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NEWS RELEASE
NORTHERN COLLEGE
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Northern College completed its latest Community Climate Survey, reporting the results to the College’s Board of Governors this September. Feedback from the communities was a resounding ‘thumbs up’ for what Northern College is doing in the region and within the various communities it serves.
The Community Climate Survey is designed to measure how a community college in Ontario is meeting its commitments.
The survey is based on the engagement statements published by Northern College.
This year, in an innovative approach to gathering information, college administrators took on the role of personally interviewing various community members in the catchment area and tracking what they heard. This resulted in receiving feedback from almost twice as many community representatives as in the previous survey.
Among the results in the outstanding category, the College’s commitment to quality and access to education was strongly recognized with 100% of respondents agreeing.
Ninety-five percent of respondents strongly agreed that the college contributes to the economic prosperity of the region. Additionally, the college ranked in the 80-90 percentile range for all but two of the 11 key areas measured.
“Response from our communities is very important to us as a college and influences how we move forward to make sure we meet the needs of the region,” said Dr. Audrey J. Penner, president and CEO of Northern College. “Not only did we have a much higher response rate this time, but the positive feedback was a great way to start the school year.”
Community climate research is a feature of college administration and should be presented to the organization’s Board of Governors as part of the college’s governance structure.
“This is an area of accountability that I strongly support, and the College has actually gone a step further by committing in these rapidly changing times to collect survey information annually rather than every two years, which was the previous schedule,” he added. Mr. Penner.
Feedback from the survey included comments on what and how the college could improve in the areas of community involvement and outreach. The organization has started a process to identify community activities that it can include in its annual cycle of activities such as festivals, sector activities and other relevant social, social justice and community events.
One area where the college scored lowest was 74% for “pursuing northern development and continuous improvement through applied research.”
“This was a bit disappointing for us as we are passionate about applied research and how it can help our various industries and communities,” Penner said. “However, with the recent grand opening of our iHub in Timmins and plans for more innovation hubs across our various campuses, I know we will bring this front and center to communities in the future.”
This 2022 Community Climate Survey Report presents the results of 110 survey interviews conducted in late June and July directly by Northern College administrators, which is typically a challenging time of year to organize and orchestrate these discussions.
However, about 50 hours of talk resulted from the conversations and discussions.
Scores were then calculated for each question and all participant comments were analyzed and sorted by topic. Among the comments were statements expressing enthusiasm from the interviewees about being invited to be part of the process.
Find the results of the Northern College Climate Survey here.
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