Certificate in General Arts and Science -Technology Stream

at St. Lawrence College - Kingston Campus Canada

The General Arts & Science (Certificate) program offers a foundational year for students preparing for future study in a wide range of fields. For students in the Social Sciences stream, core courses in communications, computers, and personal development are enhanced by courses in Psychology, Sociology, Interper­sonal Skills, Addictions, Stress Management, and Statistics. Graduates of the Social Sci­ences stream are prepared for future study in Community Services programs such as Social Service Worker, Behavioural Science Technol­ogy, and Child and Youth Care. Students wishing to pursue Behavioural Science Technology may require additional courses and should contact the General Arts & Science program coordinator.

For students moving on to other St. Lawrence College programs after completing this one-year program, some of the courses completed as part of this program may transfer. For more information, please consult the appropriate program coordinator of your targeted program.

Develop knowledge and practical skill in areas of carpentry, including blueprint reading, residential and commercial construction, framing, finishing, stair manufacture, surveying, fine woodworking, commercial building practices, and more. Spend 1/3 of each week in a hands on carpentry lab setting.

Concerned about robots and machines taking your job? Learn to control and maintain those machines in the Instrumentation and Control Engineering Technician/Technology programs at St. Lawrence College. Concerned you may be unemployed in a pandemic? Learn a skill that will keep you employed.

“Instrumentation describes the control, maintenance, and design of any process. It is the practice of calibration, control, design, electric hookup, and programming.” Urban Dictionary

Few colleges in Ontario offer an Instrumentation and Control Engineering Technology program and the workforce with these skills is shrinking due to retirements. As a result demand for these skills is high and continues to grow stronger every year.

Program Highlights

Hands On: The program is practical and hands-on. Core subject areas have approximately a 2:1 ratio of lab hours to theory hours. Students will be working with the equipment found in the industry. The program provides students with a sound knowledge of process measurement and control theory. They will be trained to work in the modern team-oriented organization with emphasis on productive interaction with peers.

Flexibility: The program accommodates high school graduates, mature students making a career change and post-graduate students wishing to acquire practical skills. Students enrolled in the two-year technician program may, upon graduation, transfer directly into the more rigorous and theoretical third year and earn a technology diploma.

Job satisfaction: Control systems are the brains behind the devices that produce everyday goods and keep our environment and utilities safe. Jobs are found in municipal waste and water utilities, building environment controls as well as assembly and manufacturing. In control systems, different tasks and problem solving are performed daily. Our graduates have told us; “You never do the same thing twice”. The control systems field is continuously evolving.

Technologists will often work with equipment in a complete system, ensuring that the individual devices work as a unit. Technologists have a greater theoretical understanding of control systems, communications, programming and technical project planning, allowing them to become involved in engineering design, as well as device and system specification.

Co-operative Education Opportunities: Both the technician and technologist programs now offer co-operative education opportunities – depending on availability of positions. These paid work­place educational opportunities will expand as we cultivate more co-op positions with other firms.

Co-op opportunities occur during a four month summer term after the second and fourth semesters and/or a full year term between the fifth and sixth semesters. The number of co-op positions available each year is not predefined. Students are able to apply for positions posted by various indus­trial firms and government agencies through­out the year. These opportunities give our students valuable on-the-job experience, financial help with their educational costs and enhanced employment possibilities.

If you have a three-year diploma or a degree, this program will prepare you for the exciting career of user experience (UX) designer. UX designers consult with target audiences (users) to collect and interpret data that can be used to make technology, products and services that meet their needs, are functional and pleasurable to use, and meet the strategic objectives of businesses and organizations.

With this graduate certificate you will be prepared to work with clients in a number of different industry sectors to achieve these vital business objectives. The program will help you develop skills in research, facilitation, presentation, business analysis, project management, information architecture, usability assessment as well as visualization. You’ll learn how to implement design-thinking processes and strategies, conduct user research, employ usability and accessibility best practices, and produce UX documentation to help companies and organizations generate innovative products and services that meet the needs of their customers and audiences.

This program prepares graduates to work in the growing and dynamic field of business analytics. Students will learn the techniques and tools of analytical decision making and utilize these skills to drive the competitiveness of an organization. Students will be exposed to generic analytics modeling as well as courses in the areas or marketing, operations, and business strategy. Students will also be introduced to machine learning and artificial intelligence concepts, and, how to use supervised and unsupervised learning techniques to solve real-world problems. Through applied learning techniques such as problem-based learning and work placement students will be able to apply their learning to real-world problems.

