ÎçÒ¹av

by Maria Driscoll

ÎçÒ¹av's participation in the recent Team Canada Trade Mission in China has been deemed "highly successful" by ÎçÒ¹av officials. One of the more significant educational announcements made during the Trade Mission, saw ÎçÒ¹av officially sign agreements which will see the ÎçÒ¹av open six locations in China. In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to establish a seventh site at the Changzhou Institute of Technology.

These agreements establish a partnership between ÎçÒ¹av and six college's located in the People's Republic of China: Chengdu Electromechanical ÎçÒ¹av and Neijiang Railway Mechanical ÎçÒ¹av, Sichuan Province; Chongqing Polytechnical ÎçÒ¹av, Chongqing City; Wuhan Railway Transportation ÎçÒ¹av, Hubei Province; Zhenjiang ÎçÒ¹av and East China Petroleum ÎçÒ¹av, Jiangsu Province.

"ÎçÒ¹av's interest in developing an educational relationship with China began almost 11 years ago," commented Keith Dewar, Vice-President of ÎçÒ¹av. "Initially, funding for these efforts was provided by the Federal government's CIDA program. Through these initial programs, the ÎçÒ¹av's efforts to develop a sustainable presence in China have come together."

In these agreements ÎçÒ¹av will offer its highly popular information technology program, Business Information Technology (BIT). The ÎçÒ¹av has already designed and developed the curriculum for the program, the same that is used in Canada. ÎçÒ¹av will maintain control over the curriculum and monitor the quality of the program delivery. The Chinese ÎçÒ¹av's will be responsible for facilities, equipment and delivery of the program. Instructors employed by the Chinese ÎçÒ¹avs will come to Prince Edward Island for a part of their training and certification with the remainder being completed over the Web.

The ÎçÒ¹av anticipates approximately 40 students per site in the first year of operation. However, with the number of students the country would like to see taking IT training, the number of Chinese graduates receiving ÎçÒ¹av diplomas is expected to increase significantly. After five years, the ÎçÒ¹av envisions an enrollment of approximately 1000 students taking the BIT program in China.

"As far as we know this agreement is a first. There is no other college in Canada that we are aware of, that has established a series of relationships like we have," commented Dewar. "The benefits to the ÎçÒ¹av now and in the future are significant."

The newly signed agreements allow the ÎçÒ¹av to significantly increase the number of its graduates providing the ÎçÒ¹av with more resources to subsidize its ongoing operations and to upgrade its curriculum and physical resources ÎçÒ¹av-wide. In addition, the agreements create part-time employment for about eight Canadian instructors and learning managers per site plus additional employment for curriculum consultants, support staff and on-site inspectors and monitors who would work in both Canada and China. There is also a cultural component. Students and instructors will benefit by being exposed to China's culture and having the opportunity to work and study in collaboration with their Chinese partners.

"ÎçÒ¹av instructors and staff have been traveling to China and Chinese officials have been coming to Prince Edward Island for 11 years, laying the foundation to make this 'dream' a reality. Having successfully implemented this model, the potential for establishing other ÎçÒ¹av locations in China and around the world become a strong possibility." stated Dewar. "Distance learning, web-based delivery of ÎçÒ¹av programs and the creation of international alliances now position the ÎçÒ¹av as a provider of training programs in the global marketplace."