Loyalist College adapting to current environment

The president of Loyalist College says in 30 years of working in post-secondary education, she has never been anywhere that focusses on student success like Loyalist does.

Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan was on CJBQ’s Lorne Brooker show Tuesday commending the efforts of faculty and staff to adapt to give students the best experience possible during the pandemic.

And she says they’ll be using the next few months thinking about what they’ve learned during the pandemic and what learning needs to look like in the future.

“We’ve learned what we’ve done in the last 20 months that really, really does improve student learning and what can we now use going forward. What do our programs look like? How do we deliver them? What does flexibility look like? And, you know, you could see a very big change in how we deliver the types of programs that we offer as a result.”

Dr. Vaughan notes the college never really completely shut down during the pandemic and by this January, almost all programs will be back on campus.

And, amazingly, they’ve launched 25 new programs during this time.

“Cyber security and financial technology as well as more trades-based programs like Heating, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning that we’re launching. We’re doing a lot more in the Health Sciences. We’re working on the stand-alone Nursing degree. So there is so much happening.”

Dr. Vaughan also discussed the growing international student population during her appearance on the Lorne Brooker Show, noting that pre-pandemic, they accounted for about 38% of the student body.

She says many of them come here with prior credentials and plans to stay in Canada.

“And so they’re not here as people who are passing through. They’re here as people who really want to stay. And the more we do to welcome them to the community-at-large, the better. Because these are just amazing students, as are all the students at Loyalist.”

She adds international students are not taking the place of domestic students but rather, enhancing what has become a dwindling domestic population.