The Voice - Norquest College

Join VAD as Teresa talks with Gillian Luff-Schieman and William Hamilton from Norquest College.  We discuss programs and accommodations as well as some interesting facts about the college.

Transcript

Transcript

00:00:00 Teresa

Welcome to the voice of Albertans with Disabilities, AKA Vad Societies Podcast for August 2022 I'm Teresa Jackson, your host and VADS program and service manager.

00:00:11 Teresa

Thanks for joining us today.

00:00:13 Teresa

As you may know from my past podcast VAD has started meeting with our members to learn about the resources that are available to our individual.

00:00:20 Teresa

Members and within the disability community.

00:00:23 Teresa

In today's podcast, I'll be talking with Gillian Luff Schieman, a senior student recruiter and the manager of Disability Services at NorQuest College, William Hamilton.

00:00:34 Teresa

NorQuest believes with the strength of a NorQuest college education.

00:00:38 Teresa

Learners have the skills and confidence to further their studies begin.

00:00:42 Teresa

New careers provide better lives for their families and make valuable contributions to society.

00:00:48 Teresa

I wanted to get Gillian and William on the show to share their knowledge and talk about NorQuest together.

00:00:53 Teresa

We hold the power.

00:00:54

Hello you too.

00:00:56 Teresa

How are you?

00:00:58 Gillian

Hello, thank you.

00:01:00 Gillian

Yeah, thank you so much for having us we're.

00:01:02 Gillian

Doing good I think.

00:01:05 Teresa

Awesome, Can you take a moment and briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your roles with NorQuest?

00:01:10 Gillian

Sure, do you want to go first William?

00:01:11 William

William sure OK.

00:01:13 William

My name is William Hamilton.

00:01:15 William

I'm the manager.

00:01:15 William

Accessibility services at NorQuest College, so our mission statement kind of our motto is you work with students with disabilities and help them become more independent and effective learners.

00:01:26 William

The approach that we take sometimes.

00:01:28 William

The approach we take is look you're here.

00:01:30 William

You made it.

00:01:31 William

To NorQuest, because you're awesome, you've got strengths.

00:01:34 William

You've got skills.

00:01:35 William

How do we help you take those skills and do whatever you gotta do or it's writing?

00:01:39 William

Essays how do we help you?

00:01:41 William

Take those skills to write the essay if.

00:01:43 William

It's do you know lab?

00:01:46 William

Reports how do you help you take those skills and do it?

00:01:48 William

That's the approach that we do, and it's just absolutely not cluttered it to work with the people that I work with to help build those students in this way.

00:01:59 Gillian

OK yeah, so I'm Gillian.

00:02:01 Gillian

I'm the senior student recruiter on the student recruitment team at NorQuest.

00:02:06 Gillian

And part of my job is to actually go out into the community and meet community members and prospective students for NorQuest and talk to them about NorQuest and help them figure out if NorQuest is the right path to reach their educational and career goals.

00:02:21 Gillian

So we do that for a variety of different methods, including presentations.

00:02:26 Gillian

Meetings we do.

00:02:27 Gillian

Campus tours.

00:02:29 Gillian

We host our annual open houses at the college where we put on monthly webinars.

00:02:34 Gillian

So it's all about engaging the community and talking to people about NorQuest and helping them figure out if if NorQuest is the right.

00:02:41 Gillian

Next step for them.

00:02:42 Teresa

Yeah, it's great interaction, thanks guys.

00:02:44 Gillian

Thank you.

00:02:45 Teresa

Your website states.

00:02:47 Teresa

We understand that our learners come with varying levels of education and we assist them at the time and places that meets their needs.

00:02:55 Teresa

Whether that is in the classroom via distance learning or continuing education, can you tell us more about the programs that are offered at NortQuest?

00:03:04 Gillian

Yeah, so I can kind of start off there. NorQuest offers over 45 different programs and we offer programs that really are all about meeting people where they're at and helping them reach their goal.

