.
Search
 Email this articleE-mail this story  Discuss this articleWrite letter to editor  Discuss this articleOrder a classified ad  Print this page

College rounds up recruits

Chris Woodall
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Jun 05/06) - Inuvik's Aurora College campus is pursuing the advertising theory that no one will buy your product if they don't know it's out there.

A marketing manager has been hired to "sell" the Mackenzie Delta college campus to NWT high school students, hoping to attract them to the NWT college rather than go south, or not to pursue post-secondary education at all.

Taking on that role is Matthew Parsons. Normally an instructor in economics and other topics, Parsons is on contract to the end of June to visit high schools in the Mackenzie Valley and other regions covered by the Inuvik campus.

"If they have the information on what we have to offer, they might actually want to apply," Parsons said of his potential recruits.

Aurora must do a better job of making itself known to students in this territory, said Maurice Evans, president of Aurora College.

"I'm encouraged when I see the number of grads from Fort McPherson and other communities (Chief Julius school has 20 grads this year, up four from last year) and I think there's a real opportunity for us to capture them and give them opportunities for higher learning here," Evans said.

Going after NWT's high schools might also convince aboriginal students to stay in school long enough to graduate and continue into Aurora College.

"I am always looking at this gap in aboriginal education," Evans said.

"I was looking at the Yellowknifer newspaper's coverage of Sir John (Franklin high school) and I was disappointed that I didn't see more aboriginal faces in that."

Soon-to-be high school graduates are a relatively untapped resource.

"The vast majority of our students still come to us through the side door of adult education," Evans said. "We do offer great programs for students coming right out of high school, so we need to focus on that."