OKANAGAN
COLLEGE
2019
progress report
MORE THAN
21,400 STUDENTS
TOOK A COURSE
IN THE
PAST YEAR
SECOND-LARGEST
TRADES TRAINING INSTITUTION
IN B.C.
93%
OF OC STUDENTS SAY ATTENDING THE COLLEGE HAS
BEEN A GOOD
EXPERIENCE
1,825 ABORIGINAL
STUDENTS
EXCEEDED PROVINCIAL ENROLMENT TARGETS FOR
14TH YEAR IN A ROW
70% GROWTH SINCE 2005
(9,244 full-time students in 2018-19)
POWERING UP NEW PROGRAMS
FERMENTING INNOVATION
With B.C.’s tourism employers struggling to find experienced managers, the College launched a new applied credential, the Tourism Management Diploma, at the Revelstoke Centre this fall. The College’s new Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Marketing and Data Analytics addresses the growing role of marketing and big data in our lives, and the need for people trained on the intersection of these fields.
From new means of encouraging outdoor play for children to building smarter greenhouses to software that helps massage therapists curb patients’ chronic pain, OC’s applied research portfolio continues to grow, including the recent launch of the BC Beverage Technology Access Centre in Penticton. It received $1.75 million over five years in NSERC funding to create enhanced access to analytical, sensory and business services to distilleries, cideries, breweries and wineries.
[GREEN] BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Construction is well underway on the $18.9-M Health Sciences Centre in Kelowna. The 30,000 sq. ft. facility is being designed to be healthy for people and planet, pursuing Well Silver certification (a measure of occupant health and well-being) zero carbon and LEED Gold standard, and will include an Indigenous garden. The Kelowna Trades Training Centre received LEED Platinum certification and Best Institutional Large building at the Canadian Green building Awards.
INDIGENOUS WAYS: KNOWING & DOING
BANNER YEAR FOR WOMEN IN TRADES
This summer the College raised the flag of the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) at its Kelowna and Vernon campuses in acknowledgement that those campuses reside on unceded territories of the Syilx Okanagan people. A Secwepemcúlecw flag was raised at the Salmon Arm campus, located on the unceded territories of the Secwepemc. This year the College also worked with Indigenous knowledge keepers to help incorporate knowledge and practices into the professional cook training program.
OC’s Women in Trades Training (WITT) program celebrated 1,000 students trained this year. The Honourable Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, joined students, alumni, staff, mentors and industry partners in June to raise a banner to mark the occasion. Future women in trades had a chance to hone their skills with the return of the popular all-female Girls Can Go-Kart camp as part of CampOC, while a new camp focused on carpentry was added this summer.
ACCESS AND ACCESSIBILITY
A year ago the College kicked off regionwide consultation on the redevelopment of its website – inviting feedback from high school and mature students, parents, counsellors and internal community. Nearly 1,000 points of feedback were gathered. The new site will launch next spring. This fall, the College moved its online application system to EducationPlannerBC portal, now the common online application portal for most public post-secondary institutions and a number of private colleges in B.C.
COLLABORATION BUILDS
STUDENTS IN THE COMMUNITY
A new partnership with UBCO’s School of Engineering is advancing green building best practices, while the College also signed an agreement with UBCO and Foresight to create work-integrated learning and research opportunities to support the province’s cleantech ecosystem. The College and UBCO also celebrated a 7-year accreditation for our shared nursing pathway. OC also inked an MOU with Mohawk College which outlined shared opportunities to explore applied research and training in aviation trades.
Laureen Shannon, a 4th year BBA student and member of Enactus OC has been an unwavering champion for the popular and ever-expanding Launch-a-Preneur program in Salmon Arm. Since the program’s inception five years ago, 81 mentors from local businesses have provided countless hours of one-on-one training, benefiting students and local entrepreneurs alike. Forty-four businesses have been involved, creating 78 full-time and 15 part-time jobs in the Shuswap – and the impact continues to grow.
CONVOCATION FUELS CONNECTION
This year, as Okanagan College awarded over 2,000 credentials to graduates, more than 10,500 family and friends tuned in from around the globe to watch livestream of the eight ceremonies – our biggest year yet for viewership. The College also recently celebrated more than 10,000 photos tagged on Instagram with the #OkanaganCollege hashtag – twice as many as this time last year.
OC ALL-STARS: SPORT AND STAGE
2019 HONORARY FELLOWS
The OC Coyotes baseball team celebrated a major league first when pitcher Trevor Brigden became the first Coyote to be drafted to the MLB (Tampa Bay Rays) this June. The OC Coyotes men’s and women’s basketball teams jumped into their Sophomore season in the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWest) conference this fall. OC’s theatre troupe, the Red Dot Players, celebrated their tenth production with a run of Pride and Prejudice that included fine dining at Infusions restaurant.
Tom Christensen, George Galbraith and Robert Louie were invested as Honorary Fellows of Okanagan College during Convocation ceremonies this summer. Christensen is known for contributions to Aboriginal relations and reconciliation, Galbraith, for his philanthropy and civic spirit. Louie is a former Chief (24 years) of the Westbank First Nation and is owner/ proprietor of Indigenous World Winery.
A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
More than 1,700 international students from 63 countries were enrolled at OC in 2018-19. Ten practical nursing students packed their medical bags and departed for Thailand this fall to put their classroom skills to use – a first for a Canadian nursing diploma program. Dawna Hearl, a Salmon Arm Arts student and member of the Malahat First Nation, traveled to Japan as part of a summer intensive program offered through OC’s mobility grant. She presented her teachers with hand drums on National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Okanagan College alumna Nicole Taylor-Sterritt and her mother Laurie Sterritt co-founded the Canadian Indigenous Women’s Leadership Summit in 2018. This year, they hosted the 2nd annual Summit in Vancouver. More than 250 women attended. The Honourable Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, was one of the speakers.
Contemplate the content of this report, and you’ll understand the impact of our students, graduates and College in this region. Alumna Nicole Taylor-Sterritt (top left photo above) is a tremendous example of how our graduates are making a difference to Canada. Nicole’s fellow Okanagan College alumni have shaped and built the communities where we live and work. As an example, over the past 56 years our College has graduated more than 11,000 health care workers, providing the critical human resources that our health networks rely on. As we introduce new programs, attract more learners from the region and around the globe, as we refresh and expand our facilities, Okanagan College’s commitment to providing access to meet the needs and expectations of our nearly 21,000 students, their employers and communities proudly remains at the heart of our activities.
Gloria Morgan
Jim Hamilton
Chair, Okanagan College Board of Governors Nov. 2019 –
President, Okanagan College
Christopher Derickson Chair, Okanagan College Board of Governors Jan. 2018 – Nov. 2019
Keep up with our current news at okanagan.bc.ca/news