Sam Shaw sounds more like a big-time corporate CEO than a president of a technical institute.

In expounding on the virtues of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Shaw, a dynamic ex-medical researcher, relies on the same buzzwords as a corporate CEO, breathlessly reeling off growth stats and budget forecasts, pitching the global economy, referring to students as customers and selling the story.

Shaw’s strategy of running the Edmonton college as a business during his six years at the helm has certainly proven itself.

Driven by a strategic model patterned after that of Royal Dutch/Shell, NAIT has blossomed into Canada’s largest technical institute while winning renown as a technology leader through its state-of-the-art HP Centre for Communications and Information Technology. 1. What was your dream career as a youngster?

“I wanted to be a researcher, so my studies led me into research. I did a BA degree with a specialty in biology (at Chaminade College of Honolulu). From there, I went into physiology and biophysics and I spent approximately five to six years of my life putting out papers and so forth in diabetes. What was unfortunate in those days was that there wasn’t a lot of funding for research in Canada, and I was getting a little disenchanted. I ended up getting a timetabling job, if you can believe it, at Ryerson College. Within a year, I was teaching in the chemistry department – and I loved teaching.”

Jack Dagley photos, for Business Edge
NAIT president Sam Shaw runs the college on a business model.

2. How has your experience as a researcher complemented your work in your current job?

“I guess the reason I went into research is that it is hands-on work. I really enjoyed working with my hands. In terms of looking at what NAIT tends to offer, whether it’s in chemical tech or it’s in an apprenticeship, it is hands on. And I think that kind of flavour really bodes well for why I like NAIT so much. NAIT really does provide students with the hands-on training so that when they go out for their first job, they have the skills to be productive.”

3. Who was your greatest influence early in your career?

“My grandfather (William Alfred Shaw) and my father (Alfred Shaw) were both strong entrepreneurs who influenced me, and I guess this is the dichotomy. We run NAIT as a business, and I feel I learned a lot from the way they handled their shipping businesses with an attention to customer service.”

4. Is customer service also emphasized at NAIT?

“Yes, we spend a lot of time consulting with customers (students). I go in front of student council on a regular basis. Those are our customers. I also teach one course at NAIT (in organizational behaviour). It’s only a small window of our student population but I feel that it also gives us insights into our customers.”

5. What is your proudest achievement since becoming NAIT president in 1997?



“It is in taking the NAIT story to the community, and it’s a marvellous story. We have just acquired Fairview College (of Fairview, Alta.), we have close to 2,700 staff members and with another 5,000 students (from Fairview College), that gives us a head count of 23,000 students, which makes us the largest technical school in Canada. When I started, our (annual) budget was $110 million. Our budget is now close to $196 million and our support from government has gone down from 57 per cent to 46.8 per cent.”

6. What are you doing these days to bring on the future, as your slogan states?

“We’re just flying high. We’re doing renovations and we’re working on a couple of major projects. If we can bring one of them on, it’ll be a very good deal for NAIT. One of the projects is with the NAIT centre for apprenticeship technologies. We have just submitted a three- to four-year funding strategy for a new building that would allow us to increase the number of apprentices that we do to approximately 12,000. This year, we’re looking at close to 10,000 apprentices. This facility would be unique because it would be centred around instrumentations, which are used in every business and every hospital. This facility would hopefully connect on to our HP Centre for Communications and Information Technology, which is 250,000 sq. ft. of high technology. We’re hopeful that the government will say: ‘Yes, we need apprentices, NAIT, and we’ll give you the approval for that.’ ”

7. How do you see the HP Centre affecting the future of NAIT and its students?

“The whole building is wireless, we have telephony over the Internet and we operate 7/24, which allows us to meet the needs of students at any time. The other aspect to the facility is that it has really allowed us to pick up on the kinds of partnerships that are tops in the IT (information technology) world, such as (partners) HP, Telus and Cisco. We’ve also put in the Duncan McNeill Centre for Innovation.”

8. What’s unique about the Duncan McNeill Centre?

“That centre will support new startups. I’ll just give you a couple of stats. NAIT students start more businesses than University of Alberta students five months after graduation, and also five years after graduation.”

9. What is your vision for NAIT?

“We didn’t have a vision when I arrived here (in 1997), but we instituted a 10-year plan called 2010. Our vision is to be an outstanding technical institute committed to student success in the global economy. We have four key directions with that vision: to champion student success, to excel in teaching and learning, to optimize the use of technology and to advance enterprise development. That drives our budget and our business plan.”

