains behind its uni-versity counterparts. This year, thefederal government announcedmore than $37-million to fund 37projects at Canadian colleges, poly-technics and CEGEPs to help increaseresearch and get more technologiesto market. Around the same time,the Canadian government gave$328.5-million to 17 research facilitiesrun by 12 universities nationwide.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Northwest Territories

College: Aurora CollegeResearch Centre: Aurora ResearchInstituteProject example: Neutron monitor-ingResearch: Analysis of high-energyspace particles and their impacts onEarth.Funding Income: $2,367,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. Yukon

College: Yukon CollegeResearch Centre: Yukon ResearchCentreProject example: Ecological moni-toring protocols for protected areasResearch: Devising standardized

protocols for protected areasthrough continuing research at theYukon Wildlife Preserve, Kusawa Ter-ritorial Park and Age Mene Territori-al Park.Funding Income: $4,695,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. British Columbia

College: British Columbia Instituteof TechnologyResearch Centre: RehabilitationEngineering Design LaboratoryProject example: ExoskeletonresearchResearch: Looking at the benefitsand limitations of powered walkingexoskeletons (powered orthoticframes that support and move auser’s body).Funding Income: $6,300,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4. Alberta

College: Olds CollegeResearch centre: Olds College Centrefor InnovationProject example: Prairie turfgrassresearchResearch: Focuses on maintainingturfgrass in a cold and dry climate(weed control, biostresses etc.).

Funding Income: $4,220,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5. Saskatchewan

College: Saskatchewan PolytechnicResearch Centre: Digital IntegrationResearch GroupProject example: Puck perfectionResearch: Development of new puckwith sound pulses for use in blindhockey.Funding Income: $1,595,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6. Manitoba

College: Red River CollegeResearch Centre: Building EnvelopeTechnology Access Centre (BETAC)Project example: Thermally brokenconcrete balconiesResearch: Conducting thermal andstructural tests on different forms ofthermal insulation materials and dif-ferent types of rebar for balconies toreduce heat loss.Funding Income: $4,876,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7. Ontario

College: Lambton CollegeResearch centre: Centre ofExcellence in Energy and

Bio-Industrial TechnologiesProject example: BluewaterTechnology Access Centre andLamperd Less LethalResearch: Development of “lesslethal” non-metal munition used inCanadian munitions companyLamperd’s 40 MM launcher fortraining purposes, crowd controland peace-keeping activities.Funding income: $7,025,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8. Quebec

College: Collège ShawiniganResearch Centre: Centre National enÉlectrochimie et en TechnologiesEnvironnementalesProject example: IndustrialBioprocessesResearch: Development of biologicalprocesses for sectors includingbioenergy and nutraceuticals.Funding Income: $2,369,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9. New Brunswick

College: Collège communautaire duNouveau-BrunswickResearch Centre: CCNIB-INOVMatériaux composites/CompositeMaterials

Project example: AgroforestryResearch: Develop and demonstrateagroforestry techniques – use oftrees in agricultural production –throughout Atlantic Canada.Funding Income: $2,623,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10. Nova Scotia

College: Nova Scotia CommunityCollegeResearch Centre: Applied GeomaticsResearch GroupProject example: CommunitymappingResearch: Develop community mapsthat can be updated via the internet.Funding Income: $3,319,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11. Prince Edward Island

College: Holland CollegeResearch Centre: Canada’s SmartestKitchenProject example: Food productdevelopmentResearch: Team of productdevelopers research snack trendsand develop flavours.Funding Income: $1,659,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12. Newfoundland and Labrador

College: College of the NorthAtlanticResearch Centre: AppliedMinerology and Chemistry AnalysisLabProject example: Soil GasGeochemistryResearch: Developed a technique fordetecting underlying hydrocarbondeposits or mineral deposits byexamining microscopicconcentrations of hydrocarbon gastrapped in soil.Funding Income: $1,821,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13. Nunavut

College: Nunavut Arctic CollegeResearch Centre: Nunavut ResearchInstituteProject example: LightningdetectionResearch: Monitors lightningpatterns in the Arctic to detectinfluence of climate change.Funding Income: N/A (individualresearchers use grants from theirorganizations). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special to The Globe and Mail

College research across CanadaIncreased funding helps colleges conduct research such as less-lethal munitions and a hockey puck for the blind

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DAINA LAWRENCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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“So what we’ve worked hardto do as a system is to bring

together those two paradigms ofpreparing you for career success, butalso preparing you for life success,allowing you to truly understand acore of who you are and what youwant to be.”

