On April 7 and 8, Niagara College hosted 19 delegates from Vietnam comprised of members from the Government of Lao Cai and Khoi Nguyen Investment Group (KNI), a joint stock company with over a decade of experience investing and operating in the educational sector of Vietnam. The delegation included several senior government officials, including Trinh Xuan Truong, Chairman of Lao Cai People’s Committee and Vu Van Cai, Vice Chairman of Lao Cai People’s Council.
The visit allowed delegates to witness NC’s innovative and student-centric campus facilities and learning spaces first-hand, as well as the college’s robust industry connections that make NC one of the top-research colleges in Ontario and Canada.
During the visit, Niagara College and KNI entered a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that charters the way for further collaborative activities between the two institutions towards the development and operation of a high-quality Vietnam-Canada International College to be established in Lao Cai, a city in the northwest of Vietnam.
“Niagara College continues to explore new innovative partnerships to expand our Global Reach, supporting one of the key areas of focus within our new strategic plan,” said NC’s Senior Director of Global Engagement, Holly Catalfamo, Ed.D. “The Colleges highly collaborative approach in working with new global partners like KNI, demonstrates the high level of commitment shared throughout Niagara College to achieve this key strategic priority.”
The MoU also creates opportunities to collaborate and explore new possibilities in research, student mobility, capacity building, and curriculum and program development.
“The Global Campus Operations team is keenly excited to begin working with the KNI group, and with support from stakeholders from across the college, strengthen NC’s global footprint by offering our quality programming and student-centric learning model in Vietnam,” said NC’s Director of Global Campus Operations, Orel Ruiz, who has been leading the partnership development between NC and KNI.
As part of Niagara College’s global reach area of focus from its 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, the College looks forward to continuing to strengthen its partnerships in Vietnam in the coming years and exploring mutually beneficial initiatives to support students, staff and faculty, and the community.
Enhancing Niagara College’s global reach and increasing access to quality education for learners around the world support the College’s commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG number four (“Quality Education”). Increasing access to quality education has a rippling impact and also supports other SDGs, including SDG number eight (“Decent Work and Economic Growth”).
Long History of Partnerships in Vietnam
Niagara College has a long history of successful partnerships in Vietnam, welcoming students from the country as well as engaging in global projects. As part of a five-year project that concluded in 2020, the College provided technical training to Vinh Long Community College (VLCC) through the Vietnamese Skills for Employment Project (VSEP), developing curriculum for a food technology program to overcome post-harvest production challenges.
Through the VSEP, NC also supported the implementation of the Training Centre for Advanced Management (TCAM) project and helped develop college rector and vice rector-level (president and vice president) training for the Vietnam college system. Engaging many NC experts across various sectors within the College, NC collaborated with TCAM to develop curriculum customized to Vietnam’s higher education sector and to provide advanced management training to participants from more than 150 colleges in Vietnam. The goal of the program was to strengthen Vietnamese capacity for TVET leadership and management at national and provincial levels in three provinces (Binh Thuan, Hau Giang and Vinh Long).
Niagara College’s Partner Delivery Locations
As one of Canada’s leading global colleges, NC proudly offers partner delivery locations within Canada and around the world, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Toronto, and in the past, China as well as South Korea. In addition to offering Niagara College’s top-quality programming and services, these partner delivery locations also pave the way for new local and global opportunities for NC students to pursue study abroad, co-op placements, exchanges, and international field studies.
For more information on NC global campuses, please visit international.niagaracollege.ca/our-campuses/ or contact Director, Global Campus Operations, Orel Ruiz, by emailing [email protected].
