So now that we’ve established that airport operations students are not air traffic controllers, we can move on :)
There are some pretty important bits to our program that I haven’t talked about yet. You all know the numbers: 16 months, 4 terms, 70% passing grade. But how is course work organized? What is your work load like?
Every year, BCIT admits a set of about 16 to 22 people into the program. A set is like a cohort, a group of people with whom you’d attend all classes and, if all goes well, graduate. It’s the elementary school style as opposed to the high school classroom-switching locker-sprinting style. Instructors teach in the set’s designated classroom. Unlike most other programs, we usually have the same course and instructor for the whole day and go straight through coursework, completing a 30- to 45-hour course within one to two weeks. You’ll never hear us complain about midterms or finals, ’cause we do one every week.
What you will hear us complain about is always having to write stuff. One of the first courses we take is on communication skills and technical writing. The program has a final project which requires students to create an imaginary airport (based on an existing one) and, along with it, all the technical documents that would make the airport work. Airport Operations Manual, Airport Security Plan, Airport Emergency Response Plan, Airport Wildlife Management Plan, Airport Strategic Business Plan… In addition, we write a field report for just about any field trip, industry conference or special event that we attend. It might sound horrific for some at first, but the work has honed my technical writing skills and I can speak for most of my class when I say I feel mighty proud of the things we’ve created.
And we can’t forget about oral presentations! There is about 1-3 oral presentations per course, so if you’re queasy about public speaking, you’ll have no problem getting practice here. The final project includes a presentation before a panel of instructors and invited judges from industry on why you would be a suitable airport manager for your imaginary airport. It’s not as scary as it seems. I hope. I’ll let you know if I survive.
If it seems like a lot of work, take heart! It’s only because time is tight. The work isn’t rocket science, there is x–>0 math involved. It’s all about time management and anti-procrastination. Sure, your social life as you know it now might be put on hold for a year and a half, but you emerge with BCIT training! That’s worth gold in industry. There are two scheduled practicums, three weeks in Term Two and five weeks in Term Three. We don’t get paid, but those are worth gold to every student. Practicums are sooo much fun.