The popular hairstylist program at the Estevan campus of the Southeast Regional college will be moving to Weyburn as of fall 2011 in an effort to meet the demand of the application and employer pool in the area, according to Jamie Hilts, vice president of Academics for the College.
"We try to make sure that we're meeting the highest demands of employers and students," said Hilts of the location change.
The hairstylist program has been in Estevan for eight years, with this year's graduating class being the final class at the Estevan campus.
Hilts said that the programs run by the Southeast College that partner with SIAST, like the hairstylist program, are not meant to be permanent, and are intended to move from campus to campus after three to five years. Moving the campus from Estevan to Weyburn will give Weyburn residents the opportunity to enrol in the program, giving employers more available employees.
However, the program will likely not be gone forever. Hilts said that as the program is not permanent in any location, it is likely that it will return again to Estevan.
Regarding the frustrated clients who have been frequent customers of the Estevan program, Hilts said he hoped that down the road, they or people like them will once again take advantage of the services offered by the Estevan program, and noted that their patronage has been very much appreciated.
The community of Weyburn has been responding well, said Hilts, and two students had already been accepted into the program, while 11 others have made inquiries. As the program only accepts 12 students each year, he said he fully anticipates the program will fill up by its start date in October.
A pre-apprentice electrical program, an office administration course, and the college's power engineering program have all been moved to Estevan. One student has already been accepted into one of 12 spots in the the pre-apprentice electrical program, which begins March 2012. The office education class had filled its class maximum with15 students accepted. Thirty-one people have made inquiries into the power engineering program and 12 have been accepted, which is the maximum number of seats available in the course.
