I am very pleased to share exciting news for our college community, as we enter a new partnership that aligns with our long-term strategy to create global opportunities for our students and leverages our entrepreneurial spirit in support of long-term stability and growth for our college.
We have partnered with Global University Systems (GUS), a highly regarded network of higher education institutions serving more than 85,000 students worldwide – a new relationship grounded in mutual recognition of student success as the foundation of education, and a shared commitment to high quality programs and student experience.
This new partnership paves the way for new global opportunities for students, such as study-abroad opportunities, including co-ops, exchanges and international field studies with GUS schools, cooperative global development projects, pathways between NC and GUS programs, and joint delivery.
It also allows us to diversify into a new market. As part of our agreement with GUS, four high-quality, in-demand credentials within our schools of Business and Management, and Hospitality, Tourism and Sport will be offered at GUS’s Toronto School of Management (TSoM), based in downtown Toronto. The programs include Business General, International Business Management, Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Human Resources Management. While the delivery of these programs at our own campuses will continue, the expansion to TSoM, where the programs will be delivered by TSoM, allows us to attract International students who seek the lifestyle and amenities associated with a large urban centre.
While programming will be delivered by TSoM, Niagara College is responsible for ensuring that the student experience and academic quality of programming will be aligned with NC’s exceptional student experience. A comprehensive quality assurance framework will ensure that students at the Toronto location enjoy the same level of academic rigor, and quality of student life that is offered at NC’s campuses.
Niagara College’s recruitment activity will continue to be solely focused on Niagara-based programs, while TSoM will recruit into the Toronto-based programs. The first intake for the TSoM programs is planned for Spring 2021.
The partnership has been approved by the provincial government through a policy introduced in 2019, designed to allow partnerships that help Ontario’s colleges to be financially competitive while creating flexibility to meet strong demand from international students for Ontario’s high-quality postsecondary education. A guiding principle of this policy is that colleges will re-invest the economic benefits of these partnerships into their home operations.
While this agreement is the first of its kind in our college’s history, leveraging our expertise in program design and delivery to form mutually beneficial partnerships is nothing new for Niagara College. We’ve established partnerships and completed projects locally, provincially, nationally and around the world that have enhanced the lives of students while supporting our core operations here in Niagara.
This partnership is a testament to our college’s reputation for high quality programs and exceptional student experience – a reflection of our faculty, staff and administrators who share a strong commitment to student success.
At a time when we face unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, along with declining domestic enrolment trends, this partnership is a beacon of our College’s trailblazing culture, illuminating our vision for long-term success. It is a shining example of how our ‘NC DNA’ continues to steer us forward, toward innovative strategies and promising new opportunities for the future.
I welcome Global University Systems as our new valued partner and look forward to the broad range of opportunities it will provide for our students and our college.
