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NorQuest College needs your help to assess and improve access to educational opportunities in your region.
As part of the College’s provincially designated regional stewardship mandate, NorQuest has begun a collaborative research project. The goal of the project is to collect information about the labour market and learning needs within the College’s stewardship region, including Morinville and surrounding municipalities.
“We’re trying to collect enough data so we can provide communities with detailed information about their current adult learning and training resources,” says Andrew Jevne, Regional Director, Northeast District. “Based on that data, we can then work together to determine ways we can increase access to learning opportunities.”
The Regional Needs Assessment data is being collected through an Internet-based survey. NorQuest is asking anyone 18 or over who lives or works in the Morinville area to participate.
The survey is available at www.campusalberta.norquest.ca until May 31, 2011.
The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete and includes two sections: one to provide information on workplace training (for employers, owners and managers only) and the other to address adult learning needs (for anyone 18 or older). The survey is also available in hardcopy form.
“We need to obtain significant participation from community members, so we’re encouraging people to not only take the survey but to promote it through their own personal and professional networks,” says Jevne.
Participants are encouraged to share the survey on blogs, message boards and through social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.
“The more participation we get, the better the data and, in turn, the better our assessment of the region’s educational needs,” Jevne adds.
NorQuest College is also working with its many community partners to get a meaningful snapshot of the adult learning opportunities currently available, with the hope of exploring partnership opportunities in the future. This includes working with Community Adult Education Councils, K-12 school system representatives, libraries, local government and administration, Aboriginal groups, and business and industry.
Once the survey is completed, NorQuest will analyze the data and share the results with participating communities this fall.
For more information on regional stewardship, visit the Campus Alberta website. If you have questions about the Regional Needs Assessment, please contact Andrew Jevne at 780 644 5835. For more information about NorQuest College, visit www.norquest.ca.