00:03:16 Gillian

Walls, so we're well known for a lot of our certificate and diploma programs.

00:03:20 Gillian

Those are the college level programs in health, business, community studies, environment and technology, but we also have a lot of preparatory programs as well, so programs that prepare students for further education or prepare them for employment.

00:03:36 Gillian

So things like English language training courses and programs.

00:03:40 Gillian

Times we have a very large academic upgrading program, so offering those Alberta Education high school courses we have some really great employment certificates, including our transitions to employment program, which is a 10 month certificate designed for individuals with mild developmental disabilities, which has been just a game

00:04:00 Gillian

Changer for a lot of students and helping them break into the workforce and and gain that independence.

00:04:06 Gillian

We have other programs like Dayhome Provider Certificate, and Apprenticeship Prep.

00:04:10 Gillian

We have continuing education courses and programs like flight attendant, foundations of cooking, so there's kind of a program at NorQuest for everybody.

00:04:19 Gillian

Depending on what your goals are, and even if you have a goal in mind and you don't necessarily need it just yet, we offer programs that can help you get there.

00:04:28 Gillian

So, like I said, we're all about meeting you where you're at.

00:04:30 Gillian

And supporting you and helping you reach your goals.

00:04:33 Teresa

What kind of resources does a college offer for students with disabilities?

00:04:37 William

Yeah, that's a question I can speak to.

00:04:40 William

So there's a couple of.

00:04:41 William

Resources a couple of services like the.

00:04:43 William

Play started off with one that students would probably encounter earlier.

00:04:49 William

That's our accessibility advisors.

00:04:51 William

So accessibility advisors they work with.

00:04:53 William

Students to help set up their accommodation plan.

00:04:55 William

Hey, I'm a new student.

00:04:57 William

What accommodations would work for me?

00:04:59 William

That discussion starts with with an advisor.

00:05:02 William

Students can.

00:05:02 William

Always come back.

00:05:04 William

If their classes changed, their accommodation needs change no problem.

00:05:08 William

We could always continue that.

00:05:09 William

Carseat, not sort, starts with the advisors.

00:05:12 William

Vials would also help students with things like submitting an application for schedule 4 funding, which is available to postsecondary students who have expressed disability or if students need help procuring documentation, the advisors are whose students would give documentation to, and if someone says, hey, I have documentations.

00:05:32 William

It's out of date.

00:05:33 William

But I'm not really sure what the.

00:05:35 William

First step is to update it.

00:05:36 William

It no problem.

00:05:38 William

Accessibility advisor can help you with that.

00:05:40 William

The second areaI'd like to highlight is actually or sign language interpreters.

00:05:44 William

We have a group of permanent interpreters.

00:05:47 William

We hire casuals as well.

00:05:49 William

These individuals interpret spoken English.

00:05:53 William

And ASL back and forth.

00:05:55 William

The, an interpreter

00:05:57 William

Can go with the student into their class, whether it's in person or or

00:06:02 William

Online interpreters can also go with students to things like if they have a meeting, they're going to see an instructor during office hours or they have a meeting with someone from the office of the Registrar, not a problem.

00:06:14 William

Our society interpreters can go there so they can follow the student.

00:06:17 William

As the student does the various things that they do, it's not.

00:06:20 William

Only a classroom thing.

00:06:24 William

#3 would be assistive technology. We have a team of assistive technologists and what they do is they work with students to really dig in, identify the strengths and say hey what technology can we help you learn to use so that you can do what you need to do students?

00:06:42 William

Often have ongoing appointments with assistive technology as they're learning new tech skills.

00:06:48 William

They're learning new ways to use technology, even if it's the same thing they might use it in different ways.

00:06:54 William

The next area to highlight.

00:06:57 William

Is actually regular academic coaching.

00:07:00 William

Appointments, so here students meet with an academic coach.

00:07:04 William

These are individualized sessions.

00:07:07 William

They talk with the students learning journey, you know, celebrate strengths and say, hey, where we now really want to be and Co create learning goals and work and and practice strategies.

