Annual Report 2022/23

• During the endemic approach to managing COVID-19 SAIT continued to monitor and assess public health conditions, that helped to guide our return to campus.
• The Athletics and Recreation department hosted their annual "Make Some Noise for Mental Health" campaign and the institution participated in broader community initiatives supporting and promoting good mental health, including Bell Let’s Talk Day. 
• SAIT launched a Mental Health for the Trades self-directed online course.
• Almost 4,000 appointments and drop-in counselling sessions were scheduled with Student Development and Counselling.
• The institution also hired a Sexual Violence Program Coordinator and Educator.

• SAIT launched an institutional project to incorporate the use of preferred names, gender and pronouns across institutional software applications.
• Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) training opportunities for employees and students grew to include PERS 143: Queer Inclusion and Belonging at SAIT.
• New inclusion committees and resource groups were established on campus. These groups include:
  • Neurodiversity Alliance Committee
  • EMBRACE (equity for women)
  • Women in Trades and Technology 

• Jennifer Russell, joined SAIT as the Director of Indigenous Engagement with the goal of supporting Indigenous student and employee success.
• In collaboration with the Treaty 6, 7 and 8 territories, as well as the Métis Nation of Alberta, SAIT’s Corporate Development, Applied Research and International divisions worked together to develop a training strategy to guide collaboration between Indigenous communities and post-secondary institutions.
• The SAIT Truth and Reconciliation Committee was created to organize community, academic and cultural events at SAIT, and the institution commemorated the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30 with a day of learning and reflection. 

• The Reg Erhardt Library launched a new Open Educational Resources training certificate for faculty.
• SAIT introduced a mobile ID option for new students and employees.
• Single sign-on was deployed to a number of SAIT software systems, allowing users to access multiple systems using a single SAIT credential.

Enrolment growth, financial and operational sustainability, student experience and retention, and career-ready skills development are all central to SAIT’s Strategic Enrolment Management plan. Progress highlights from the past year are included below.  

• The International Centre implemented a virtual admissions system to streamline the admissions process for international student applications. The 2022/23 academic year saw the largest international student intake numbers for a fall term ever at SAIT.
• The Office of the Registrar is leading a domestic admission application solution project to improve the admissions process for domestic applications.
• In support of student success and experience, the Lamb Learner Success Centre piloted a mandatory Back on Track program for first-year business students with a grade point average below 2.0.
• Career Advancement Services developed a self-directed career course for students, PREP 013: Career Readiness Preparation.

• Investments from the province created additional seats in several in-demand credit and apprenticeship programs , including Avionics Technology and Film and Video Production, Auto Body Technician and Automotive Service Technician programs, along with expanding access to a variety of trades programming ranging from cooking to heavy equipment.  
• SAIT added nine learning pathways with six transfer agreements from post-secondary partners, including: Royal Roads University, Bow Valley College and International Gateway Kelowna.
• Four new transfer agreements with international institutions were also developed. National and international partnerships comprise more than 500 pathways with 70 institutions.

SAIT's Centre for Continuing Education and Professional Studies launched new bootcamp programming to create more accessible and collaborative pathways into careers in technology. Digital Transformation Bootcamps provide intensive, hands-on experience to develop a wide range of technology skills.

• SAIT launched new dual-credit offerings for high school students, including a Hardware and Networking IT course bundle, and added a Foundations in Emergency Care course to dual-credit programming.
• Summer Camps returned to campus. SAIT Explorers — one of many SAIT Summer Camps offerings — was created in response to the influx of families in Canada seeking refuge from conflict abroad.
• Youth Initiatives expanded delivery of the Turning Points for at-risk high school youth program to almost 100 youth and partnered with Advantus 360 to offer specialized programming for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
• In November 2022, more than 150 female students in Grades 8 and 9 attended the Jill of All Trades event, which encourages youth to pursue careers in the trades.

• Launched in July 2021, the Level Up Alumni Awards program continues to support SAIT graduates in their lifelong learning journey.
• This year, Alumni and Development distributed $100,000 in funding to returning graduates enrolled in credit programs — a full-time certificate, diploma or degree program — and $150,000 to alumni returning to SAIT for continuing education programming.
• Outstanding and distinguished alumni were recognized institutionally and six SAIT graduates working in fields ranging from hospitality to business were among the Class of 2022 in Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40.

SAIT is leading the newly established Alberta Bureau of International Education (ABIE). Supported by a $1.5 million investment from the Government of Alberta, ABIE will drive growth and diversity in Alberta’s post-secondary international student enrolment. With the resumption of international travel, study abroad travel initiatives relaunched this past year. With sponsorship from a Global Skills Opportunity grant from the Government of Canada, SAIT Study Abroad led a field school to Costa Rica for a group of Indigenous students from the School of Hospitality and Tourism. SAIT participated in a Cultural Chef Exchange, brining international chefs and sommeliers to campus and partnered with the Higher College of Technology in Dubai to deliver a second shared offering of a course in Organizational Behaviour. The International Centre secured funding to support the PERS 148: Introduction to Effective Intercultural Communication course for the next five years.