From a career-services viewpoint,Mr. Bureaux believes that collegesacross Canada are recognizing theneed to instill a connection to careeras early as possible and then paral-leling that with building a strongsense of self. The change is aboutfocusing on the whole person inaddition to the pure skills needed ina career.

Darlene O’Neill, senior manager,employment and student entrepre-neurial services at Fanshawe Collegein London, Ont., explains how thecollege has created an employmentpathway from community membersthrough to graduates, catering toevery stage.

For example, if someone comes into their community employmentservices office looking for retrainingor education, they can advise theperson; if that person enrolls at Fan-shawe and needs a part-time job,their career consultants can help.That student might also be in a co-op education program and attendcareer workshops or events, such astheir student career conference, fea-turing topics such as personalbranding and self-leadership. Nearerto graduation, they are ready to helpstudents transition or re-transitioninto the employment world.

“Résumés are our biggest busi-ness,” says Ms. O’Neill. “We’re alsohosting about 100 employers at ourcareer fair, as well as piloting a vir-tual career fair this year. Studentsare always online these days so thiswill give more options to students,particularly in our area campuses,who might not get to the onsitecareer fair.”

Fanshawe is ranked as the No. 1most impressive career servicesmodel in Canadian colleges, accord-ing to a study by the Canadian Edu-cation and Research Institute forCounselling this past year on careerservice models across Canada. Thecollege also boasts an 87-per-centemployment rate for six monthsafter graduation for full-time jobs.

“My philosophy is we’re here toserve the students,” says Ms. O’Neill.“This year we incorporated a drop-inservice so students can come any

time on Tuesday, Wednesday andThursday afternoons and are guar-anteed to see a career consultant.Students want to see you when theywant to see you.”

John Conrad, director, innovationand business engagement at St. Law-rence College in Kingston, has juststarted his job overseeing careerservices after a major reorganizationat the college. He says part of hismandate is to change how theyengage with students and how theycan get students to engage with thehiring community of employers.

“What’s innovative is that we’retrying to focus on providing moreopportunities for students to get ex-perience before they leave the build-ing – not just technical experience,but we’re emphasizing essential em-ployability skills,” Dr. Conradexplains. “It’s how you show anemployer that you also have thoseharder interpersonal skills to be suc-cessful at work. You can do theaccounting, but do it in a way that’sadaptable, flexible and responsible,self-directed and as a good teammember. That’s the direction we’removing in.”

Much of what Dr. Conrad is tryingto do comes out of his previous ex-perience as associate dean of theschool of business at the college.

“We were doing real client-basedcourses right from first year, formedpartnerships with our local entre-preneur network and brought inspeakers and alumni, to talk aboutwhat it means to be successful inwork,” says Dr. Conrad. “We did net-working sessions and prepared stu-dents on how to build goodrelations, how to ask good questionsand how to support someone forsuccess. Now my job is trying to fig-ure out how to scale that to be a col-lege-wide thing. This notion ofapplied practical learning is some-thing we’ve always done but weneed to be more purposeful and in-tentional around it.

“The job market is in transitionright now. With all of the new tech-nologies that are coming down veryquickly, we need to make sure weproduce a work force that’s muchmore responsive to change. We’vealways been focused on getting stu-dents jobs. That’s the whole purposethe colleges were created for, so it’sin our DNA. We just now need to doit holistically.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special to The Globe and Mail

FROM PAGE 1

Future: Career success meansbeing responsive to change

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9

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E6 G T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L • F R I DAY , O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 7• REPORT ON COLLEGES

‘My music is like a female EdSheeran meets Gwen Stefa-

ni,” says 20-year-old music studentAlexi Halket.

She completed an independentmusic production program at SenecaCollege in Toronto and is enrolled inthe college’s independent songwrit-ing and performance program.

She credits her program, offered bySeneca’s faculty of communication,art and design, for helping her learnto master the art of mashing up mu-sical icons such as Mr. Sheeran andMs. Stefani to create her own uniquesound.

“When I graduated high school, Itook a year off to try and do musicon my own, but ended up not havingvery much self-motivation. Afterdoing research into different musicprograms around the city, the pro-gram at Seneca seemed to caterdirectly to the independent artistmaking music of popular genres,”Ms. Halket says.

“I also liked that these programswere only one year long, so youcould learn what you needed to,then go out into the world and do it.”

