I love where I work. Today I attended a Cooperative Education Symposium hosted by the Campus Career Center at Vancouver Island University. The event brought together a range of employers from recreation, tourism and hospitality to recognize the role they play in education and also to profile fourth year students case studies. There are rare occasions where we stop and pause for a moment and recognize each others role in this complex delivery system.
Educators are not always included as agents in the tourism delivery system - yet we are responsible for producing the industry's most valued asset - great people for the labour market and research to drive good decisions with. Today's event brought those threads closer together and made the reality of our interdependence extremely obvious.
The students case studies covered a range of topics from what to do about alcohol in public recreation facilities, to global labour market, to the suitability of paintball at camps, tipping behavior, Leaders in Training Programs and volunteerism (and many more...). Well done students and thanks for sharing.
Both our President - Dr. Ralph Nilson and our Vice-President Dr. David Witty attended and provided congratulatory remarks to employers and students. This show of support for experiential education doesn't cost a thing, and yet holds so much value to employers and students. Thanks for taking time out of your day to demonstrate your supportive leadership. And to Micki McCartney and Lynda Robinson - well done! Thanks for taking the initiative to pull something like this together. Your report is great and your work is greatly appreciated.
In the Kootenay Rockies, we often hear in small communities that they don't have the resources to hire qualified staff to assist with the undertaking of development projects. On the other end, students are looking for interesting case studies and opportunities to develop a valuable professional experience. How could we possibly connect the two parts together and allow rural communities to finally get their projects off the ground at minimal cost, while providing undergraduate and graduate students an occasion to get their hands on and gain experience?
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