APCCC - Background

The Atlantic Provinces Community College Consortium (APCCC) is an inter-provincial mechanism promoting and supporting the strategic development of regional collaboration, coordination, and sharing of resources among the Atlantic community colleges. This consortium, which reports annually on its activities to the Council of Atlantic Premiers through the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET), is officially recognized through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the provincial ministers responsible for community colleges and the presidents of the community colleges in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

APCCC partners consist of the Department of Post Secondary Education, Training and Labour of the Province of New Brunswick, Department of Education of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Department of Education of the Province of Nova Scotia, Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning of the Province of Prince Edward Island and the New Brunswick Community College/Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, College of the North Atlantic, Nova Scotia Community College and Holland College.

The Consortium is governed by a board which consists of the presidents and/or designates from the community colleges and the assistant deputy ministers and/or designates from the departments responsible. The Chair of the Board rotates annually from among the college presidents/CEO’s.

Normally the Board meets three times per year to deal with the administration, management and general direction of the affairs of the consortium. The Consortium is staffed by an Executive Director whose role is to advance the agenda of the Board on a day-to-day basis. The Executive Director is recruited from the member institutions and is appointed for a three-year renewable term.

Mission and Values

As a partnership among the four Atlantic community colleges and the four Atlantic departments responsible for post-secondary education and training, the APCCC assists colleges and governments in providing the most effective and efficient college programming possible reflecting the following values.

  • Quality
    • - continuous improvement in the quality of programs, practices and teaching

  • Accessibility
    • - program, delivery, and support services that optimize training availability

  • Mobility
    • - portability of learning and credits throughout the post-secondary education system in Atlantic Canada

  • Relevance
    • - effective and responsive interaction among learners, workforce and community

  • Accountability
    • - evidence of value and cost-effectiveness of public and learner investment

  • Scholarship and Research
    • - commitment to the pursuit of Knowledge

These values are the basis from which APCCC’s strategic goals are designed to enhance the quality and cost-effectiveness of the community college systems of the four Atlantic provinces through the pursuit of cooperative and collaborative initiatives. Specifically the following four themes form the cornerstone of the Consortium’s 2004-2007 Strategic Plan:

  • Learning-Centered College
  • Colleges’ Role in Economic Development
  • Regional Collaboration around Government Strategies
  • Advocacy