PRINCE ALBERT — The University of Saskatchewan (USask) Prince Albert campus hosted its second open house recently.
Prospective undergraduate students, parents, student supporters, and school counsellors registered in advance to take part in a full evening of activities.
USask Prince Albert Campus Principal Jay Wilson said they’re trying to spread the word about what the campus has to offer.
"The purpose of the open house is to give people an opportunity to see the different program options that they have available,” Wilson said. “Usually students who are in Grade 12 or those who are done high school can come in and maybe they haven't thought about post-secondary.”
The event included an info fair to meet college representatives, information sessions to learn about USask programs offered in Prince Albert, campus tours, and workshops on how to apply for admission.
“Most of the colleges on campus are represented, and they can ask the people there about the programs, what they might need in their course work, what are the job prospects, how much of it they can do in Prince Albert,” Wilson explained.
"We have over half of the programming that is available at USask Saskatoon here in Prince Albert so people can start a lot of programs. They can finish several programs as well,” he added.
Wilson said the Open House also gave people who had never seen the campus a chance to look inside.
"It's pretty exciting,” he said. “We have some of the most state-of-the-art teaching facilities in the whole province here.
“It's a chance to come into the building and realize that it's a pretty amazing place to do your schooling.”
The tour included the Dentistry facilities and nursing facilities as well as places like the student lounge.
Rob Procyk Campus Lead for the USask Prince Albert Campus, gave three information sessions.
"There are opportunities to learn about the programs that we have here. If you want to go on a tour, you can do that. We also have sessions in the classroom (and) we'll talk about some of your options,” Wilson said.
“It's one thing to read through a website. It's another thing to come to an actual location and feel the sense of the building and the people and the excitement that's here and to look at the facilities.”
Wilson said that he could not stress enough how welcoming the campus was as a place to come and study.
“It's a great place to come and learn, and if you're if you're not familiar with it, then you just might jump to conclusions. Maybe you've been to another location and you think, ‘Oh, they're all the same,’ but we have a really unique teaching and learning environment here,” Wilson said.
Wilson added that there was a healthy number of students and parents who pre-registered.
"I think that one of the nice things is that we want to have as many people out here as possible, but we're always open,” he said.
Wilson said that this was just one open house opportunity but they would always welcome interested people with questions.
They have academic advisors and information on their website but advisors can take you through the information and advise on what credits are needed.
“At any point in time, if people have a question about going to school in Prince Albert or if they're interested in going to school in Saskatoon, they can come here and we can help them with any of those questions,” he said.
"It's really important to know what's in your own backyard,” he said. “We're really we're really lucky to have this location. We want people to take advantage of it.”
