An interview with Margaret Greenley, V-P Student & Employer Success, Durham College
Q: What are some of the most popular programs at Durham College?
A: We have over 70 different programs, and the most popular ones include programs like mechanical engineering technology, graphic design, our firefighter program, multimedia design dental hygienist, nursing, operation management.
Q: What makes you most proud about the school?
A: We are completely committed to the student, to student learning and success. I'm impressed with the people I work with and their commitment to supporting the students. We also have student success officers to offer extra support.
We have highly qualified faculty who are experts in their field. Academic excellence, combined with the support services -- this is what makes the difference.
We also have an employer guarantee. We guarantee the skills the students will have when they graduate. We also have an admission guarantee, where we work with students so no one is denied an education for financial reasons.
Q: What is the role of the student success officer?
A: In each division, where a student has problems academically, they will meet with the officer, who will go through their program, their courses, and look at what their areas of weakness are. They might suggest additional time with faculty, computer-aided learning, tutoring, or moving into a part-time program.
Q: What kind of career guidance can a student get?
A: With Career and Employment Services, the student gets assistance from the point of view of career planning. If, for example, you've decided you'd like to pursue a career path that differs from your current program, they will go over the options that are available to you.
We also have the Career Shop, which is available to students and the community, and there is a fee for this service. We do vocational assessments here. If the person doesn't know what they're good at, they are assessed, and we identify potential programs. You are able to learn more about yourself and discover what you're good at.
Q: What are the employment opportunities available at the school?
A: We are completely job-focused. First of all, there are career and employment officers who deliver information on job searching, interview techniques and resume writing.
We have an online job board with over 2,500 postings. We have a counselling service where we do one-on-one counselling on job searching for people who may have not searched in a while. All of programs have practical work experience, i.e. clinical, co-op, internship or placement. We have eight programs where students work in a paid internship for 16 months.
Q: What's in the future for the school?
A: We are planning to add 2,500 new seats to be available for this year. Our Manufacturing Centre of Excellence will be finished in June. We will also have the newest university of Canada, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, which will open in 2003 on the campus.
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