NSAC E-Bulletin

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January 6th, 2002 - Week 115

Principal's Jottings #69

Welcome Back
Happy New Year and welcome back to all staff and students. I trust that everyone has had a refreshing pause from the academic routine and are energized for the sprint toward the finish line.

Planning Workshop II
Anyone who missed the planning workshop last Friday (and those who didn't) will still have an opportunity to participate in prioritizing the action plans to achieve our strategic goals. The second part of the exercise has been scheduled for Friday afternoon, January 10th at 1:00 p.m. in the Riverview Room, to complete the process of refining the action plans developed over the last few months. Come out and help shape the future of NSAC.

Founders Day
Plans are being made to observe Founders Day on February 14th, with a special event which will be of interest to staff and students alike. Please reserve time in your agenda around mid-day to take part in this event. More details will be available next week.

Advisory Board
The newly formed NSAC Advisory Board held its first meeting on December 19th under the Chairmanship of John Bragg. Among the items on the agenda, the Board spent some time becoming familiar with the nature of our academic programs, the findings of last year's market study and the issues of enrollment, governance and name of the institution, as well as the appointment of three additional members. The next meeting date has been set for May 8th. The Board will examine a financial profile of the institution as well as the characteristics of the student body, among other topics.

Job Futures
The Federal Department of Human Resources Development (HRDC) has just released a report on "Job Futures" as an outlook for employment prospects in Canada. Among the key messages are the following:

• employment is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.5%, leading to one million new jobs by the year 2007;

• 70% of the new jobs will require some form of post-secondary education or training;

• the leading occupational grouping in job creation will be in the "natural and applied sciences," (which is where NSAC grads fit) with an annual growth rate of 2.6%; social science and education are also projected at above average growth;

• retirements from the current work force are expected to create another one million job openings over the next five years;

• the current unemployment rate of college and university graduates in "agriculture" is among the lowest of all fields, although growth prospects are listed only as "fair" or "limited" for the "agricultural" occupations covered by this report.

Additional information may be found on the web site: www.jobfutures.ca

The Hockey Link
As you may know, NSAC has had a connection with the World Junior Hockey Tournament in having hosted the Swiss and Finnish teams on Campus for a few days before Christmas. Judy Smith and I were invited to a reception for the Swiss team on December 20th. From what I hear, our performance as hosts was in the gold medal range, thanks to the Chartwell's team and the Conference Office - Bravo Melani and Julie!

Smiling is Good for You
It comes as no surprise that smiling (ie. being happy) is good for one's health. What may come as a surprise is the finding of a study by Stephane Cote at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. As reported in the Globe and Mail on December 19th, the researchers found that employees who feigned happiness on the job or put on a happy face even when they didn't truly feel it actually realized more satisfaction from their job than those who didn't. Imagine that; even a fake smile is better than none - for everybody! Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us as we go about our daily business. We could, at least, test the theory. We can also make people wonder what we've been up to. Keep smiling!

HGC

NSAC Commercial Airs Again
The week of January 6th will mark the return of the NSAC to television with a schedule of commercials to air over the next eight weeks. During these eight weeks, ATV will be distributing our three 30-second commercials across a variety of programs in their prime time schedule. These programs include: ATV Evening News, Alias, Canada AM/Breakfast TV, Live at 5, Open Mike, Great Movies and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

NSAC Principal's List
NSAC students will be honoured for high academic standing February 12, 2003 by being named to the Principal's List at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. Students on the Principal's List are within the top ten per cent in their program and maintain an average of 80 per cent or higher.

Development and Alumni Relations Update
The Development and Alumni Relations Office December report is now available online at the following link: www.nsac.ns.ca/development/section_reports/2002/dec.htm If you have any questions or suggestions please contact Jim at 893-7950 or JGoit@nsac.ns.ca