Semester Start-Ups: NAIT launches newly designed structure for the 2024-2025 year; aims to mimic industry experience

Edmonton, Alberta — The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) has announced that it has expanded its academic structure from four to seven schools dedicated to more closely mimicking industry experiences.

Specifically, as indicated in a recent press release, this change is “one of (the school’s) most significant transformation in nearly a decade, marking a strategic reorganization aimed at enhancing the student experience and strengthening industry connections.”

Moreover, the new seven-school structure has been designed to reconnect NAIT programs with the industries that serve, and in turn, ensure graduates are equipped to meet evolving workforce demands.

“We have great programs,” said Peter Leclaire, NAIT’s vice president academic. “But over the years the connection between those programs and industry was loosening. We lost some of the synergies between our apprenticeship programs and diploma programs.

“By mimicking the collaboration and engagement that happens on a worksite, we get a better outcome overall,” added Leclaire.

The press release further outlined how “grouping programs based on the sectors they support creates more opportunities for collaboration and allows leaders to strengthen connections across a broad range of industries.”

This restructuring also aims to simulate the collaborative environment of a worksite. The project reportedly followed extensive engagement with faculty, staff and members of the industry, and while the new structure is now in place, it is seen as an ongoing project that will continue to evolve.

“The direction of the economy, industry and technology are going to constantly drive us to make changes,” add Leclaire. “In turn, the grads that NAIT produces will play a role in influencing that direction and help ensure the province’s future prosperity.”

NAIT’s seven new schools are: