Perhaps Sitka College? Or how about Skeena College? North Coast College? Or Coast Mountain College?
The four appear to be on the final list from which one will be chosen as the new name for Northwest Community College (NWCC) based on the desire of administrators and the board to refresh the region’s post secondary institution’s image.
“A new name for NWCC is part of a much bigger rebranding exercise that the college is going through to support a new strategic plan,” said college communications official Sarah Zimmerman. Chief among the reasons is the wish to do away with the word ‘community’ in the college’s name, as that’s considered a limitation when promoting the institution elsewhere.
A name change must first be approved by the provincial government and it’s not known when the new title will be released.
The final four names were part of a larger list winnowed down in recent months following extensive market research, said Zimmerman.
Sitka is taken from the Sitka spruce which grows in coastal forests and Skeena is the name of the region’s predominant river flowing from the interior to the ocean.
Coast Mountain would tie the college geographically to the region’s major mountain range which runs north-south but it is also one ‘s’ short of the Coast Mountains School District.
North Coast would give the college a geographical reference as well. The word ‘north’ would also place the college in the company of North Island College in mid and northern Vancouver Island and Northern Lights College in northeastern B.C.
A new name this year comes as the college embarks on a whole-sale renovation of its aging trades building in Terrace, an $18 million project largely financed by the provincial and federal governments.