Southeast College has been designated an international student learning centre.
It means that as early as fall 2021, the Estevan and Weyburn campuses may get their first international students, depending on the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though the final decisions were made recently, the process started a while ago.
"It was about 18 months ago, maybe even closer to two years, the college decided that they wanted to start the process to become a designated learning institution (DLI) to accept international students. So we got busy and submitted an application to the Ministry of Advanced Education for DLI designation," recalled Jody Holzmiller, vice-president for training and education with Southeast College.
"Part of that process was to prove that we were prepared and equipped to accept international students, and then to lay out the plan to explain how."
The college had to develop a handbook specifically for international students. They had to illustrate that they had the appropriate resources such as the student advisor and others. They also had to name the designated programs that they would accept students in. The application went in and was reviewed.
The final step was for the Ministry of Advanced Education to come to the college and do a site visit, part of which was an interview to follow up on their submitted application. After a long process, the college was approved and became a DLI.
"It's very exciting for us to be able to open our doors to international students. And we hope to start relatively small," Holzmiller said.
She went on to explain that the intent is to allow the college to gradually internationalize its programs.
"More than designating an entire program for international students, we would like to have international students interspersed with our domestic students in our programs," Holzmiller said.
Southeast College consulted with other institutions that have been and are currently having international programs, and they decided that they want to offer more than simple education to those students coming from other countries.
"We don't want our international students only to learn the curriculum, we want them to learn from our domestic students. And as importantly, we want our domestic students to learn from our international students."
Holzmiller added that the designation also opens up new opportunities not only for the college but also for the labour market.
"Sometimes we have programs where there is a labour demand that doesn't have the requisite learner demand, the required number of students to run. So if there is international demand, in some instances, those international students may be the required number to help us fill and run that program."
The college plans on starting small, initially working with East India and the Philippines. They expect a few people to join their programs as early as 2021, which will allow for the first experience with international students. And then in fall 2022, they hope to see more international students coming to the college.
The labour market demand analysis resulted in business certificate and continuing care assistance being the two programs currently open for international students at the Estevan and Weyburn campuses.
The new development will potentially help to grow the population and meet the economic needs of the area in the future.
While the college won't be responsible for the paperwork required by Immigration Canada, Holzmiller said they will assist international students with the process.
For more information, people can contact student and international student advisor Abbey Forseth at 306-848-2302.
