A message from President Sean Kennedy:
Together with friends and colleagues, we gathered at the Niagara College Holiday Celebration on Dec. 13. I was thrilled to see so many of you to cap off an exceptional year marked by a truly historic homecoming after more than two years of virtual activities.
There is much to celebrate this holiday season, and a time to reflect on the unwavering commitment of our faculty and staff to enrich lives and fulfill dreams. Your care and support of students continually gives me an enormous amount of pride and I want to share my deepest gratitude for your student-focused, welcoming, passionate and trailblazing work.
This fall we welcomed the fulsome return to in-person activities where students, employees and community partners could once again experience the one-of-a-kind, dynamic energy of NC.
We joyously came together in person for Niagara Day to recognize and celebrate one another’s accomplishments. And throughout the term, we gave a warm, NC welcome to many new faces to the College who are supporting key areas of focus in our ambitious new Strategic Plan. We look forward to greeting many more in the new year to help us grow and advance student learning.
This summer, NC made our mark on the historic Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games. The College was a key partner in the Games through collaborations with academic and service areas, experiential and course-based learning, and volunteers and behind-the-scenes-planning. The partnership created countless opportunities for student learning, and we are so proud of the faculty and staff who worked tirelessly to make it possible.
As a College community, we continue to make strides to strengthen our welcoming and inclusive culture through important equity, diversity and inclusion work. Following two years of meaningful dialogue, deliberation, and consultation by Niagara College’s Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce, the final blueprint – a combined strategy and implementation plan that aligns and reflects the voice of NC community members – will be unveiled in Winter 2023.
Among the countless milestones this year, the Be World Ready program had an extraordinary comeback with over 60 students taking flight for international learning experiences this fall. Sixty more will embark this winter to Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Portugal on their journey to become global citizens.
Among a great many awards, our spirit of innovation shined as we earned a top 10 ranking for research colleges in Canada for the seventh year in a row. Our success was made possible by hundreds of industry partners who entrust us to bring their new ideas to fruition. With more than $3 million from the federal government to bring more researchers, students and industry partners together to address innovation challenges, we’re positioned to do much more in 2023.
We continue to be extremely grateful for the tremendous relationship we enjoy with the Niagara College Student Administrative Council, whose work to advocate for students to improve life both inside and out of the classroom is a critical part of the NC student experience.
This holiday season and always, NC is in the spirit of giving back to our community. As a longtime supporter of the United Way, the College was proud to raise $60,000 – a testament to the giving and caring nature of our faculty, staff and administrators. This incredible contribution to our community on behalf of the College is thanks to all of you.
The year 2023 looks bright! Guided by our Strategic Plan, we are already writing the next chapter of our story, and we’re doing it #NCtogether.
On behalf of your Executive Team, thanks for all that you do to make NC such a remarkable place of learning and innovation. Warm wishes for a safe, happy and restful holiday season!