00:07:20 William

To help students.

00:07:21 William

Be more successful the last year you really want to highlight.

00:07:25 William

The last thing.

00:07:26 William

I'd really want to know.

00:07:27 William

If I was a steam with disabilities, going to ask him this question in the request is actually accommodated exam services.

00:07:33 William

This provides students with an environment the opportunity to go somewhere.

00:07:39 William

And write an exam in a place with fewer distractions but also a place where there just the technology accommodations are there, like the computers already there.

00:07:49 William

Wonderful, it's an environment where makes it a little bit easier to write with your extra time because it's an environment just for test taking for students with disabilities.

00:07:57 William

This can be done in person, both on the main campus.

00:08:00 William

And in Wetaskiwin it can also be done online and something I should have noted earlier with the other services in person online.

00:08:07 William

Yep, absolutely, we we do both.

00:08:11 William

Is is that helpful in answering your question?

00:08:14 Teresa

Absolutely, that's some useful information, great.

00:08:20 Teresa

What is the intake process?

00:08:21 Teresa

Look for a potential student.

00:08:24 William

Yeah, so I I can speak to speak that at a high level.

00:08:27 William

So, uh, my students looking around and let's say they decide they want.

00:08:31 William

To go to NorQuest on the thier.

00:08:33 William

Apply Alberta application.

00:08:35 William

One of the questions they get asked is hey, I have a disability or I think I might have a disability or have accommodation needs.

00:08:44 William

However, I think you may have if you.

00:08:46 William

Check that box, that's all the.

00:08:48 William

Student needs to do.

00:08:49 William

On the back end.

00:08:50 William

When a student checks that box, someone is going to reach out to them and say, hey, we saw that you checked this box.

00:08:58 William

Can we get you set up with with accessibility services?

00:09:02 William

Can we get you set up with supports?

00:09:05 William

So the students get that call.

00:09:06 William

They get a meeting booked and the first person will probably get to meet with the student navigator.

00:09:11 William

They're going to get some information they're going to get an initial appointment going tp  be.

00:09:16 William

walk through how to submit their documentation and that kind of thing.

00:09:20 William

And really importantly is in that meeting the next?

00:09:24 William

Meeting for the student is actually booked, so that's.

00:09:27 William

The next meeting.

00:09:28 William

In this case, it would be with.

00:09:30 William

Accessibility advisor it's built.

00:09:32 William

Over right then.

00:09:33 William

So what we need a student to do is just check that box on the reply overt application someone is going to reach out to you.

00:09:40 William

Somebody is going to call you and then.

00:09:43 William

You're going to get your appointments booked.

00:09:45 William

Kind of you know, each each step goes into the next one.

00:09:48 William

Also wanna highlight what about if .

00:09:51 William

You're already here and you want to register with accessibility services.

00:09:54 William

Maybe you were good in.

00:09:55 William

High school, but oh the workloads a little harder.

00:09:58 William

Maybe your newly diagnosed happens all the time, so if that happens, what students would do?

00:10:06 William

Or or instructors you know, kind of with a student is go to our good 

00:10:11 William

Guide, which is kind of part of our about web presence and right there it says, hey, how do I sign up for accessibility services?

00:10:18 William

Click that.

00:10:20 William

And an e-mail pops up.

00:10:22 William

Just give us, give us your name, press send and that initiates the whole process where somebody reaches.

00:10:29 William

Out to you.

00:10:31 William

Yeah, so new student just click that box existing student.

00:10:36 William

Just you know.

00:10:38 William

Press send.

00:10:41 Teresa

Great, so they're going to hit the student navigator 1st and the accessibility advisor second.

00:10:48 William

Absolutely yeah.

00:10:49 William

And of course there are exceptions to that.

00:10:51 William

If the student needs interpreting, then that might happen earlier, but.

00:10:55 William

For most people, most of the time.

00:10:58 William

Teresa, you're absolutely right.

00:10:59 Teresa

That promotes full participation, accessibility and equity in our mandate for services.