The program is flexible enough tomeet the needs of all kinds of aspir-ing writers, says Blair Packham, a fix-ture of Toronto’s music scene and aprofessor of both songwriting andindependent music production atSeneca.

“We take in students three times ayear, in September, January and May.Each time we take in 15 to 20 stu-dents, so at any given time I’ll beteaching 30 to 40 people.”

Mr. Packham fronted a band calledThe Jitters in the 1980s and early1990s, and he still writes and per-forms (his latest solo album, Unpop-ular Pop, was released last May). Henotes that songwriting can be muchmore than putting down one’sthoughts and spilling them out froma coffeehouse stage.

In his own career, for example, he

has earned money by writing inci-dental music for TV shows, whichbrings in residual cheques for yearswhen the shows go into reruns.

“I did a lot of music for Dawson’sCreek in the nineties,” he says. “Forexample, they might have a scenewhere a bunch of bikers come into abar and put a blues tune on the juke-box, and I’d have to write 35 secondsof blues. I don’t normally writeblues, so it would stretch my skills,”he says.

Expanding students’ horizons atthe same time as offering hands-oncritique and skill-building are thebuilding blocks of both the songwrit-ing and production programs atcommunity colleges, says JohnSwitzer, co-ordinator of the indepen-

dent music program at Seneca.“When we started in 2004, we saw

a need for a different kind of pro-gram,” Mr. Switzer says.

“There were places you could go tolearn music, places to learn the busi-ness side and places to learn aboutthe technology. But the industry waschanging, and there was the rise ofan independent movement wherethe artists had to do everythingthemselves.”

For example, the tens of thousandsof dollars worth of technology oncefound in a major recording studiocan be more or less replicated on ahigh-end smartphone – but you haveto know how to use it.

“The program is designed to givestudents a well-rounded overview.

It’s pretty intensive,” Mr. Switzersays.

“I think people working in anygenre of music can benefit,” saysKeysha Fanfair, a Seneca graduateand hip-hop artist who performs un-der the name Keysha Freshh andnow comes in at least twice a year asa guest lecturer.

“The program helps you learn howto communicate with musicians andalso learn the technical side,” shesays.

Mr. Packham notes while his stu-dents used to write their musicmostly using guitars and pianos, it’smore and more common for them tocompose on electronic beatboxes.

It’s the practical side that studentssuch as Ms. Halket like most.

“I’m now the go-to person to fixsound problems at live shows. I alsomet a lot of amazing people andjoined a community of fellow artistswho I can work with potentially. AndI have learned how to make plans tostay on track,” she says.

Seneca is not the only schoolamong Ontario’s 24 colleges that of-fers hands-on music programs. BothHumber College and Sheridan Col-lege, also in Toronto, have beenknown to turn out highly accom-plished music and performancegrads.

“In everything from the TonyAward-winning musical Come FromAway (which was workshopped atSheridan College), to some of Holly-wood’s biggest animated and live-action films, our graduates areenjoying phenomenal internationalsuccess,” says Linda Franklin, thepresident and chief executive officerof Colleges Ontario.

“College education opens the doorto great opportunities in all areas ofarts and entertainment, whether youare a performer, a set designer, ananimator or a songwriter, collegeshave a program for you that will leadyou to a great job.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special to The Globe and Mail

Intense program takes musicians to the next stageColleges providing artists a well-rounded education in the industry – from setting up a mic to performing behind it

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DAVID ISRAELSON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Alexi Halket is a student in the independent songwriting and performance program at Seneca College in Toronto. ‘I have met a lot of amazing people and joined a community of fellow artists.’ JENNIFER ROBERTS/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Keysha Fanfair, a Seneca graduateand hip-hop artist who performsunder the name Keysha Freshh, is aguest lecturer at the college.

T iffany Fagan takes two vacationdays each week from her full-

time job to teach toddlers at a pre-school near her home in Arthur, Ont.

The teaching work is part of Ms.Fagan’s early childhood education(ECE) studies at Durham College,where she enrolled two years agothrough the school’s continuing ed-ucation department.

“One of the requirements for mycurrent job is to have ECE,” says Ms.Fagan, who works as an inclusionfacilitator and co-ordinator at theCanadian Mental Health Associa-tion’s office in Guelph, southwest ofToronto. “That’s how I ended upback in school.”

Ms. Fagan is among the growinggroup of Canadians pursuing post-secondary studies years after theyhave left high school. According toStatistics Canada, students aged 20years and older accounted for justover 65 per cent of full- and part-time enrolments in the country’scolleges for the 2014-2015 schoolyear.

