Number of students likely to be ‘stable’: ACC prez

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This article was published 05/09/2012 (5035 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Enrolment at Assiniboine Community College is expected to match or slightly exceed last year’s numbers.

President Mark Frison said enrolment in the 2011-12 school year was around 2,600 full-time equivalents.

“We anticipate that it’ll be at least stable, if not maybe just a little bit up,” he said. “For us, what we’re seeing is really that about half the programs are sold out with wait lists.”

The most popular programs are practical nursing, culinary arts and civil technician, as well as most of ACC’s trades programming including construction electrician, carpentry and woodworking, industrial metals fabrication, heavy duty equipment technician, piping trades, power engineering and automotive technician.

“We’ve seen some enrolment growth in programs like agribusiness and hotel and restaurant management,” Frison said. “Where we still have space are programs like business administration.”

ACC is pleased to be opening its own green house this month for the horticulture production program that was launched last year.

“Last year they did most of their lab work out at the Green Spot … and so this year they’ll actually have their own lab up and running, which will not only support that program, but also our applied research that our folks will be doing in the area of northern food production,” Frison said.

Classes started at ACC on Tuesday, and Frison said the campus was “hopping.”

“The Students’ Association always hosts a Back to School barbecue, and in the three years I’ve been here it was certainly the most lively today that I’ve ever seen it,” Frison said.

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