A report to the community 2009 THE YEAR IN NUMBERS More than $1.4 million in $28 million Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building financial aid for students: Technologies and Renewable • $438,166 given out by Energy Conservation underway in Penticton Okanagan College • $994,882 given out by 91% of students the Okanagan College reported “Attending Foundation Okanagan College has been a good experience for me” 420 tonnes of CO2 saved per year thanks 52.2% of students to the Centre for Learning’s are female LEED Gold design $82.8 $28-million million Centre for Learning annual completed in Kelowna budget 1,686 19,000+ scholarships, students trained and bursaries and educated at Okanagan awards to students College in 2008-09 $253,000 Aboriginal 201 bachelor’s degrees Gathering Place conferred in June completed in Salmon Arm Page 2 SUSTAINABILITY Led by its mission, vision and values, Okanagan Okanagan College has offered new services for College focuses on sustaining the needs of its students and attracted top quality staff to its ranks learners, their unique cultures, community to help students succeed, and these investments partnerships, innovation in teaching, leadership have paid off. Throughout the past year Okanagan and creating a vision for the communities it College students won international business serves. As a learner-centred institution the College competitions, volunteered in their communities, acknowledges its responsibility to lead the region in made contributions and recorded important the implementation of new technologies, systems achievements; some of which are highlighted on the and best practices. following pages. Throughout the course of the 2008-09 year In addition to the College’s operational growth, Okanagan College did much to deliver on its student and staff successes, Okanagan College commitment to sustainability. Some of those celebrated its largest graduating class ever at the accomplishments are highlighted in this report. 2009 Convocation. Key among them is the increased access Okanagan College has provided for students. Since opening its The information, success stories and photographs doors in 2005, enrolment at Okanagan College has within this report help to tell Okanagan College’s steadily increased, each year exceeding government sustainability story. It is a story about innovation, enrolment targets. As an indication of how that responsible growth, leadership and the student growth translates, Okanagan College now provides success that is helping to transform lives and training and education to approximately one in every communities. 20 people in the region it serves. On an operational front, the 2008-09 year delivered on new infrastructure developments, like the $28 million Centre of Excellence in Penticton, which will be a hub of innovation and education in the South Okanagan. The past year also brought the completion of significant construction projects, like the $28 million Centre for Learning in Kelowna, a LEED Gold project which is highlighted on Page Six of this report. Page 3 TRANSFORMING LIVES As a community member of the Board Okanagan College has It is a task that the members of Governors for the past five years, significantly increased access of Education Council take and as Chair of that group for the to post-secondary education very seriously. past three years, I take great pride since 2005. Creating more in how our College has developed opportunities for students to We believe that our work has and responded to the needs of the take the programs and courses helped confirm Okanagan Okanagan, Shuswap and Similkameen that they want, programs and College as an institution valleys. courses which connect them to that is world-class, whose Changing economic circumstances rewarding careers, is a laudable graduates can boast valuable have made very apparent the achievement. credentials. The College importance of educational institutions mission is to transform such as Okanagan College. It is More important, however, is lives and communities, and essential that learning, retraining and ensuring quality education and educate, train, and support skill development opportunities are training. While many people our students to excel in the at hand when jobs are scarce, and and parts of the College are workplace, to succeed in when industries face grand-scale focused on that concept of further education and to restructuring. It is vital that those quality, Education Council has become lifelong learners. In opportunities address the evolving a very important and unique fulfilling that mission, our first needs of a region as dynamic as ours. role to play in that regard. It is priority is student success. a role recognized in provincial Education Council members At the heart of Okanagan College legislation, which establishes know they have a critical role are its students and staff. They have Education Council as part of to play in delivering on that much to be proud of this year. There the governance of the College. success. are many individual achievements and accomplishments, but more The Council is made up We all share in the sense of importantly, we can together boast of 23 people, drawn from achievement when proud of an organization that is supportive, the College’s internal students graduate, able to well-regarded and an asset to the community, including students, pursue their goals with the many communities of this region. administrators, instructors and knowledge that their program My fellow Board members have had support staff. They come to the and credential are top-drawer, a hand in that success, contributing Council from throughout the recognized by employers, insight and oversight to the College region. The Council’s other institutions and the development of the College. For that, business - and that of its people who invest to make thank you. On behalf of the Board committees - is to consider their education possible. I offer congratulations and thanks curriculum and educational Increased access to education to our colleagues, alumni, students, policies relating to students, is good; increased access to supporters and partners whose standards, planning and quality education is better. efforts help Okanagan College fulfill operations. its mission to transform lives and communities. Education Council is a body focused on quality control; scrutinizing programs, courses, services and policies that help Rick Gee assure students, employers, Chair, Education Council Janet Shaw colleague institutions, and other Okanagan College Chair, Board of Governors stakeholders that program Okanagan College content and delivery is first-rate. Page 4 A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT A year of growth, leadership and achievement In 2008-09 Okanagan This September, we opened the new Centre for College continued to Learning on the Kelowna campus. It’s a remarkable deliver on our promise addition to our oldest campus that moves us into a to transform lives and new era of energy conservation and sustainability. communities. In April 2009, a new $28 million Centre of By once again adding more Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies programs and making and Renewable Energy Conservation was them more widely available announced for the South Okanagan-Similkameen. throughout the Okanagan It will open its doors in 2011, tripling our space and Shuswap, we have on the Penticton campus and moving Okanagan gone a great distance in College into the forefront of colleges providing the addressing student and community demand for latest in green construction training. education and training. In fact, over the past four years, our enrolments have grown by 48 per cent, A $1 million expansion of the Trades Training making Okanagan College the largest college east Centre in Salmon Arm was announced in August. of the lower mainland. In 2008-09, we provided This project draws on the joint federal-provincial education and training to more than 19,000 people Knowledge Infrastructure Program and will make a at locations from Revelstoke to Oliver. significant difference to our ability to further meet student and employer demand. But success isn’t measured only in numbers. It is also measured in the pride of people who have You’ll read more about these projects, as well as achieved their career and educational goals. When stories about student and staff successes, in the the new Okanagan College opened its doors in pages of this Community Report. One thing that 2005, we recognized our growth had to reflect our should be evident in our growth to date and in the role of contributing to the economic, social and stories you find here is that Okanagan College is cultural development of the communities we serve. focused on sustainability; not just the sustainability of an institution that can continue to serve the Today, our progress is evident everywhere. communities of this region, but also on the You can see it in the practical learning economic, cultural and social sustainability of the opportunities provided our students by dozens of region itself. businesses and organizations. It is evident in the jobs offered by employers who seek our graduates. It is clear in the doubling of our Aboriginal student enrolments, the result of our ever closer relationships with our Aboriginal communities. We see it in the new partnerships with School Jim Hamilton, President Districts that open more education opportunities Okanagan College for high school students. It can be seen in the generous support of individuals, corporations and