Wider Horizons cited for excellence in magazine publishing
Lethbridge College’s magazine, Wider Horizons, received a bronze award Feb. 13 in Vancouver at the CASE District VIII 2014 Communication Awards ceremony. The award recognizes excellence in magazine publishing among colleges and universities throughout western Canada and the western United States. Recognized at the ceremony were managing editor Lisa Kozleski and executive editor Carmen Toth, both of Lethbridge College’s marketing and communications office, and designer Dana Woodward of Three Legged Dog Graphic Design of Lethbridge. Wider Horizons also received an Opportunity and Inclusion Endorsement in recognition of the many stories and photos in 2013 issues that highlighted the college’s commitment to opportunity and inclusion for people from diverse backgrounds.
eCampus Alberta’s 100,000th online student from Lethbridge College
eCampusAlberta is pleased to announce that it has reached a tremendous milestone by recently serving its 100,000th online student. eCampusAlberta is a consortium consisting of 19 Alberta post-secondary institutions, providing greater access to high-quality online learning opportunities. Lethbridge College’s Jaimie Bogstie, a resident of Calgary, was the lucky student who registered in the Youth in Criminal Justice course as part of her Correctional Studies diploma offered online from Lethbridge College. To celebrate this tremendous milestone, eCampusAlberta presented her with the eCampusAlberta Lifelong Learner Award. Jaimie plans to complete her diploma by April and afterwards would like to move into the applied degree program. To support Jaimie’s educational goals, eCampusAlberta will be providing her with tuition assistance for all future eCampusAlberta online courses. Since the first student logged on to eCampusAlberta in 2002, the consortium has seen unprecedented growth, including double-digit percentage growth of registrations in each of the past nine years. The online consortium now connects students to more than 900 online courses and 70 programs — from provincially approved certificates and diplomas to applied degrees — offered by 19 Alberta post-secondary institutions.
Lethbridge College adds millions to the economy
A recent study by Economic Modeling Specialists International shows that Lethbridge College and its graduates contribute significantly to the economic health of the city, region, province and country. The study, which involved eight Alberta colleges, shows that Lethbridge College and its students added $427.7 million to the economy in the Lethbridge region during the 2011-12 year. That number includes the economic impact of more than 1,500 students who moved to Lethbridge to attend college and added $6.5 million to the economy, as well as the accumulated contribution of former college students currently employed in the regional workforce, who add more than $357 million to the economy. It also includes the net impact of the college operations – a figure which tops $63 million.
Lethbridge College Kodiaks shine in competition and in classrooms
Creating a focus on academics with an emphasis on athleticism was a goal of Lethbridge College’s Kodiaks Athletics this year. With 18 Kodiaks on the fall 2013 honour roll (which requires a minimum 3.5 GPA) and a total of 57 student-athletes maintaining minimum GPA of at least 3.0, that goal has now been achieved and is being celebrated on campus. Congratulations to the Kodiaks basketball teams, players and coaches who received several provincial honours the first weekend of March. The men’s team captured a bronze in the ACAC while the women’s team finished fourth. Both teams showed impressive leadership, skill, teamwork and grit. Well done. In addition, several others also received individual honours. Three of the 10 players on both the all-conference men’s and women’s teams were Kodiaks, including Deanna Dotts (1st team), Emma Lowry (1st team), Karli Brakes (2nd team), Dom Coward (1st team), Travis Butt (2nd team) and Chris Maughan (2nd team). Dom Coward was also named the ACAC’s 2013-14 Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. And finally, congratulations to coach Avery Harrison, who was named Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year. This is his fourth Coach of the Year award with ACAC.
Robb Nash wowed the crowd at Lethbridge College
Staff and students at Lethbridge College were excited to host Robb Nash on campus Jan. 28 as he traveled from coast to coast sharing his dramatic and inspirational story. Nash had been scheduled to come to the college in early September but a broken down bus kept him and his band from making it. Nash was 17-years-old when his skull was fractured in a head-on collision with a semi-truck; his injuries were so severe that paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. But before the ambulance arrived at the hospital, his pulse returned, and his long recovery began. After initially feeling overwhelmed with anger, self-doubt and depression following his accident, he eventually embraced a new outlook on life. Since then, Nash has been making music and speaking to young people around North America. Nash and his band have brought their presentation to more than 180 schools through 150 shows each year.
Lethbridge College students take second at Business Case Competition
Lethbridge College’s team of business students placed second at March’s 9th Annual Alberta Deans of Business Case Competition in Red Deer. The team was comprised of Meghan Cox, second-year Business Administration Marketing; Trong Phan, second-year Business Administration Marketing; Corey Zimmer, second-year Business Administration Management; and Michael Doughty, first-year Business Administration Marketing. The faculty advisors for the team were Rita Halma, School of Business Co-Chair, and David Orr, Business Administration instructor. Lethbridge College’s team received $2,500 for second place. Lakeland College’s team received $4,000 for first place and the Grande Prairie Regional College team received $1,500 for third place. There were 13 teams participating in the competition. Lethbridge College has sent a team to the competition each of the nine years and placed third in 2009. The event is organized each year by the deans of the business programs in all Alberta colleges.
