More Job Opportunities than Graduates.
Barrie's Automotive Institute Students in High Demand
Canada's $15-billion a year automobile industry - from car dealerships and corporate manufacturers to the rapidly growing aftermarket sector - is going begging for talented, qualified employees.
One educational institution is almost single-handedly trying to meet the demands of an industry that employs - directly or indirectly - one in seven working Canadians.
While the Canadian Automotive Institute (CAI), located at Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Barrie, Ontario, has about 500 students in its three-year program, this only begins to address current and future industry needs.
"We offer a three-year co-operative diploma in Business Administration - Automotive Marketing for students from across Canada in English and French. We aim our courses to where the jobs are: automobile dealerships, manufacturers, leasing, financing and aftermarket sectors," explains Marie-Noëlle Bonicalzi, academic director, CAI, adding that the Institute's placement rate is virtually 100 percent.
"Now we're gearing our program to the ever-changing needs of such key growth areas as marketing, computer technology and consumer relations. The Automotive Institute, like most other educational institutions, has incorporated computer technology into its courses. Today, we're training our students to be far more than just computer literate," Bonicalzi says.
Program Stresses Basics, Work Experience Top
The Institute's six-semester, three-year co-op diploma program in Business Administration-Automotive Marketing offers a thorough grounding in the automotive industry.
Courses embrace everything from overviews of the industry to marketing, ethics, accounting, parts and service, selling, financial analysis and retail management. The program is being fine tuned to address the hot issue of e-commerce and-business.
Additionally, the program includes three paid semesters of employment in various sectors of the Canadian automotive industry. Firms participating in this co-operative hands-on training venture usually end up employing its graduates.
"Several leading manufacturing corporations, dealerships, finance companies, banks and aftermarket firms take part in the co-op program. We've even had students take co-op opportunities in other countries like the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Mexico and Germany," Bonicalzi says.
The CAI diploma currently is non-degree, but the academic director explains that there is a link between the Institute and Northwood University which has campuses in Michigan, Texas and Florida. Northwood offers CAI graduates three years credit towards its four-year Bachelor degree program in business with a specialty in automotive marketing.
"We are currently negotiating with Canadian Universities to set up a Bachelor of Business Degree," Bonicalzi says.
CAI students also state the Georgian College Auto Show each September in Barrie. It's North America's largest outdoor auto show, attracting about 22,000 visitors each year. The 2000 show, the theme of which is "Breaking New Ground," will be held Sept. 22 to 24. It will be the 14th consecutive show for the enterprising students.
Bonicalzi, a francophone from Quebec, used to run car dealerships in her home town of Shawinigan and in nearby Drummondville. She came to the CAI in 1993, not knowing one word of English, after having heard about the school from the Quebec Automotive Dealers Association.
The CAI has offered bilingual courses since the program's inception. Today, one in four students is attracted to the Institute's French program.
"While many of these students don't speak English, when they first arrive, they usually start grasping the language after a semester or two, just as I once did. By the time they graduate, they're functionally bilingual - and that puts them in high industry demand." Bonicalzi says.
So many opportunities for bilingual employees have prompted many English-speaking students to develop French-language skills
From an article in MacLean's Magazine by, Mark Brennan, President, Brennan Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd, TADA Member. |
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