Emeritus nominations are submitted by NIC faculty, support and administrative staff. To be eligible, recipients must have worked at NIC for at least 10 years, demonstrated teaching, service or research excellence and contributed significantly to student success or the educational community.
“We’re thrilled to honour Linda as the Emeritus recipient for 2021 for her incredible contribution to the NIC community,” said Alix Carrel, chair of NIC’s Emeritus committee. “Her dedication to helping both students and her colleagues has had a profound impact on all of those around her.”
Jay joined NIC in 1987 and worked in a variety of roles over her 33 years as a NIC community member. She first started in roles in admissions, advising and community outreach, and as a distance instructor of business courses in Tahsis, working as a tutor. It was there that Jay developed a passion for access to education.
“In my first role at NIC, I learned a lot about the challenges of offering educational opportunities in remote areas. From those early days, I came to understand that students who came to NIC were resilient, purposeful and had intention. I essentially saw my job as helping to ensure that their journey had as few obstacles as possible,” said Jay.
In 2001, Linda joined NIC’s Campbell River team, teaching in the Business department. Over the next decade, NIC would expand its School of Business to offer several diploma and degree programs. This gave Linda the opportunity to develop and teach first-year and upper-level courses ranging from marketing and entrepreneurship to public administration and research projects at the Campbell River and Comox Valley campuses and through online delivery.
Linda has been recognized as an outstanding mentor and devoted instructor who has consistently made herself available to students and taken the time to connect them with her network of community leaders and organizations.
“I was always paying attention to, and pointing out, trends to students in my marketing and entrepreneurship courses. I wanted to connect students to local businesses and organizations to let the community see what NIC students can do. This meant that I also became involved in various local community development efforts,” said Jay.
In Campbell River, Linda spent time with various planning and education committees, including the Campbell River Hospital Foundation Board, School District 72 as a trustee, and the adjudication panel for the Chamber of Commerce’s Business Awards of Distinction.
“I have found it so rewarding to come across my former students in leadership roles in organizations around Campbell River and seeing how they help make a vibrant community,” explained Jay.
Jay was also known for being equally supportive of her colleagues at NIC, serving more than two decades on internal committees including four terms on NIC’s Education Council. She would regularly help new faculty members navigate NIC procedures and openly share curricula that she had developed.
Jay hopes to continue her involvement with NIC by volunteering her time with the NIC Foundation.
“It’s hard to think of myself as not being a part of NIC,” explains Jay. “For me, I was just doing my job. It has been a great privilege to have been at NIC: to witness its growth and to work with students, staff, and faculty who are making a positive impact."
Learn more about NIC Emeritus, visit https://www.nic.bc.ca/about-us/nic-faculty/emeritus/.
