Sarah Pruys
With courses entitled “School @ Sea” and “Foods of the Americas,” who wouldn’t be interested in some of the new programs being offered at the local Confederation College campus this fall?
Or perhaps “People & the Forest” or “Developmental Disabilities” sound more appealing?
Campus director Anne Renaud said three new programs will be offered in September, with registration already underway.
All are two-year Ontario College Diploma programs.
The first program is Developmental Services Worker.
“We’ve offered this program before but not recently,” Renaud noted. “We just added it to our list of programs.
“The reason was that a few campuses, including the one here, were receiving calls from Community Living associations because there is such a high demand right now for developmental services workers,” she explained.
“They have positions available they cannot fill because they don’t have qualified people applying.
“They asked us if we would consider offering it again because not only is it in demand now, but they see that it is going to be in the future, as well,” Renaud added.
Students will take courses such as “Dual Diagnosis,” “Social Welfare,” and “Ethics and Professionalism.”
With this diploma, Renaud said people could end up “. . . working with children or adults with a disability; often a physical, mental, or developmental [one].”
“They could be working at places like Community Living, working with children with autism, working at Family and Children Services, or in schools,” she noted.
“All of those types of agencies within the community.”
The second program also opens the door to multiple careers—and has some of the most intriguing course titles.
“The next one I want to highlight is ‘Tourism—Travel and Eco-Adventure,’” said Renaud.
“It’s the first time we’re offering this program in the region.”
The course will be taught via distance education to students in Fort Frances, Thunder Bay, Kenora, and Dryden.
Renaud said the program would appeal to those interested in “travel, eco-adventure, or the outdoors.”
“There are courses on airlines, on cruises, on general tourism . . . there is even a digital photography course because some people end up doing travel photography,” she remarked.
One course, “School @ Sea,” teaches how to book cruises.
“You can even start doing it part-time job while you’re in the program as you get a certificate from Carnival Cruises,” Renaud noted.
“In second year, there is an optional trip,” she added. “In past years, the Thunder Bay students have visited Iceland, Bali, Africa, and South America.
“There’s lots of opportunity for travel and to find out about the different types of careers you can have in that industry, [such as] flight attendant, travel agent, or business owner,” Renaud reasoned.
Graduate testimonials for different types of careers people have entered following the program are posted on the college’s website.
The final new program being offered here this fall is Environmental Technician.
“We’re only offering the first year here, and then you go onto Thunder Bay for the second year,” explained Renaud.
“It’s a perfect program if people want to work outdoors.”
Many of the courses offer a theory component combined with an outdoor lab. They include “Tree & Shrub Identification” and “Soils & Geomorphology.”
“At the beginning of the semester, there is a two-week field school,” noted Renaud. “Every day they go out into the bush and learn different things, and start their plant collection.
“They have to do a collection throughout the whole semester and they get a lot of their samples in field school.”
Graduating students have found jobs at places such as the Ministry of Natural Resources, in mines, and with forestry-related enterprises.
In addition, the local campus will be running its usual programs in areas like business, community services, and health.
In related news, an info session will be held there tomorrow (June 13) at 3:30 p.m. on the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, which will be run in collaboration with Lakehead University in the fall of 2014.
The session will be via videoconference with the director of nursing at the university and the co-ordinator at the college.
