The incoming President and CEO of the Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) believes the next few years could be historic in terms of education in the region, but it starts with a conversation with the community.
Justin Kohlman says with polytechnic status, post-secondary students will eventually be able to get their degrees at GPRC, and with that, comes nearly an unlimited amount of untapped potential to grow into a true educational powerhouse.
“They’ve got a real connection between employment and the polytechnic, and I think we really need to determine what we need to produce so that students can get meaningful employment that contributes back to the community,” he says.
Kohlman says successful polytechnics, like those at NAIT, SAIT, and BCIT, were carefully crafted with that community desire in mind. He adds the long-term positives from keeping a pulse on industry needs are enormous.
“Helping to solve real-world problems for businesses, and having the students involved in that… and ideally those students start doing some research, do a good job, get hired there later, they stay in the community and contribute,”
“Listening to our industry, instructors, and staff and saying what are the things that have really differentiated us, and how do we build off those.”
Kohlman will take over the position of President and CEO at GPRC in November.