- Reaching Aboriginal Learners
Respondent institutions placed emphasis on the need to reach Aboriginal students early
on in high school so they begin to think about post-secondary and career options and
take the high school courses they need to succeed in post-secondary studies.
Specialized orientation sessions to college for Aboriginal high school students and
participatory activities such as “Student for a day” programs give students a feel for how
a college or institute functions and the opportunities and benefits they can access. For
example, the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) is looking at
enhancing recruitment efforts by beginning to reach students in Grade 8 and 9, and
organize not only student for a day events but also visits to industry so that students
learn about career options early on and are then guided in the types of high school
courses and then post-secondary programs they need to take in order to work in their
fields of interest. A few respondent colleges and institutes also indicated that
recruitment also includes visits and liaison with adult education centres in order to recruit
for Adult Basic Education programs.
- Reserved Seats for Aboriginal Learners in Programs of Mainstream Institutions
Five respondents from mainstream colleges and institutes indicated that they have
admissions policies which require some seats to be allocated for Aboriginal students, for
example one or two seats in every regular program.
- Dedicated Aboriginal Recruitment Services and Staff at Mainstream Institutions
Most mainstream institutions do not have the resources to have a recruitment officer
who works exclusively on Aboriginal recruitment, however about one quarter of
mainstream institutions indicated they have an Aboriginal counsellor or coordinator
whose responsibilities include Aboriginal student recruitment. Mainstream institutions
with dedicated Aboriginal centres run recruitment efforts through those centres as well.
NVIT and SIIT have staff assigned to student recruitment however not on a full time
basis. The three colleges in the northern territories have increased student recruitment
challenges given the high travel costs required to reach many of their communities. As
such, recruitment efforts are combined with other activities and are carried out by
different staff, whether they be faculty, counsellors or administrators who will include
presentations to high schools and community organizations when visiting communities.
- College and Institute Websites
Over half of mainstream institutions responding to the on-line survey indicated that they
provide special advice to Aboriginal learners on their website; however the services and
programs are not always easy to find. Those with Aboriginal centres feature separate
web pages, however most college and institute websites feature their Aboriginal
programs and services via their student services or student success sections of their
websites, and/or provide contact information for Aboriginal coordinators or recruitment
officers.