SAIT hosted an inaugural Permanent Residency Ceremony Celebration, celebrating international alumni who gained permanent residency status in the last five years. The International Centre hired an Intercultural Champion to spearhead an Intercultural Support Strategy. The centre also hired an International Workforce Development Officer to work with employers in Calgary and throughout Alberta to help remove barriers for international alumni seeking employment. A new classroom readiness program was successfully piloted with 270 new international students in three programs in the School of Business. A new International Student Emergency Support Program is designed to help students experiencing financial hardship beyond their control due to military conflict, natural disaster or global crisis.

SAIT Culinary Arts graduate Korae Nottveit won Alberta’s first gold medal and Canada’s second in the cooking category at WorldSkills in October 2022. SAIT’s School of Business made CEOWORLD Magazine’s list of Best Business Schools in the World for the third year — holding strong as the second highest ranked business school in Canada and #51 in the world. The School of Hospitality and Tourism moved up three spots on CEOWORLD Magazine’s 2023 Best Hospitality and Hotel Management Schools in the World. SAIT ranks #15 globally and is the only school in Canada on the list. In addition to the alumni among the credits, SAIT’s main campus featured several times in HBO’s highly anticipated adaptation of The Last of Us.

Applied research at SAIT is anchored in the intersection of three priorities: clean energy, the environment and building the sustainable, resilient communities of the future. In 2022/23, SAIT's Applied Research and Innovation Services was awarded 47 grants with a total research income value of $12.9 million. SAIT moved up one spot in the national ranking to claim fifth position on Research Infosource Inc.’s list of Top 50 Research Colleges for 2022.

SAIT is working alongside post-secondary partners, Avatar Innovations, the Clean Resource Innovation Network and others as a member organization at the Energy Transition Centre in downtown Calgary. In fall 2022, Jay Westman challenged industry peers and community leaders to match funds already raised to establish the BILD Alberta Scholarships for Construction supporting the next generation of skilled tradespeople in Alberta. RBC announced an $850,000 investment to fund the development of electric vehicle readiness training and youth skills programming in the School of Transportation. Career Advancement Services matched 80 industry mentors with student mentees from the School of Business and School of Construction through the Industry Mentorship Program.

Corporate Training Solutions

SAIT’s Corporate Training Solutions (CTS) works with more than 100 companies per year to provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities to more than 1,000 employees annually. Their biweekly webinar series, Leading Beyond Any Title, features SAIT facilitators and industry experts in conversation with the director of CTS and focuses on leadership development skills. SAIT re-signed a four-year partnership with the emPOWER Women in Construction program with Manpower. Delivered onsite at SAIT, this 15-week program helps women gain the skillset and the tools needed to be successful in construction related disciplines, including woodwork, framing fundamentals, electrical and pipe trades.

• SAIT participated in the development of a content library for virtual simulation training in four areas of healthcare programming.
• Research into using mixed reality for new instructor training and a project investigating how virtual reality impacts the spatial ability and learning outcomes of Architectural Technologies students were recognized with Cisco Catalyst Chair awards. The awards program supports projects which aim to infuse leading-edge technology within schools, programs, spaces and applied research at SAIT.

SAIT’s Capability Framework is designed to shape new ways of thinking for a new world of work. The framework builds on a core of technical skills and competencies to encourage the development of a set of complementary human capabilities universally important for career success: creativity, critical thinking, citizenship, curiosity and connection. This past year, the Centre for Applied Education Innovation began incorporating the framework into the design of new programs.

The School of Hospitality and Tourism launched several new courses in human skills development. The courses focus on developing self-awareness, team dynamics and leadership mindset. Practicum students in the Bachelor of Business Administration program participated in an Insights Discovery analysis and received coaching to build self-awareness.

Career Advancement Services is facilitating SAIT’s implementation of a regional work-integrated learning portal led by Calgary Economic Development. School of Health and Public Safety students took part in interprofessional industry events throughout the year, including Trauma Day at the Foothills Medical Centre, and volunteered with the Alex Community Health Bus to provide dental services to underserved populations. Software Development students developed app-based solutions to help kickstart business in post-pandemic downtown Calgary. Business students worked with industry mentors to explore how technology can impact traditional financial service models and organized a series of fundraising events for several local charities.

Student capstone projects ranged from addressing reliable, affordable and sustainable power for remote Indigenous communities to using coffee grounds as an environmentally friendly solution to treating industrial wastewater and developing solutions for vegetation monitoring in mining reclamation areas using drones.