New York Institute of Technology connects Big Apple teachers, students to Vancouver campus

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      There’s a global auto industry and a global airline industry, so why not a global postsecondary sector? That’s the philosophy of New York Institute of Technology, which has 12,000 students enrolled at campuses in Vancouver, Manhattan and two other U.S. cities, Abu Dhabi, and, through partners, several Chinese cities.

      “A little over 10 years ago, NYIT came up with a new strategy to take the university globally,” Vancouver campus dean Paul Dangerfield told the Straight by phone.

      Dangerfield, a former B.C. Institute of Technology vice president, said there are similarities between that school and NYIT, which is modelled on U.S. institutes such as Georgia Tech, Rochester Tech, and Texas Tech.

      NYIT offers a master’s of business administration as well as master’s degrees in cybersecurity, energy management, and instructional technology. Courses are offered face to face in 14,000 square feet of space at 701 West Georgia in downtown Vancouver, with about 20 students per class.

      Because there are campuses in New York and Vancouver, NYIT can connect instructors and students at both locations. That's because all NYIT campuses have a "distance-learning classroom" with a high-definition television that are connected to one another.

      "They can be taking a class with a professor in Manhattan who is teaching to a class in Long Island and here, and vice versa," Dangerfield said. “We like to say it allows us to join the thought leadership of New York City with the thought leadership of Vancouver."

      As an example, he cited energy management. The City of New York has a lot of expertise in urban sustainability and the City of Vancouver has a great deal of knowledge about renewable energy.

      “You connect that faculty from two coasts and you get students from two coasts and there are no barriers,” he stated. “It’s a real way to accelerate a lot of the work that’s being done.”

      Language barriers and time-zone differences make it more challenging to do this with NYIT campuses in China.

      New York Institute of Technology Vancouver campus dean Paul Dangerfield says his school offers the only master's of science in cybersecurity in Western Canada.
      New York Institute of Technology

      "Over there, it tends to be a laddering or a pathway program," he added. "You do a number of years where you're learning English...then you come over here."

      Dangerfield, a former colonel and chief of staff in the Canadian Armed Forces, pointed out that the NYIT campus in Vancouver offers the only master's of science in cybersecurity in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of North America.

      He said that there are two full-time instructors as well as part-time instructors who come in from industry.

      "The grads typically work in IT departments because we haven't yet evolved to the stage were we have security IT departments, but some companies have," Dangerfield explained. "They can actually find themselves working for everything from a small company that's learning how to start up or some company that hasn't considered how they're going to set up their network security."

      In addition, he said there are employment opportunities in cybersecurity in the public sector and with large corporations.

      Vancouver campus dean Paul Dangerfield says NYIT is similar to U.S. institutes like Georgia Tech and Texas Tech.

      Dangerfield said that the NYIT Vancouver campus will continue to add a couple of new degrees every two to three years. At the moment, the school is considering more programs in sustainability and energy, as well as degrees in allied health sciences and urban architecture.

      "They'll be picked from the ones that are really successful in New York," he revealed.

      NYIT is in heart of downtown Vancouver and close to many popular tourist attractions.

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