The President and CEO of Northlands College is talking about the benefits of a recently announced agreement signed by the college and University of Regina (U of R).
Karsten Henriksen told MBC Radio News the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two institutions this week will see them work together to offer additional programming to students at Northlands. Henriksen explained the college’s students are going to be seeing some benefits quite soon.
“This partnership is actually already seeing significant impact with the introduction of new programming in computer sciences as well as in our health studies diploma launch,” he said.
When speaking about the computer sciences diploma program, the college president said it will serve an important role in helping people from the north acquire skills which will serve them well in the job market.
“The launch of the computer sciences diploma, which will empower northern residents to meet the needs of industry 4.0, the changes that are happening in industry, whether that’s forestry or mining,” he said.
When discussing the health studies diploma, Henriksen said when that program gets going in the fall it will help graduates be ready for employment in the health sector across the north. He added the new program is proving popular with students.
“I think numbers speak for them self, the health studies diploma is almost near full enrollment,” he said.
Students will have options when it comes to taking part in the classes, as both online and face to face options will be available. Before the agreement was signed the two schools were in talks for around four to five months hammering out the details.
Henriksen said the recent agreement with the U of R is not a first for the college as they also collaborate with the University of Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Polytechnic on their dental therapy program. The Northlands College president said they are continuing to work to make more opportunities available to their students.
“We’ve got some really exciting things planned that we’ll be announcing this fall, so (there) will be a lot more opportunities for northern residents to access new career pathways,” he said.
(Top Photo: University of Regina President Jeff Keshen, left, and Northlands College President Karasten Henriksen. Submitted Photo.)