00:11:05 Teresa

How do you feel that NorQuest works with those areas of inclusion in the postsecondary?

00:11:10 William

Do you want me to take a run at this first?

00:11:12 Gillian

Please do yeah.

00:11:25 William

OK, cool yeah, accessibility is seen largely as something that the college as a whole has an investment in and is something that the college as a whole has a as a partnership in doing.

An example of that is not that long ago, NorQuest unveiled.

00:11:30 William

A new visual like.

00:11:31 William

A new branding, a new visual identity.

00:11:33 William

Previous to that there was.

00:11:35 William

There was just so much awesome back and forth between my.

00:11:40 William

Crew and the marketing people.

00:11:43 William

To ask questions like OK, how do?

00:11:45 William

We do his.

00:11:45 William

Visual refresh in a way that's accessible.

00:11:48 William

What does it mean to

00:11:49 William

Have a visual identity, that's it that's accessible.

00:11:52 William

Things like the fonts or the color contrast.

00:11:55 William

And I just can't thank the marketing team enough, they really went after this.

00:12:01 William

And it's stuff like.

00:12:03 William

Kate, they incorporated the WCG standards in this way.

00:12:08 William

They did a bunch of research to make sure that this the font the school uses, which by the way, has been kind of pushed out to each computer, just that standard font.

00:12:17 William

It's accessible and I know that there are news like this is very recent, right?

00:12:21 William

So there are new steps to set up some of the other.

00:12:24 William

LSM templates and so on to incorporate that new identity.

00:12:29 William

Which is going.

00:12:29 William

To also progress accessibility and previous, not just another example is NorQuest and partnership with facilities.

00:12:38 William

We did quite a big.

00:12:40 William

Renovation downtown with things like some of the some of the entrance ways and some of the staircases and some of the washrooms.

00:12:48 William

To make sure that.

00:12:50 William

That's printing a built environment that meets accessibility standards.

00:12:54 William

This was done very much in utilization of the CNIB standards.

00:13:00 William

And the feedback that we've gotten from students and employees about both of those, you know, people.

00:13:06 William

Who identify as having.

00:13:07 William

A disability has been just awesome.

00:13:09 William

When we think about that in our request, we also want to keep a couple other things in mind. Each student will request when they write it attached an exam or so on actually has 50% extra time.

00:13:20 William

And this is the result of.

00:13:22 William

You know some udl thinking which is very much.

00:13:27 William

You know overlaps and certain amount of overlap.

00:13:29 William

Sorry is part of inclusion and think all the students that helps students whose maybe they're they're here in the first language is in English, so just that that extra bit of time.

00:13:37 William

But that's just built in, by the way, that's just build something that I don't things come up yet is actually the autism can tech program.

00:13:45 William

This we work very closely with them.

00:13:47 William

Really they do just awesome work and what it is.

00:13:50 William

It's a six month program.

00:13:52 William

It is geared for individuals who are who are on the spectrum youth and the outcome is they commonly do the six months course to gain employment in the new digital content.

00:14:07 William

Cantec works really closely with employee partners to help the student transition into.

00:14:12 William

That employment part of their training with with Kent.

00:14:16 Gillian

I wanted to just add on a little bit that was amazing.

00:14:18 Gillian

Thank you William.

00:14:19 Gillian

I wanted to add on a little bit just about how NorQuest has tried to make post secondary more accessible to everyone and we've kind of got a few new initiatives that we've undertaken.

00:14:30 Gillian

Some of them are initiatives with the indigenous populations to make post secondary more accessible.

00:14:35 Gillian

And to work.

00:14:36 Gillian

Towards reconciliation.

00:14:37 Gillian

And so in that regard, we have our indigenous admissions process, which is we're prioritizing seats in our programs for indigenous learners.

00:14:46 Gillian

Another thing is we now have an application fee.

00:14:49 Gillian

waiver for our indigenous learners, so typically, depending on the program that you apply to, there is an application fee built in, but we now are able to waive that for any indigenous.

