Fourteen students forged a new path at Trent's 1998 convocation.

      The first nine students to complete the Native Management and Economic Development (NMED) program offered by Trent at Grand River Polytechnic, as well as the first five students to complete the joint nursing program offered by Trent and Sir Sandford Fleming College, graduated May 29.

      Native Management and Economic Development has been offered at Trent since 1988. The Trent program was established in 1996 at Grand River Polytechnic, at the Six Nations of the Grand River near Brantford, through an agreement between the two schools. The Grand River program is designed to accommodate students from the Six Nations area who might not otherwise be able to pursue the program, or who wish to remain in their own community. The Grand River courses are taught by faculty hired through Trent.

      Graduating with NMED diplomas were: Cheryl Bomberry, Karen Bomberry, Melanie Debassige, Jean Martin, Sherry Montour, Marion Murdock, April Powless, Clinton Powless and Aaron Staats.

      The first class of students from the Trent-Fleming joint nursing program graduated at the morning convocation. The students received a nursing diploma from Sir Sandford Fleming and a special emphasis Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science general degree from Trent.

      Students accepted into the four-year joint program must meet the admission requirements of both institutions. The program, designed to prepare graduates for work both in a hospital setting and in the community, consists of full-time studies at Sir Sandford Fleming and part-time studies at Trent, offered concurrently.

      Kate Kincaid, Academic Team Leader at Fleming College's Centre for Community Development and Health, calls the collaborative program a "unique model in the province."

      "Trent offers student nurses courses in the humanities to complement their training in the health sciences and to equip them to work as community nurses," says Jackie Tinson, acting principal of Julian Blackburn College. "This training constitutes an innovative approach which differs from the normal emphasis solely on the sciences."

      Graduating from the joint program were Janna Adam, Karen Hurley, Maria Jilesen, Jeanette Nolan and Heather Stewart