Nicolaides (second from right) with Lethbridge College President & CEO Dr. Paula Burns (center) and Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf (second from left) on Sept. 13, 2019 (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Visit from the Minister

Minister of Advanced Education’s tour takes him to Lethbridge College

Sep 13, 2019 | 11:27 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – How is Lethbridge College helping students make their way into the workforce?

That’s something on the mind of Demetrios Nicolaides, Alberta’s Minister of Advanced Education. Nicolaides is on an 18-school tour, visiting post-secondary institutions across the province to learn about daily operations, facilities and issues facing students and educators.

His tour took him to Lethbridge College today, Sept. 13.

“There are multiple different purposes behind the tour. First and foremost, the main priority is to have an opportunity to really communicate with all of the stakeholders that are in our post-secondary system, have an opportunity to meet and interact with students, to talk with senior leadership at each institution, faculty members – so, that’s probably the first priority,” Nicolaides told LNN.

“The second priority is to also help me get a stronger perspective on what space each college is really operating in, because you can read about the dynamics, the stats and the information about a particular post-secondary institution. But you don’t really get a great understanding unless you actually have the opportunity to go there, talk to faculty members, talk to students and see things first-hand.”

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The Minister’s tour began at the University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus on Sept. 3. Since then, he’s visited schools like the University of Calgary, SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) and Medicine Hat College.

He said one of the things he’s heard is the importance of ‘high-quality programming’ and the need to ensure students in all programs are able to get the highest-quality learning experience possible.

Another topic of discussion has been making sure students have ample opportunity to find employment once they graduate.

“We’re (the provincial government) focused on getting our economy back up on its feet, taking aggressive action to creating jobs in the province. It reinforces that directive every time I’m speaking to students who are talking about the importance of career prospects once they graduate, he said.

Nicolaides noted the tour and his stop in Lethbridge is timely, following the release of the MacKinnon Report on Alberta’s finances earlier this month.

READ MORE: Report: Government needs to “go beyond merely cutting spending” to eliminate deficit

“We’re able to have some very direct and open conversations with faculty, students and leadership on the recommendations of the MacKinnon Panel to hear their views and thoughts. The next step will be precisely that, taking a closer look at the McKinnon Panel recommendations, using the information that I’ve gathered as part of this tour to help us inform our next steps as we look at implementing and/or adopting some of those recommendations,” he said.

Nicolaides walking the halls of Lethbridge College on Sept. 13, 2019 (Lethbridge News Now)

Before continuing on with the tour, Nicolaides had high praise for Lethbridge College.

“We had the opportunity to try the culinary program, we had dinner yesterday (Sept. 12) with the President and other members of the senior administrative team, so we were able to try first-hand and see first-hand what they’re doing in the culinary program,” he said.

“I was quite blown away. I thought it was just absolutely remarkable. [I’m] really impressed with the space here and the breadth of programming that’s available and there’s no question the college plays such a strong and pivotal role for driving economic activity in the community.”

Nicolaides’ tour will wrap up on Sept. 25. Up next will be visits to Athabasca University, Keyano College, Grande Prairie Regional College and Red Deer College.

Following Nicolaides’ tour of Lethbridge College, he made his way to the University of Lethbridge for an announcement by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.