00:14:59 Gillian

learner as well as a tuition deposit waiver as well.

00:15:02 Gillian

We recognize that coming up with that tuition deposit can often be a barrier.

00:15:06 Gillian

For some of.

00:15:07 Gillian

Our indigenous learners, so we're happy to offer a tuition deposit waiver as well.

00:15:11 Gillian

So just different ways to make post-secondary more accessible.

00:15:14 Gillian

We have a new admissions opportunity called open admissions pathway.

00:15:19 Gillian

That exists currently for six of our programs, and I do foresee that kind of being applied to more programs in the future.

00:15:26 Gillian

But essentially if students don't meet the stated admission requirements for their program of.

00:15:31 Gillian

choice they can pursue the open admissions pathway, which will allow them to take three courses from their program, as long as they get a grade of C or higher in each of those courses.

00:15:41 Gillian

Then we will admit them to their program, even if they don't have the stated admission requirements.

00:15:45 Gillian

So we understand that people come to us with varying backgrounds, different educational history.

00:15:51 Gillian

From different countries and we know that this kind of 1 size fits all education just doesn't work for everybody.

00:15:57 Gillian

So the open admissions pathway is a really great opportunity for people to get admission to their program of choice and be able to prove that they can be successful even if they don't meet those stated admission requirements so.

00:16:10 Gillian

Just a few other ways that NorQuest is working to make postsecondary education more accessible.

00:16:16 Teresa

I was just wondering about your preparatory programs.

00:16:19 Teresa

You've mentioned 2 already.

00:16:21 Teresa

The can tech autism can tech and I've forgotten the first one that you mentioned there Gillian, that.

00:16:26 Gillian

Was it the transitions to employment, perhaps?

00:16:28 Teresa

Transitions to have fun.

00:16:29 Teresa

Do you have other preparatory type?

00:16:32 Teresa

Programs that are like those two.

00:16:35 Gillian

So those are the two that are specifically designed for individuals with disabilities, but we do have absolutely other preparatory programs, including day home provider, which is designed for English language learners to prepare them to work in childcare facilities or to run their own day home.

00:16:52 Gillian

Facility and so that has a lower level English proficiency requirement because it is designed for those English language learners, there's also funding government funding available for that program, including as well the transitions to employment program.

00:17:06 Gillian

Has government funding available so eligible low income students are able to access funding to pay for these

00:17:12 Gillian

Programs we also have an apprenticeship prep program which is designed to prepare participants to enter into an apprenticeship prep, prepare them to write the apprenticeship entrance exam and also sets them up with a 3 month work experience in the trade of their choice.

00:17:29 Gillian

And then our other preparatory programs include link which is language instruction for newcomers to Canada.

00:17:34 Gillian

Our ESL intensive program.

00:17:36 Gillian

So English is a second language and our academic upgrading as well.

00:17:40 Gillian

So we have quite a few preparatory programs that prepare students either for employment or for the next stage of their life, or to continue on to postsecondary.

00:17:49 Gillian

Education, whether that be at NorQuest or at another college or university.

00:17:54 Teresa

What is an interesting fact about NorQuest that everyone should know?

00:17:59 Gillian

I think that there's probably quite a lot.

00:18:01 Gillian

I have a couple there, maybe one that I can share and then maybe William if you have one that you wanted to share to.

00:18:07 Gillian

One thing that I think is really great to know about NorQuest is that all of our programs are developed and maintained with consultation and feedback from industry.

00:18:18 Gillian

From business and from the public sector so students can be confident that the education that they're receiving is actually.

00:18:27 Gillian

It's actually preparing them for the type of work that they're going to be doing after they graduate, so they can be confident that their education is timely and it's relevant, and they're going to be able to go out into the workforce and be successful after they graduate.

00:18:42 Gillian

And another great thing about NorQuest is that we build practicums, or, you know, clinical placements.

00:18:47 Gillian

Or work experiences into the majority of our programs so NorQuest.

