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President's Blog

A place for Cambrian College President Sylvia Barnard to share her views, thoughts, and vision. Visit the President's Blog.

Sylvia Barnard was appointed President of Cambrian College in August 2002.

Sylvia Barnard's 30-year career in education has spanned all levels of education and has encompassed both classroom and administrative experience. She spent ten years as an elementary classroom teacher, eight years as a school administrator, and five years as a Superintendent of Schools in public education before moving to the college system.

She was Vice President, Academic, at Georgian College in Barrie from 2000 to 2002. In this capacity, she provided leadership and direction for all academic activity at Georgian, including postsecondary, non-postsecondary, and post diploma programs, corporate and contract training, and part-time studies. She was key to establishing Georgian's Institute of University and Advanced Studies, in partnership with Laurentian and York universities, enabling access to university studies on the college campus for students in central Ontario.

During her first five years at Cambrian College, Sylvia has continued her focus on skills training; the establishment of partnerships with business, industry, universities, and government; and the development of strategies to ensure the viability of the College's part-time studies and contract training. Under her leadership, Cambrian is developing new programs and enhancing learning facilities and technology applications to learning in order to meet the needs of a changing demographic profile of students, including adult and Aboriginal learners and those wishing to study part-time while fully employed.

Sylvia's involvement in the community on both a professional and personal level is extensive. She is a member of the Board for the City of Greater Sudbury Food Bank, the City of Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, Contact North, Cambrian Foundation, and NORCAT. She continues her commitment to the K-12 education system by serving on the School/College Work Provincial Co-Management Committee and the Ministry of Education Learning to 18 Provincial Roundtable, which provides advice to the Minister of Education. Sylvia has been active with the United Way having been a campaign co-chair as well as serving on the Campaign Cabinet. She currently chairs the local Easter Seals Telethon Steering Committee.

Committed to economic development, Sylvia is the First Vice Chair on the Executive of the City of Greater Sudbury Development Corporation Board. Provincially, she is an active member on the Steering Committee for the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster. Sylvia shares her expertise in economic development, working with Industry Canada on the training needs of small and medium enterprises. She has presented in Chile and Costa Rica on the role of women in economic development, and takes an active role in Cambrian College's many international initiatives.

She is a past chair of the Coordinating Committee of Ontario College Academic Vice Presidents and of the national postsecondary education conference on Learning Disabilities. Currently Sylvia sits on the Executive Committee for the provincial Committee of Presidents for Colleges Ontario. Sylvia is the Northeastern Ontario representative on the Ontario Parks Board, which provides advice to the Minister of Natural Resources.

Sylvia holds a Master of Education - Educational Administration from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto; a Bachelor of Education from the Ontario Teacher Education College; and a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in French and German, from Wilfred Laurier University. Originally a translator/interpreter, Sylvia worked in public relations before entering the educational field.

A native of Manitouwadge, in northwestern Ontario, Sylvia and her husband Norm are pleased to be living in Northern Ontario. Sylvia and Norm enjoy flying the plane that they built together, riding their motorcycles, and spending time on the golf course.