Nova Scotia Community College, commonly referred to as NSCC, is a community college serving the province of Nova Scotia through a network of 14 campuses and three community learning centres. The college delivers over 130 programs in five academic schools: Access, Education and Language; Business and Creative Industries; Health & Human Services; Technology and Environment; and Trades and Transportation. They reflect the labour market needs and opportunities in Nova Scotia. NSCC includes four specialized institutes: the Nautical Institute, the School of Fisheries, the Aviation Institute and the Centre of Geographical Sciences. Educating over 20,000 students a year (fulltime and part-time combined), NSCC provides the majority of technical and apprenticeship training in Nova Scotia. The president of NSCC is Don Bureaux. History In 1872, the Halifax Marine School was established. While it would later become the NSCC Nautical Institute, at the time, it represented the first vocational and technical education institution in the Province of Nova Scotia. It was the first in a number of specialized training institutions around the province that offered education in areas such as agriculture, surveying, engineering and navigation. In 1987, the (then) Department of Vocational & Technical Training published a White Paper recommending the creation of a community college system for Nova Scotia. The establishment of this system, it argued, would bring technology, vocational and upgrading institutions together under one umbrella, and allow for the development and coordination of college programs and services at a province-wide level. This would work to meet both pan-provincial and local economic and applied education needs. In 1988, Nova Scotia became the last province in Canada to create a community college system, bringing 16 institutions together in one college system. In name, it became the predecessor to NSCC; however, it would be several years until NSCC was established in its current form. In 1992, two more campuses joined the college system from their respective school boards, and in 1995 the closing Nova Scotia Teacher's College became an NSCC site. NSCC became autonomous from the Province of Nova Scotia in 1996 by incorporating itself as an independent institution with a Board of Governors (An Act Respecting Collège de l’Acadie and Nova Scotia Community College). Since then, the NSCC network of campuses has evolved into a province-wide, community-based, community college, with polytechnical, applied arts and health science educational programs. Campuses and locations The Nova Scotia Community College occupies 14 campuses, located in: Bridgewater