Education/training
An interview with Howard Rundle, President of Fanshawe CollegeFanshawe College has a number of communications programs, which include radio, television and the music industry. |
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 [ 2002-04-10 ] |
Q.What are some of the most popular programs at Fanshawe?
A.We have a number. One grouping deals with our communications programs, which includes radio, television, the music industry. That cluster is very popular.
Another cluster that's popular is the health sciences programs. There are programs in nursing, dental hygiene, paramedics, practical nurse, respiratory therapy and so on. All the people working in health care other than physicians train in college.
This area went through a slump, but its popularity has swung back, and people are aware it's an area with increased opportunities as the population ages.
One area that tends to be struggling a little bit is technology programming. There are marvellous job opportunities there, often with salaries better than the others I have mentioned.
We have quite strong programs in these areas, and the application rates are the highest they've ever been. However, we tend not to completely fill those programs.
People have assumed these are male-only programs, so half the population doesn't even think of them. I'm referring here to professions in the trades such as automotive technician, tool and dye technicians, manufacturing technologists, electronics technicians, electrical apprentices, construction and carpentry.
The mythology of the past is that these tend to be dirty professions, and you have to muck around with equipment. It's not true. These professions are more involved with computers than ever these days.
Unfortunately, North American society looks at these professions negatively.
Particularly, the whole construction industry is booming right now, and there's a huge employee shortage that will get worse when people in the industry start retiring. We can't get enough people in those fields.
Q.What kind of career opportunities are there for Fanshawe students?
A.There are probably over 100 different career opportunities for our students. Virtually all of the programs have some kind of work experience component. Fanshawe has one of the largest offerings of co-op education of any college in the country.
Students are working partly in industry, and in school, so when they graduate they have work experience. Students really like that kind of program offering.
Also, employers see how students work before making a hiring decision. In the area of communications, we have a fully licenced radio station 106.9 CIXX FM, which reaches a 50-mile radius.
Q.What's down the road for the school?
A.We're in the middle of a major building project, to get ready for the double cohort of the baby boom echo. We will have a whole new building to house our communications programs, which will open this September.
Next year we will expand the highly successful Fanshawe Connect, a compulsory laptop program, where students will be provided with laptops for everyday use. All the classes are on campus, and students plug into a network, and download material onto their computers. They have a network card, and they can hook into the college backbone and plug into the Internet to do college projects.
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