Northwestern Polytechnic has implemented more than a dozen new programs in the past year in a variety of in-demand fields.
NWP President and CEO Dr. Vannessa Sheane says the choice to implement all of the new programs is purposeful, as the school looks to fill the workforce needs of the Grande Prairie region.
“What we’re doing and what our goal and vision is we are really leaning into the polytechnic mandate we were given a couple years ago, and really offering programs and services that are in-demand for our region,” she says. “Our vision is to transform post-secondary education in northern Alberta through impactful education, research, and partnership.”
While the implementation of so many different new programs seems to be coming one after another, Dr. Sheane assures that no program is introduced without a careful analysis of the labour market, student demand, and whether enough human and financial resources can be supplied by the school to ensure a new program’s success.
“We have a program review process, so every program goes through this thorough, robust review every two years, and that looks at everything from enrollment data to instruction data, employability of graduates, feedback from our program advisor committee, which is made up of public and industry partners,” she says. “So at any point through that process we may reach a point, and we have for some, that if it’s not a feasible, sustainable program, so some of those decisions may result in us initially looking at a new program idea for a credit program, and through that process we may go- you know what, maybe the need is more of an immediate short-term one.”
She adds that some programs could also serve as short-term ones, filling an immediate need in the region, and upon completion of an analysis in the future, the call is made to determine whether the program is sustainable or worth continuing in the future.
“We look at a program and say we can maybe satisfy or meet that need for five years or whatever that timeframe is, and then move on to something else, because inevitably more needs or different needs will come up.”
Sheane maintains that all of the programming decisions are evidence-informed, based on several factors that ensure quality assurance for school officials who can make the call on which programs are still in demand at the time of the biennial review.
“It may be that this is a sustained, long-term need, that we can satisfy through a degree offering or something, so we’ll go down that route,” she says. “In that process, if there are programs that maybe have reached the end of their life cycle, or maybe the curriculum needs to be updated, then that process is what can flag us to review if there’s more work to do here or maybe it’s time to shift away from this program and look at something else.”
When it comes to the legacy programs at the school, Sheane says at this time it is unclear if enrollment has been affected; however, the CEO suggests that the prominent programs such as University Transfer, Nursing, and Education maintain a high level of enrollment every year.
“Our legacy programs that were successful before we started introducing new programs remain successful,” she says. “I can’t say for sure that some of the new ones have impacted the legacy ones, but through that program review process, our legacy programs are reviewed in the same way so the successful ones continue, and ones that are maybe struggling, we’re trying different strategies to help them be successful again.”
As of July 29th, Northwestern Polytechnic has introduced more than ten new programs this year, across a variety of fields including some in trades, medicine, and science, with start dates scheduled in the Fall for the 2024-25 school year.