Business Analytics experts are currently in high demand, especially with the opportunity to leverage high volume and variety of data, available in today’s digital world, to support business strategy, enhance customer experience, and, solve real-life problems in real-time.

The most valuable resources of any business are the people who work there – the human resources. Business and government leaders now recognize that human resources must be managed more effectively if companies are to increase productivity in today’s competitive market. Human Resources graduates have been trained to assist in the HR development process.

The Mechanical Technician program is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to pursue a career as a Mechanical Technician or as an Industrial Mechanic (Millwright). Upon completion graduates will receive an Ontario College Diploma as a Mechanical Technician.

Industrial Mechanic (Millwrights) perform some or all of the following duties: 

• Read blueprints, diagrams and schematic drawings to determine work procedures. 
• Install, align, dismantle and move stationary industrial machinery and mechanical equipment, such as pumps, fans, tanks, conveyors, furnaces and generators according to layout plans using hand and power tools. 
• Operate hoisting and lifting devices to position machinery and parts during the installation, set-up and repair of machinery. 
• Inspect and examine machinery and equipment to detect and investigate irregularities and malfunctions. 
• Install, troubleshoot and maintain power transmission, vacuum, hydraulic and pneumatic systems. 
• Adjust machinery and repair or replace defective parts. 
• Operate machine tools such as lathes, mills and grinders to fabricate parts required during overhaul, maintenance or set-up of machinery. 
• Clean, lubricate and perform other routine maintenance work on machinery.

Highlights
Graduates will also have completed the equivalent of all levels of in-school training required for the Industrial Mechanic (Millwright) Apprenticeship Program and are well-prepared to write the exemption exams required for this trade. Completing the in-school training is attractive to employers who may wish to register you in an apprenticeship program.

Graduates from our Energy Systems Engineering Technician and Technology (ESET) programs work in exciting new careers as Renewable Energy System Designers and Clean Energy System Project Managers and Installers.  In addition, our graduates have expertise in building energy management and building energy systems, where they find rewarding employment as Energy Managers and Energy Auditors.

Our many successful graduates illustrate how every year, businesses, governments and consumers are becoming more concerned with the financial and environmental costs of energy usage. Our ESET graduates are filling the growing needs of this marketplace for capable people with the knowledge and skills to design and implement renewable energy systems as well as to audit energy use in commercial and residential buildings and make recommendations to reduce energy demand and cost.

A student graduating from the Office Administration - Legal program will graduate with a diploma in Office Administration - Legal, opening the door to a variety of employment opportunities in both the private and public work sectors. Graduate employment rates released in the fall 2019 showed 95%-100% employment.

Students will gain knowledge in the following areas:

Technical skills

• Advanced level Office 365/2019 cloud-based computer application skills including Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, OneNote etc.
• Outlook 365 - students become proficient in producing professional email communications, creating folders to stay organized, use of Outlook calendar to book appointments and schedule meetings.
• Additional software applications include PCLaw, The Conveyancer, Teraview, Automated Civil Litigation (ACL), Adobe Acrobat DC Pro and Sage 50.
• Students will be required to achieve a keyboarding speed of 50-60 GWPM.
• Students learn to share and edit documents in a cloud-based environment. Using MS Teams, collaboration software students learn how to book, attend and chair virtual meetings.

Soft skills

• Client, patient and customer relationships are built on the use of effective and consistent communication as well as the ability to uphold and maintain confidentiality. The ability to work both independently and collaboratively are skills that are highly valued.
• Employers seek office administrators that are highly organized, forward thinking and have the ability to problem solve. Students have the opportunity to enhance these skills through learning by example with regular classroom exercises and participating in the student work placement experience.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

• The role of an office administrator has changed and continues to evolve leading to variety of rewarding careers.
• The Office Administration - Legal Program prepares graduates for current and future office trends. Experienced faculty prepare students to work in dynamic business environments. Students become extremely computer literate through instructional scaffolding. Faculty provide a supportive and professional environment that allows students to build on their current level of knowledge, which leads to mastery of the skills required in a business office.
• Students graduate from the program appreciating the value of being an office administrator and become advocates of the profession during their career.

Medical Laboratory Assistant/Technicians are important members of the health care team. Interacting directly with patients, they perform ECG’s and collect blood samples for laboratory analysis.

Inside the laboratory they assist other professionals by sorting and preparing samples for testing, operating laboratory equipment, performing basic laboratory testing under supervision, and managing data in computers.

This program includes two semesters of learning in our classrooms and laboratories followed by a final 4 weeks of field placement occurring inside the laboratories of partner hospitals and private institutions. The College arranges this and students are expected to finance clinical placement costs (tuition, travel, room and board).