00:18:52 Gillian

Is very much about being workforce relevant and wanting to prepare students for the workforce.

00:18:57 Gillian

So like I said, they can be confident that their education is going to accurately prepare them for that career, and they're actually going to get that hands on training while they're still a student, which is really great for employment purposes.

00:19:10 Gillian

Great experience to put on your resume.

00:19:12 Gillian

Gives you that competitive advantage when looking for work.

00:19:15 Gillian

So really I think that workforce relevance of NortQuest programs is.

00:19:19 Gillian

I don't know if it's an interesting fact, but I think it's something important for people to know about NorQuest.

00:19:25 Teresa

Strengthen yourself for you.

00:19:25 William

Yeah, you look better on the journey was saying just did just an awesome job providing an overview of the diversity of programming.

00:19:35 William

That's that that that that's offering so to me.

00:19:37 William

The interesting fact.

00:19:38 William

But NorQuest is that.

00:19:40 William

There's prop is.

00:19:41 William

Hey, if you want to go to post secondary.

00:19:42 William

There's probably something here for.

00:19:44 William

You Gilliam described like hey there.

00:19:46 William

Opportunities for someone in Link and ESL and TP and academic upgrading and post secondary and Fbad etc etc.

00:19:56 William

And if we take that we also see a similar thing in the students.

00:20:00 William

Or so subsided things.

00:20:02 William

Kate, you need extra assistance 'cause you're posting with disabilities.

00:20:07 William

We got you no problem.

00:20:08 William

Maybe you're someone who wants to connect with the indigenous student center done.

00:20:13 William

There's a, the Center for both and harmony.

00:20:16 William

Also does some awesome work, as does the library as is the office of the Registrar, et cetera, et cetera.

00:20:22 William

So to me, an interesting fact.

00:20:24 William

It's the broadness of the diversity.

00:20:26 William

Of opportunities and supports for students.

00:20:29 William

If you're interested in something, you will probably find it here.

00:20:33 William

And if you're looking for some support in, fill in the blank, you're probably going to find that here too.

00:20:39 William

And I I do.

00:20:41 William

Think that's why when our students graduate, they often do want to keep keep in touch with us.

00:20:47 William

Which I think is just awesome.

00:20:49 William

And that's something that we're.

00:20:50 William

Really quite proud of so to me.

00:20:51 William

That's the interesting fact.

00:20:53 Teresa

Those are both great bits of information.

00:20:55 Teresa

Good job guys.

00:20:56 Teresa

Can you tell our listeners how to get ahold of you at the college if they want more information?

00:21:02 Gillian

Yeah, so I can certainly give the student recruitment contact information, so if you're thinking about a program you want some more information, maybe you want to come for a tour of the college.

00:21:13 Gillian

Or maybe you want to check out one of our events like our open house That's coming up on October 22nd. Definitely connect with student recruitment.

00:21:22 Gillian

So our e-mail is student.recruiters@NorQuest.ca and our phone number is 780-644-5927.

00:21:34 Gillian

In so that would be the best way to connect with student recruitment and we're a great first stop for you when you're exploring your programs.

00:21:42 Gillian

If you want some advice on how to apply, if you need information regarding funding opportunities, we're absolutely available to help with that, so that would be a good first stop for any.

00:21:52 Gillian

Of your listeners.

00:21:53 Teresa

Student recruitment then.

00:21:55 Teresa

The student navigator, then the accessible advisors.

00:21:59 Gillian

Yeah, there's lots of people to support you.

00:22:02 Teresa

Sounds like there is.

00:22:04 Teresa

Is there anything else you want our listeners to know about NorQuest College?

00:22:09 Gillian

Ooh, that's a good.

00:22:10 Gillian

Question, yeah, I think I would just say you know, I think a lot of times people can feel discouraged by post-secondary.

00:22:18 Gillian

It can be a little bit intimidating.

00:22:21 Gillian

You know.

00:22:22 Gillian

There's lots of new processes to figure out when navigating post-secondary education, but like William, I and I have talked about.

