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Strategic shift

A decline in high school enrollment is forcing Confederation College to look elsewhere for students. The college’s president, Jim Madder, gave an update on the school’s performance last year at a breakfast meeting Friday.
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Confederation College president Jim Madder speaks at the president’s breakfast June . (Jeff Labine, tbnewswatch.com)

A decline in high school enrollment is forcing Confederation College to look elsewhere for students.

The college’s president, Jim Madder, gave an update on the school’s performance last year at a breakfast meeting Friday. The report boasted high employment rates with 88.9 per cent of graduates being able to find a job within six months of graduating and high student satisfaction.

But the breakfast meeting went beyond accomplishment boasting, as Madder also revealed the college’s strategic plan to the crowded room.

That plan included three main components – improving access to learning, supporting Aboriginal learning and serving Northwestern Ontario.

The need to increase enrollment by attracting international students and students in southern Ontario was also highlighted  by the college’s president.

Madder said local high school enrollment has been on the decline by about one or two per cent each year.

“People with younger children tend to move away so they are not growing up and going through high school,” he said.

“Now that the economy is strong people are in fact coming back. I think that will comeback over time. We’re looking at other markets to balance our enrollment and to keep our student population about the same. So international students are growing and growing quite significantly.”

The college had 120 international students enroll in a first year program last year. Madder suspected that there’s enough interest in the college for more international students to come to the city.

He said that they also plan to bring more of their programming to southern Ontario in order to attract students.

In order to accommodate the new students coming into town, the college is planning to build a new student village on campus.

Madder said they’re working on a plan for the new facility to have living accommodations, a student success centre and allow for recreation.

“Our current recreational facility would probably become a part of it,” he said. “We’ll have to see what kind of shape it is in and if that can work as we move ahead. The business plans and architectural work will be wrapped up by the fall.”

He added that he hoped to have the first shovel in the ground 18 months from now.

 

 





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