Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Through a campus-wide understanding of the need to be not only It offers credentials of achievement, one-year certificates, two-year diplomas
environmentally responsible (something it has been improving upon and applied-degree programs as well as apprenticeship and pre-employment
for years) the college has developed a new vision to make it a leader training. The institution has earned an excellent reputation for aligning
through classroom training and sharing its technological expertise with the itself with industry, the community and government. Program offerings are
community. innovative and cutting-edge, primarily due to the collaborative agreements
and partnerships with industry leaders.
It foresees a day when it will be a “green” campus, a centre of expertise in
environmental education. The road to this goal has already been laid, as will Key involvement of industry expertise on advisory committees from the
later be discussed in this presentation. public, private and not-for-profit sectors, and regular curriculum reviews
ensure programs remain relevant.
The desire to imbue the campus with a global flavour, a benefit to both
Canadian and international students, has already been realized. As of The student population of the College has grown to more than 7,000, making
the 2007 fall semester, some 30 nations are represented in classrooms. it the largest in the province outside Edmonton and Calgary. We anticipate
Conversely, Lethbridge College is developing ties in several African that enrolment will remain constant with gradual increases during the next
countries, Brazil, Chile and China. five years on our Lethbridge campus. Initially, 2007 marks the year we began
delivery of business administration training in China on the Estar University
Lethbridge College serves the Lethbridge community of 82,000, while campus.
situated in a much larger economic rural zone of 250,000 across Southern
Alberta, providing it the infrastructure, intensity and interest in such projects The purpose of this brief is to explore ways in which Lethbridge College can
to assure their success. collaborate and build on the many complementary strengths between our
organizations, to work together to engage the southern Alberta community in
innovation and technology applications.
The socio-economic impact of Lethbridge College
Lethbridge College attracts students from Alberta and many areas of Canada and abroad. Through its
formal partnership agreements with other institutions locally and internationally, the College helps students
become global citizens, increasing their opportunity for economic prosperity. The diversity of student
backgrounds also serves to enrich the educational experience of the entire student body.
The College is an important catalyst for economic, social and personal development by actively engaging
with employers, the community and individual learners. Through contract training, applied research and
scholarly activity, partnerships with business, industry, government and community are developed and
strengthened. This contributes to the continuing economic growth of the area supporting an innovative and
competitive local economy.
A recently released study prepared by CCbenefits Inc. indicates Lethbridge College’s service-area economy
receives roughly $35.3 million annually in regional income due to College operations and capital spending,
and $381 million in annual net benefits. The report notes provincial and local government will realize a 14
per cent rate of return on monetary support for Lethbridge College, which compares favourably with private-
sector rates of return on similar long-term investments.
The study indicates students enjoy an attractive 17 per cent annual return on their investment of time and
money in post-secondary education. For every $1 students invest in Lethbridge College, they receive a
cumulative $5.70 in higher future earnings over the course of their working careers.
Alberta, too, benefits from improved health and reduced welfare, unemployment, and crime, saving the
public some $1.4 million annually each year that students are in the workforce.
The Lethbridge College vision
They come armed with their entire inducement package, scoping out
graduates in Civil Engineering Technology, Engineering Design and Drafting
“The Criminal Justice - Policing program is built on
Technology and Geomatics Engineering Technology and more. They know
they are engaged in a war with a half-dozen other competitors for what is the expertise of the industry. The College is very, very
becoming one of Alberta’s scarcest natural resources: competently trained responsive to industry needs and that’s what I like about it.”
employees.
The centre has waded into several partnership pools since its inception, all of
which have helped the college strengthen community ties. Both senior levels
of government have played key roles in ACE initiatives. Alberta Agriculture
and Food and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have contributed as valued
partners to financial development and research programs conducted by ACE
and benefiting the community.
Its latest research involves a study to determine the ability of water hyacinth
to remove unwanted nutrients from dugouts and ponds. Following a pilot
project last year, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada agreed to fund a second
Programs and initiatives that distinguish
Lethbridge College
Cultural Initiatives
Computer Information Technology Community Project
When the Sik-Ooh-Kotoki Friendship Society decided its filing system had to enter the 21st century, it
turned to Computer Information Technology students at Lethbridge Community College.
The Friendship Society wanted software to allow it to track its events and participants; the students needed
a local organization with which they could team.
Students brought together two required skills, database management and programming, to create a full
software development process. Three students spent 10 hours a week outside of class time to produce
custom-built software for the Friendship Society.
Lethbridge College worked with the South African Department of Education and other local organizations to
empower rural communities in the provision of basic water, sanitation, and public hygiene.
The College led the project with related training and the construction of treated water and improved
sanitation facilities at rural and peri-urban primary schools. The College, with a new group of students,
returns to the project in 2008.
The future of Lethbridge College initiatives and expertise
Winds of Change
Lethbridge College is the technological learning centre Lethbridge College is the only English-
for southern Alberta. Its very positioning – against the
region’s famous coulees – is evidence of its desire to language, post-secondary institution
develop, promote and teach the elements of environmental in Canada approved to deliver BZEE
responsibility. That goal is rapidly becoming intrinsic to (Bildungszentrum für Erneuerbare
decisions made campus wide, from the extraordinary
measures taken to conserve energy in new and renovated Energien e.V.) certified programs. BZEE
buildings, to nationally recognized programs such as is the internationally recognized German organization,
Environmental Science that teach the elements of formed by major wind power industry players in the
environmental stewardship. Lethbridge College has the country. BZEE trains instructors to teach to German
expertise and the will to pursue ecological goals and create specifications, the present world standard.
a centre for the teaching and learning of technologies and
values that will place Alberta in the forefront of positive and Lethbridge College expects to roll out the program in
sustainable environmental development. three stages. The first year will be devoted to establishing
a southern Alberta program; the second year will focus
A recent purchase of nine wind turbines has placed on offering programs to other Canadian institutions; the
Lethbridge College in a position to become a world leader third year would push the training programs worldwide to
in wind turbine technician training. countries such as China.
