Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 21, 2007
YELLOWKNIFE - Getting a $2,500 cheque in the mail is a welcome sight for any student.
Dealing with the high costs of studying in the United States, the sight was especially appreciated by Yellowknifer Karen Carleton, who is studying instructional and performance technology for her master's degree in science and engineering at Boise State University in Idaho.
Karen Carleton was one of the two recipients from Yellowknife of the Northwestel scholarships. She is in Boise, Idaho where she is studying instructional and performance technology for her master's degree in science and engineering. - photo courtesy of Karen Carleton |
"That was just such a great surprise," said Carleton. "School here is not cheap."
Although she has received an academic scholarship from the university that cuts her tuition down by $9,000, an international grad student at her school pays on average $24,000 a year. With other expenses such as books, the cost of living, and American medical insurance, she said the Northwestel scholarship was much-needed help.
An admitted avid scholar, Carleton has been studying for the last 15 years. While she completed her courses for her English literature degree and teaching degree in Saskatchewan, she has also completed two programs through correspondence courses since 1997.
Back in school in Idaho, Carleton noted the irony of receiving a scholarship from Northwestel, when this is the first time in 10 years she didn't have to use their Internet services for her studies.
"This is the first time in a while I've physically, actually been in school," said Carleton.
Her valuing of the Internet was especially handy when applying for the scholarship. To apply, Carleton was asked to write an essay about how the Internet has changed the North.
Having completed two programs through correspondence, including her recent master's degree in workplace and adult learning at the University of Calgary, Carleton said it wasn't hard describing it in her essay.
As a member of the Canadian Society for Training and Development, and a member of the International Society for Performance Improvement she gave a webinar to some CSTD colleagues in Canada. After finding out about her webinar, she said her American colleagues were jealous and next week she'll give her presentation to the American Society for Training and Development.
She also organized a fall fiesta this month for National Science Foundation Scholarship recipients in the college of engineering at the school.
Her activities tie in with the subject of her study of instructional and performance technology, where the focus of the program is on tools and techniques that enhance learning and performance in the workplace and in organizations.
"It sounds like a bunch of machines, but it's not," said Carleton.
While she is looking at the GNWT internship program for future employment, Northwestel's scholarship program is designed to try and attract people to the telecommunications company, according to Anne Kennedy, Northwestel's director of corporate communications.
"The objective of the scholarship program is to develop and potentially recruit employees," said Kennedy.
Carleton received the scholarship along with four other students in the NWT, including Alexander Tam, who is also from Yellowknife.
Tam is completing a program in telecommunications technology at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton.
While a scholarship program in place 10 years before this one was directed strictly towards technicians, the new program has a wider criteria of programs.
"It really opens the doors for more people to apply," said Kennedy.
This is the sixth year the company has awarded the scholarships, having given out $162,500 so far. The scholarships are open to students residing in Northwestel's operating area, pursuing full-time post-secondary studies in specific fields.
