Thursday, November 16, 2011 –  Vice President Academic, Gord Nixon, is helping shine the national spotlight on SAIT — he has recently had two articles printed in prestigious publications.

The enlightening articles showcase SAIT’s leading position in the Alberta apprenticeship system, and its achievements with a new revenue-generation model.

“First and foremost, we are an academic institution and it’s important that SAIT leaders be publicly, externally and visibly promoting SAIT through published articles,” says Nixon.

In his article, The Alberta Apprentice System: A Model to Support Economic Development , which was published in the Fall volume of The Canadian Apprenticeship Journal, Nixon points out the significant role Alberta plays in Canadian industry training.

The article gives a clear explanation of the organization and structure of Alberta’s apprenticeship and industry training system — a system that provides the country with vital employees.

 “While the Province of Alberta represents only 10 percent of Canada’s labour force, it trains approximately 20 percent of the country’s apprentices,” he writes.

Nixon emphasizes the effect the Alberta apprenticeship system has on the economy, and says it is important to recognize this relationship.

“Albertans need to understand that our economy needs skilled trades persons and that an apprenticeship is an excellent career opportunity,” says Nixon.

Nixon’s work was also published in the book, Increasing Effectiveness of the Community College Financial Model — his chapter is titled Revenue Generation through Training a Global Energy Workforce.

Nixon was asked to contribute to the book after one of its editors visited SAIT.

“He saw what a great organization we are and thought we needed to share our story as a best practice for other post secondary schools to learn from,” he says.

The chapter highlights the transformation of SAIT’s for-profit training, or earned-revenue, business.

“The five-year journey has resulted in greater focus on generating new revenue from both domestic and international energy-related training,” writes Nixon.

Although the chapter breaks down techniques used to increase earned-revenue business, Nixon says he is not concerned that he has leaked the recipe to SAIT’s success.

“I thought about if sharing our model would give others the same competitive advantage that SAIT has,” says Nixon. “It’s not just our model that makes SAIT successful. It’s our people and our culture that makes the model successful, and neither our people nor our culture can be recreated.”

SAIT Polytechnic is one of Canada’s most exciting destinations for post-secondary education, offering more than 100 career programs that position people for success in technology, trades and business. A leader in innovation, SAIT also collaborates with industry on applied research and delivers corporate training worldwide. SAIT is a member of Polytechnics Canada and one of Alberta’s Top 50 Employers for 2011.

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