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NIC hires new director

North Island College (NIC) has hired a new executive director of international education

North Island College (NIC) has hired a new executive director of international education.

Thevi Pather, who who has 20 years of experience at four B.C. post-secondary institutions, will be responsible for marketing, promoting and monitoring quality international educational initiatives and programming at NIC, according to the release issued by the school this week.

“We are thrilled to welcome Thevi to our team,” says NIC President John Bowman. “His extensive international education and leadership experience will enable us to continue to develop and support international education and internationalization on our campuses, a key priority outlined in NIC’s 2016-2020 strategic plan,” a document that was released recently outlining the school’s goals for the next five years.

Pather comes to NIC after 20 years of experience in international education at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Camosun College and Royal Roads University.

“I am very excited to join the North Island College community,” says Pather, who will officially begin his role Nov. 23. “There are many opportunities to develop and support internationalization locally and globally and NIC is doing a great job building this capacity. I look forward to being a part of this growth.”

A record number of international students are attending NIC this year, according to the school, with over 320 students from 32 countries taking courses or programs at NIC campuses across the region. This marks an approximately 200 per cent increase over the past five years.

There are also growing opportunities for local students to study abroad. NIC’s International Education department donated $50,000 to the NIC Foundation for study abroad bursaries in 2015 and 2016, opening doors for students to earn NIC credentials while participating in field schools and academic exchanges in Europe, South America, Japan and the United States.

The NIC release says that Pather’s leadership in recalibrating UBC’s student exchange program supported the development of one of the largest programs of its kind in Canada. Most recently, he was director of global advancement at Royal Roads University where he was responsible for the internationalization of the institution, building strong international partnerships and surpassing recruitment targets.

Pather replaces Mark Herringer, who moved to Ontario earlier this fall to take a position with Durham College in Oshawa.

“Mark played a key role in growing international education at NIC and Thevi is well-positioned to continue developing and leading international education at the College,” Bowman says.

For more information on international education visit http://international.nic.bc.ca.