10. What is the solution to Alberta’s shortage of skilled labour?

“Most important, there has to be more investment in technical education to give us the infrastructure that will allow us to train more apprentices and technical graduates. We can prove that the return on investment is very, very high.”

11. What’s your view of how the Canadian education system is preparing students for post-secondary education?

“We need to do a better job at the K-12 (kindergarten to Grade 12). We need to prepare students better for success and improve (high school) completion rates. Clearly, we need to do a better job in this country so that we’re looking at utilizing the talent pool that we have. I mean, just think, wouldn’t it be marvellous if we could say that we have 100 per cent of K-12 completing Grade 12 and of that we have larger percentages going on to post-secondary education? That’s what we need to do in this country. I think there are some marvellous things being done in Alberta with the curriculum. We just need to tie all of that together.”

12. What’s your best advice to a NAIT student entering the workforce?

“I would say to make sure that you consider lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is here to stay. Make sure that you sharpen your skills so you can remain competitive.”

13. Who’s the entrepreneur you most admire?

“Bill Comrie (The Brick CEO) is someone I admire. He has done a marvellous job of taking an idea to a business entity that has become known across Canada. I’d like the same thing to happen with NAIT. We do training in many parts of the world, and we do hear people say: ‘I know about NAIT.’ That’s a good feeling.”

14. What’s your view of the rash of corporate scandals and what can be done to improve corporate governance?

“My view is to put a lot of emphasis on corporate governance. We have a governance committee at NAIT. I’ve suggested in the charitable areas I’m involved in that we look at governance. In fact, I’m working now with the United Way looking at a governance committee. What a governance committee will do is talk about the business side of boards, do the due diligence and make sure that your terms of reference are not biased and so forth. It’s probably the skeleton of what I think are good corporate boards, be it the private or non-private sectors.”

15. If you had to switch jobs with one person tomorrow, with whom would it be?

“You know, I don’t want to switch careers. That’s my answer. I look forward to getting up in the morning and coming in and working with our staff. We have such great talent. Naw, I don’t want to switch jobs.”

16. Ideally, how long do you wish to remain at the helm of NAIT?

“I think every CEO needs to know when to go. My current contract, which is renewable, goes out to 2008.”

17. How would you describe your leadership style?

“I think part of it is situational and part of it is listening to the story and becoming a storyteller.”

18. Is your life philosophy similar to that?

“I guess it would be very much similar to that. I have a passion for things like sailing. Clearly, one of the things I’m interested in is not waking up one day and saying: ‘I wish I had done that.’ So seizing the moment is important to me. I just got my motorcycle licence this summer so now I’m looking forward to my first Harley-Davidson.”

19. If you could do one thing to improve the quality of life in Edmonton, what would it be?

“I do a lot of work with charities, and I guess if I could do one thing, it would be to make life better for those who are less fortunate. It’s an important part of my agenda.”

20. What’s your most important personal goal?

“What’s important to me is being a good Canadian, that is, a global citizen. On Saturday, I’m going over to do a course on strategic planning in Vietnam. And I’ve got to tell you that I think Canada, for a very small country, has done a remarkable job, not only in promoting some of the excellent expertise we have, but also in helping countries become more self-sufficient.”

IN PROFILE: Sam Shaw
* Born/raised/age: Halifax, 52.
* Title: President, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
* Education: Chaminade College of Honolulu (BA), Dalhousie University (MSc), University of Toronto (MEd, PhD). He has also received a Dalhousie Graduate Fellowship and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship.
* Family: Wife Claudia, three children.
* Career: Shaw has been president of NAIT since 1997. Prior to that, he served in senior positions and as an instructor at other Canadian colleges and universities. He has made presentations and led workshops around the world on strategic and scenario planning.
* Passions: Sailing, golf.

THE COMPANY: NAIT
* Profile: Founded in 1963 with government funding, NAIT is Canada’s largest technical institute, offering certificates, diplomas and applied degrees with more than 190 programs. It also offers 1,200 continuing
education courses.
* Progress: With the recent acquisition of Fairview College, the student population has grown to about 23,000 full-time and apprenticeship students. The institute employs about 2,700 people. With the addition of the HP Centre for Information and Communications Technology, enrolment in information and communications technology-related courses will grow by 700 to more than 1,600 by 2004/05.
* Slogan: Bring on the future.
* Web site: www.nait.ab.ca
* Contact Info: Phone/Fax:780-471-7400, 780-471-8583; Address: 11762 106th St., Edmonton T5G 3H1.