Among these older students, the25- to 30-year-old age group saw thelargest growth in college enrolmentsin the past decade, increasing toabout 104,000 in the 2014-2015school year from just close to 70,000in 2004-2005.

Debbie Johnston, dean of the

School of Continuing Education atDurham College in Oshawa, Ont.,says she continues to see evidence ofthis trend on campus.

“Without question, we’re seeing anincreasing number of mature stu-dents,” she says. “This has helped toshape our strategy in terms of our of-ferings and how we deliver ourlearning.”

Research this year at Durhamfound that mature students wantprograms and courses that are“focused, pragmatic, convenient andtied directly to what employerswant,” says Ms. Johnston.

To meet the needs of these olderstudents, Durham has intensified itsfocus on professional developmentprograms. This fall, for instance, theschool launched a series of onlinecourses that help develop in-demand professional know-howsuch as negotiation skills, handlingconflict, stress management and pre-sentation skills, says Ms. Johnston.

“We’re working with employersand leaders in various industries tocreate new offerings that really meettheir needs,” says Ms. Johnston. “Forexample, we worked with a group oflicensed medical cannabis producerswho told us they are keen to hire,but want people who have a contex-tual understanding of their industry.

“The result of this work is a week-end course called Medical CannabisFundamentals for Business Profes-sionals.”

Jodi Abbott, president and chiefexecutive officer of NorQuest Col-lege in Edmonton, Alta., says it isparticularly important to older stu-dents that schools tie classroom ed-ucation to practical work-forcetraining. This is why most programsat her school include work place-ment, she says.

NorQuest also offers counsellingservices for older students looking toswitch careers, she says.

“What we have learned is that ourstudents are very clear in their goalsand they want to have that line ofsight to employment,” says Ms.Abbott. “This is especially the casewith mature students.”

Older students are hitting the text-books again for various reasons thatrange from a need to upgrade theirskills in the hope of advancing theircareers, to a deeply entrencheddesire to keep learning, regardless oftheir age, says Ms. Abbott.

As they return to the classroomafter years in the work force or athome raising a family, many of thesestudents run into back-to-schoolchallenges, she adds.

“For many, the challenge often is‘How do I manage my job and schooland family?’” says Ms. Abbott. “Atthe same time, they’re having tolearn how to study again and how tonavigate postsecondary environ-ments, which can be a bit intimidat-ing and complex.”

Like many other colleges and uni-versities in the country, NorQuest of-fers a number of student supportservices that range from tutorialhelp and campus navigators to well-ness teams that include psycholo-gists and social workers.

Because many NorQuest studentsare new to Canada, the school alsooffers English language instructioncourses. The mean age for this feder-ally funded program is 35 years old,adds Ms. Abbott.

Technology has been a boon forolder students, says Kathleen Baz-kur, dean of Media, Business, Artsand Design and Continuing Educa-tion, at Loyalist College in Belleville,Ont.

Today, says Ms. Bazkur, the majori-ty of continuing education coursesat Loyalist are delivered online – abig plus for students juggling school,work and family responsibilities.

But technology can also be intimi-

dating to some older students. Loyal-ist offers a hand through itscomputer labs, says Ms. Bazkur.

Many students who go back toschool later in life already have workexperience or previous educationthat could be counted as creditstoward a college program, notes Ms.Johnston at Durham College. Forolder students who want to lessentheir school work load, she advisesapplying for “prior learning assess-ment and recognition” – or PLAR forshort – which gives students achance to get academic credits forskills and knowledge they gainedfrom work or past schooling.

Ms. Fagan applied for PLAR, andwas able to transfer four credits fromher studies more than 10 years ago atConestoga College to Durham Col-lege. Today, she says she is on trackto get her ECE diploma by April,2018.

“Going back to school has been abig challenge for me – I had to find away to fit it into my life,” she says.“My advice to those who are think-ing of doing the same thing? Haveconfidence in your ability becauseour life skills give us much morethan we give ourselves credit for, anddon’t be afraid to ask for help – col-leges and universities are really goodat providing support for mature stu-dents.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special to The Globe and Mail

‘How do I manage my job and school and family?’Older students face challenges that range from rusty study skills to juggling an existing life with education

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MARJO JOHNE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Going back to school has

been a big challenge for me –

I had to find a way to fit it

into my life.

Tiffany Faganenrolled at Durham College