College officials are already in talks with other Canadian Lethbridge College ia slso committed to creating a
institutions to share its program and the turbines to Centre for Innovation in Sustainability and Construction
help Canada meet what the CanWEA predicts will be a Technology, a modern update of the aging trades and
significant demand in coming years. The turbines, minus technologies concept, which, while serving students well
the towers on which they are normally mounted, can be in the past, must now prepare them for a greater role in
made transportable and shipped anywhere. changing their world for the better through environmental
responsibility. This conceptual centre would also serve the
greater good of the public through a sharing of knowledge
and ideas.
The future of Lethbridge College initiatives and expertise
College enrolment in 1957 stood at 700 learners. Today over 7,000 attend the institution and utilize library seven days a week. With the addition of
various other student services into the current library space over the years, the College has been challenged in trying to offer-effective library services to
our students. Technological advancements over the last two decades have also created the need for a different array of services to be delivered to library
users.
In 1963 Lethbridge College was gifted the Buchanan Collection of paintings initially owned by Senator and Mrs. W. A. Buchanan. This collection of 43
painting includes several works from the famed Group of Seven and was given to the Lethbridge College to be displayed for the enjoyment of the general
public. A secure display of these works will be an integral part of the expansion of this facility.
As part of the Colleges ongoing commitment to ensure our facilities becomes Kyoto-compliant by 2010, several changes to the current utility and
infrastructure support are planned to ensure we continue to support a sustainable and energy efficient learning environment.
A master planning process is under underway for the entire College campus to ensure we continue to make Lethbridge College a learner-centred
environment with the state of the art facilities and services, including the expansion of the Buchanan Library.
The future of Lethbridge College initiatives and expertise
Our Wireless Campus If we genuinely wish to effect positive change and create an effective learning
Within the last few months, Lethbridge College has become completely wireless. environment, then we will do everything we can to empower and equip our faculty,
Visitors to Lethbridge College now enjoy free, campus-wide wireless access to the who are indeed our most powerful change instruments and who have a direct
Internet. This advantage allows anyone coming on campus with a laptop to have impact on our learners (Brown & Pettito, 2003). We will establish an environment
Internet access through a separate service provider. It’s a convenience of innovation and support that will facilitate the use of technology to meet the
for those who teach after-hours adult courses, hourly instructors, students, or diverse needs of our learners.
anyone visiting Lethbridge College who requires an Internet connection.
Technology is not a magic bullet or a solution to a problem; it is simply an
accelerator of momentum—not a creator of it. We must continually ask: “Will
Embracing our future challenges this technology enhance learning, will it improve the learning experience, or will
The needs of the 21st century learner, the diversity of learners and learning it help the student or faculty?” We have to get so good at deploying technology
environments, the explosive growth and constant change of technology and and providing a support infrastructure that technology itself becomes ubiquitous,
economic, regional and demographic forces are just a sampling of the many pervasive and transparent.
challenges that colleges face in providing effective learning. In response
to these and many more challenges, Lethbridge College has developed To achieve the goals and recommendations outlined in the Educational Technology
an Educational Technology Strategy that will address three Strategy, we will be working on the following projects that will incur a $9 - $15M
fundamental priorities: technology spend in the next 5 years:
• Identifying who our learners are and understanding their needs • LMS Upgrade/Replacement
• Establishing the support and structures to address the needs of these • Application, registration & administrative system automation
learners. • Laptops for learners (Laptop campus)
• Empowering and preparing our people to embrace these opportunities. • Virtualization
• Enterprise and Desktop video conferencing
Most of today’s learners live in a virtual realm of communication, collaboration and • Infrastructure development to support:
cohabitation. More specifically, high school graduates come to college prepared to • Mobile Learning
communicate using technology. • Emerging Technologies Research and Application
• Online Learning Resources
Nearly all (99.9 percent) create, read, and send e-mail, more than 80 percent • Online assessment and evaluation
use instant messaging and 70 percent use social networking sites like Facebook • Faculty Professional development
or MySpace (ECAR, 2006). The literature also reveals that the Net Gen learner • Unified Communications
doesn’t differentiate between the real and virtual world or simply sees the virtual • Social Networking & Web 2.0
world as an extension of the real world (Frand, 2000). Despite this reliance on
Salaway, G., Katz, R. N., Caruso, J. B., Kvavik, R. B., & Nelson, R. M. (2006). The ECAR study of undergraduate
technology for communication, these learners also want the same degree of face- students and information technology, 2006. Volume 7. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Retrieved
to-face interaction as their predecessors. January 9, 2007 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0607/ERS0607w.pdf.
Frand, J. (2000). The information age mindset; Changes in students and implications for higher education.
EDUCAUSE Review 35, No. 5 September/October, pp 15-24.
Brown, D. G., & Petitto, K. R. (2003). The status of ubiquitous computing. [Electronic version]. EDUCAUSE Review.
Retrieved January, 27, 2007 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0331.pdf.