00:22:28 Gillian

NorQuest is accessible to you regardless of where you're at in your journey, and we are going to work to ensure that you can be successful.

00:22:38 Gillian

Yeah, I think that that would be the biggest thing about NorQuest that I would just want to drive drive home to people and just take the first step.

00:22:45 Gillian

Reach out to us, even if you're not sure what you want to do.

00:22:48 Gillian

That's our job is to help you explore your options and help you find out if this is the right place for you.

00:22:53 Gillian

And like I mentioned, even if your goal is to go elsewhere, maybe you want.

00:22:57 Gillian

To eventually go to the uofa.

00:22:58 Gillian

Or mcewen university.

00:23:00 Gillian

We have university transfer programs so you can start at a smaller Community College setting.

00:23:05 Gillian

Take advantage of our small class.

00:23:07 Gillian

Size is kind of have that.

00:23:09 Gillian

Take that first step into post-secondary and a little bit more of a welcoming kind of community environment.

00:23:14 Gillian

And then we're going to help prepare you to transfer on.

00:23:17 Gillian

So just I know I've mentioned it already, but just saying, you know, regardless of where you're at in your educational journey, you didn't finish high school.

00:23:24 Gillian

Or if you have a university degree from another country.

00:23:27 Gillian

We have opportunities that can support you for sure.

00:23:31 Teresa

Perfect and anytime any final.

00:23:34 Teresa

Thoughts for yourself for yourself WIlliam.

00:23:35 William

You know, I think my final thought would be if someone is thinking of taking the plunge, whether it's an orchestral or anywhere where I'd really encourage people to attend open house to attend open house for NorQuest, but for other places to attend open house, talk to some people get.

00:23:53 William

Get that more.

00:23:54 William

Information get a feel for the place.

00:23:57 William

And I think that could really help people get a sense of what's right for them.

00:24:02 William

I know we love doing open house.

00:24:03 William

We always have a lot.

00:24:04 William

Of students.

00:24:05 William

Stop by and have.

00:24:07 William

A lot of dialogue with them and.

00:24:09 William

Kind of make.

00:24:10 William

That human connection, right?

00:24:11 William

As you can see people you can talk to people.

00:24:14 William

You can ask those questions.

00:24:15 William

We're like, well, I have a question.

00:24:17 William

I'm not really.

00:24:17 William

Sure how to ask.

00:24:18 William

It or have a question.

00:24:20 William

Or really know what it is.

00:24:22 William

Awesome, let's figure it.

00:24:23 William

Out, let's work through it.

00:24:25 William

So that would be kind of my parting thought is if you're thinking of doing it, whether it's here anywhere, go to.

00:24:31 William

The open houses.

00:24:32 William

I it is a lot of.

00:24:33 William

Time, but put that time in 'cause.

00:24:36 William

I, I think that.

00:24:36 William

Can really be valuable.

00:24:37 Teresa

Great advice, thank you both for your time and energy today.

00:24:42 Teresa

Your support of the Community is a value to all.

00:24:46 Teresa

NorQuest College is an organizational member of that and the link to their website can be accessed on our membership list online.

00:24:53 Teresa

Individuals looking to access VAD members can do so at our new inclusive website vadsociety.ca under our resource directory. Thank you again, both to William and Gillian.

00:25:05 Teresa

For joining VAD’s podcasts, voice of Albertans with disabilities across disability nonprofit organization ov and for people with disabilities.

00:25:14 Teresa

We are guided by the principles of accessibility, equity and inclusion. Learn more about our services on our website or call 780-488-9088 for more information.

00:25:27 Teresa

If you have a topic you would.

00:25:28 Teresa

Like to hear.

00:25:29 Teresa

More about in a podcast, please e-mail Teresa at vad at vadsociety.ca with topic.

00:25:34 Teresa

Ideas, speech, speaker suggestions or your feedback?

00:25:39 Teresa

Signing off for today together we hold the power.