RANKIN INLET - It was grad day for almost 30 students in Rankin Inlet this past week.

A large number of friends and family members were on hand to see 29 students at Nunavut Arctic College's (NAC) Kivalliq campus receive their certificate or diploma. Receiving college foundation certificates were Odelia Emiktowt, Kilabuk Gibbons, Kathleen Netser, Daisy Panika, Delphine Shouldice and Silu Tugak.

In office administration, Louise Gibbons, Andrea Ishalook, Roseanne Kasadluak, Pauline Kudluk, Martha Nanauq, Taukie Nakoolak, Pelagie Papak, Pamela Pilakapsi, Angie Subgut and Jacqueline Taipana received certificates.

Catherine Aggark, Ryan Kolit, Katelyn Netser and Mary Jane Pissuk earned trades access certificates, while Kristy Kablutsiak, Jennifer Maktar, John Pameolik, Adine Sandy and Alyssa Ashley Ymana received certificates in management studies. Lily Maniapik, Myra Netser, Lisa Pameolik and Sharon Qijuk earned their management studies diplomas.

Kivalliq Dean Mike Shouldice said the graduation is the biggest day of the year for the Rankin-based campus. He said students receiving certificates and diplomas is what their work all year is about.

"The diploma year is really dependent upon the certificate year, in terms of the number of students earning their diplomas in management studies," the dean said.

"The office administration program is, really, a feeder where students realize they can handle the work and then decide to go onto management studies.

"We still have students from all three regions coming to school in Rankin.

"We held our own for applications this year, while Iqaluit doubled, so we're seeing more and more people go out for post-secondary education."

Shouldice said the college has seen a growing number of students enter straight out of high school during the past few years. He said NAC students can expect the same level of instruction they would receive at southern schools.

"Our whole ethos is about the trust system. We don't tell people to go home, study and beat their best friend on a test the next day," said Shouldice.

"We encourage them to go home, study together and both earn a great mark.

"We're not about being exclusive. We're about people being successful in a collaborative manner."

Shouldice said NAC's courses are 60 hours, not 40. If it takes some students longer to absorb foreign technology or terminology because English isn't their first language, he said, that's all part of the NAC model.

"Our job is to take our students from where they are to where they want to be," the dean said. "The staff who teach with us are as good as everybody else because of our transfer agreements.

"We have to have master degrees, CGAs, all of those credentials in our management studies to sign-off the transfer agreement for the credit.

"The technology we have is exactly what's on a desk in a Government of Nunavut office, our instructors are the same quality as anywhere else in the nation, and we spend more time at the job than many in the south do."