About SAIT Polytechnic

What is Polytechnic Education?

Polytechnic - "many arts and skills"

From apprenticeships to baccalaureate degrees, polytechnic institutions offer a range of credentials in diverse program areas. Focused on experience-oriented training that provides students with the skills they need to find high-quality jobs, polytechnics are also committed to working closely with industry and to promoting applied research and innovation.

As one of Canada's leading polytechnics, SAIT Polytechnic provides relevant, skill-oriented education to more than 70,000 registrants each year. About 1,000 business and industry partners help shape curriculum by serving on more than 65 advisory committees, and SAIT is known as a trailblazer in applied research and innovation. SAIT was the first publicly-funded institute of its kind in the country, and more than 94 years later, it is well on its way to becoming Canada's premier polytechnic.

Educational Philosophy

SAIT Polytechnic is committed to providing a unique and rich learning environment characterized by innovation, quality and results. SAIT is also committed to creating a learning environment that is transformative: it enables learners to convert information into knowledge, and knowledge into action. Faculty and staff play a critical role in meeting these commitments.

Learner success and learner achievement are supported by pedagogical approaches that are highly interactive, practical, experiential, and technologically advanced. The learning experience is further enhanced by partnerships with business and industry, collaboration with other post-secondary institutions, participation in applied research, and involvement in international education and training.

Learners are at the core of all of SAIT's activities, and they participate fully in the creation and implementation of their learning experiences and outcomes.

Learning Environment:

Supportive - creates a caring and respectful environment for the learning community, and recognizes the diversity of our learners
Facilitative - provides appropriate, accessible, and responsive administrative support services
Welcoming - provides an environment that is safe, clean, comfortable, inviting and conducive to learning

Content:

Balanced - meets the essential skill needs of both the learner and employer/industry
Relevant - addresses current and emerging industry practices
Transferable - facilitates ease of entry and enhanced recognition by others of learner achievement

Teaching:

Interactive - involves learners in collaborative learning experiences by employing a variety of techniques and technologies to facilitate interactivity and teamwork skills to solve problems
Personalized - faculty and staff help adapt the learning experience to individual needs by deploying innovative pedagogies relevant to a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and learning styles
Engaged - develops and employs strategies and approaches to foster learner retention, learner success, and learner connection to SAIT

SAIT's Recent History

In 2003, SAIT became a founding member of Polytechnics Canada and was rebranded as SAIT Polytechnic in 2004. Polytechnic education is characterized by:

close ties with business and industry to ensure programs reflect needs of the workplace
diverse programming in technical, business and creative fields, with a balance of skills-based and theoretical learning
a range of credentials from certificates and apprenticeships to bachelor degrees, and options to ladder into other credentials
opportunities for students to participate in applied research and other innovative projects connected with industry.
Today SAIT offers four applied degrees, 65 diploma and certificate programs, 33 apprenticeship trades and 1,600 continuing education and corporate training courses. Registrations in 2008-09 totalled almost 77,000.

Programs are delivered through eight academic schools: Business, Construction, Energy, Health and Public Safety, Hospitality and Tourism, Information and Communications Technologies, Manufacturing and Automation, and Transportation. English language foundations and academic upgrading are also offered.

More than 1,000 partners from business and industry serve on SAIT's program advisory committees to ensure students receive hands-on, practical training that reflects the needs of the workplace. These partnerships have also established seven Centres of Technology to enhance learning opportunities for students.

SAIT is a leader in applied research and innovation, providing expertise and resources to industry and real-world learning experiences to students. SAIT has also delivered training in some 30 countries.

SAIT was a founding sponsor of WorldSkills Calgary 2009 - an international competition devoted to raising awareness that the skilled trades and technologies are vital to the global economy. Some 150,000 visitors attended WorldSkills and the SAIT campus served as the Competitors' Village.