Two NAIT executives shook off their interim titles and were officially appointed to their leadership positions in 2018. Announced on Jan. 8, Kevin Shufflebotham is NAIT’s provost and Dr. Susan Fitzsimmons is VP Academic.
“I’m just really excited about this opportunity and look forward to continuing the work that Sue and I have started,” said Shufflebotham.
Both Shufflebotham and Fitzsimmons have been in these positions on an interim basis since 2016.
The pair realize students aren’t necessarily in the loop about what their job entails. “I get to be the idealist,” said Fitzsimmons.
“I get to be the person who says, ‘We need to shoot for the moon.’ These are the kinds of initiatives we need, these are the things that define quality education and quality student services, and all the applied research for industry.”
“My job is to be the realist,” said Shufflebotham. “I’m responsible for the operations of the school. I look after things like budgets, scheduling, anything to do with the operation of the academic portfolio.” Shufflebotham and Fitzsimmons will be in these posts for five years, the typical length of NAIT’s administration contracts. The two have over 25 years of experience combined at NAIT.
Shufflebotham is a NAIT alumnus graduating from the Respiratory Therapy program in 1989.
– Michael Menzies, Senior Editor
