Fall programs at the Southeast Regional College are approaching, and opportunities for students to receive a financial boost are aplenty.
In addition to the $6,500 raised for students through the Swing for Scholarships tournament at the end of June, which was matched dollar for dollar by the Government's Innovation and Opportunity Scholarship program, resulting in a total of $13,000 going towards student scholarships, Jeff Richards, vice president of strategic development said students at the Estevan campus will be receiving slightly more than the funds raised through the golf tournament.
"We raised more across the whole college," Richards said, noting the approximately $16,000 in scholarship funds were raised by the end of the college's fiscal year on June 30.
On the heels of Estevan's successful golf tournament fundraiser, Richard also said students accepted for fall programs automatically receive a $1,000 scholarship applied to their tuition.
"We believe in our students and we want them to be successful," he said, adding there are three full-time programs in Estevan that are eligible for the entrance scholarships.
The college's reflection of the various industries' labour market demand is top priority, Richards said, and that hasn't changed heading into the fall programming.
"That is our claim to fame," he said. "Some of the other institutions can't be that nimble … we can pick up or drop a program in a very short amount of time based on labour market need."
Power engineering is currently in high demand, Richards noted. Introduced for the first time this fall will be the industrial mechanic/millwright program.
"We're going to get great industry support in that program as well," he said.
Lower oil prices, which have affected numerous industries and businesses across the southeast, have resulted in various employers turning to the Canada-Saskatchewan Job Grant program. The program puts skills training decisions in the hands of Saskatchewan employers in hopes of helping workers get the training they need for available jobs. To access the program, an employer is required to contribute at least one third of the training costs, with the remaining two thirds, up to $10,000, coming from the job grant.
The college serves as an eligible third-party training institution that can provide some of that training.
"We'll go to employers and ask 'what's the programming you need, and let's find a way to make this happen for you,'" Richards explained.
The program was introduced last fall, and Richards said he hopes employers take advantage of it.
Richards said Southeast Regional College accepts approximately 5,000 students on an annual basis across all its campuses. He noted the majority of Estevan's full time programs take in 12 students. When it comes to enrolment numbers for the upcoming fall programs, that information wasn't available yet, Richards said.
"There are still a lot of students who are conditionally accepted because they don't have their transcripts, yet," he said.
Richards encourages anyone interested in their programs, or curious as to what they have to offer, to visit www.southeastcollege.org