College research officer presents, publishes work on sports history
Dave McMurray, a research officer who works in the college’s Centre for Applied Research and Innovation, has had several articles accepted for publication. The first article examines the historical role of British women in the sport of angling from the Renaissance to the mid-19th century and the transfer of this tradition to North America. This article was published in November 2012 in Sport History Review, a peer reviewed academic journal. The second article examines how white, middle- and upper-class North American women in the 19th century used the sport of angling to bypass many of the scientific and cultural views of gender that otherwise would have restricted their ability to explore and engage the natural world. This article was published in April 2013 in the International Journal of the History of Sport, which is also a peer reviewed academic journal. In addition, McMurray co-authored a conference paper in May 2013 with Dr. Robert Kossuth from the University of Lethbridge’s Kinesiology Department for the North American Society for Sport History’s (NASSH) Annual Convention. And finally, the two have been invited to present a paper at the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) Conference in May. McMurray is the lead author of that work, which is tentatively titled “In the woods of Canada, equality with our brothers and husbands awaits us…: Gender and Class Constructions in the Sport of Angling on the Frontier Canadian West.”
Common Chord earns nominations and secures distribution deal
The locally-produced feature-length film Common Chord has garnered seven nominations for the Alberta Media Production Industry Association (AMPIA) Awards and has secured a worldwide distribution deal with Koan Inc. Lethbridge College instructor George Gallant was one of the producers of the independent full-length feature, which was shot in Lethbridge in 2012 and was a collaborative effort between the college and the University of Lethbridge and involved students, artists, designers, writers and actors from throughout southern Alberta. Gallant and his co-producer, Deric Olsen, were nominated for Best Dramatic Production (over 30 minutes). Gallant and Olsen are also delighted to announce their partnership with Koan Inc. to distribute Common Chord worldwide.
Tiffin Conference another soldout success
Lethbridge College’s annual Tiffin Conference took place Jan. 22 in the Instructional Building on campus. The soldout conference examined challenges and issues facing the cattle industry, provided some strategies for sustainability and looked at how consumer demands are affecting food production. Speakers included Anne (Dunford) Wasko, Grant Taillieu, John Gilchrist, Todd Hirsch and Jim Wiesemeyer. The Tiffin Conference is made possible through the Ronald Tiffin Agricultural Endowment Fund, established in honour of Ronald W. Tiffin. The goal is to provide world-class learning opportunities to primary producers, agri-business and agriculture students.
Engineering Technologies Open House a success
The School of Engineering Technologies hosted a successful Career Day and Open House on Feb. 27 in Centre Core, where instructors demonstrated the cutting-edge equipment and software that students use every day, and students and visitors took part in interactive activities and lab demonstrations. Staff answered program-related questions and participants mingled with future employers and industry leaders. The Career Day portion of the event brought nine employers to campus to talk with more than 70 Engineering Technologies students, 15 Geomatics students, 45 high school students, and nearly 30 other parents, mentors, volunteers and visitors. The Open House included three tours that attracted about 115 visitors, including 75 high school students.
Family Orientation sessions planned
Lethbridge College will host Family Orientation sessions this summer, giving parents and/or partners some tips on ways to support their new students through the growth and challenges ahead. Family members attending orientation sessions will receive a campus tour as well as a brief of how the academic system works including class structure, grading and registration. Students visiting with their families will also enjoy a campus tour and an opportunity to meet other students and faculty. The three sessions are scheduled for Aug. 8, Sept. 1 and Sept. 2. To register, email [email protected].
Engineering Technologies helping others one can at a time
A team of Lethbridge College Engineering Technologies staff members, students and friends put their design skills to the test by creating a “Polar Vortex” in the annual Canstruction food charity event held at Centre Village Mall in February. The team received an honourable mention in the contest and donated their proceeds to the LCSA Food Bank. Canstruction is a design and build competition currently held in cities across North America that brings together teams of architects, engineers, designers, contractors and students mentored by these professionals to design and build giant structures made entirely from cans of food. A Canstruction event results in providing food for thousands of hungry people and raising awareness about hunger in communities. Among those who helped build Lethbridge College’s Polar Vortex were Tobi Baugh, Jim Pinches, Andrew Bowen, Mark Bohnert, Brandon Fabien, Mark Bester, Matthew Scotney, Dylan Miller, Adrian Pook, Ian Robertson, Alex Senneker, Mackenzie Bodie and Daniel Waeckerlin.
Justice studies instructor sees success as ringette coach
Ken Sauter, a Justice Studies instructor, is also an assistant coach for the under-16 and under-14 ringette teams in Lethbridge. This keeps some of his evenings and a lot of his weekends fairly busy. This silver medal was won by the U16s in the Esso Golden Ring tournament in January. He has been involved in coaching for five years for the Lethbridge Ringette Association. This is the U16s third medal this season, as the team also has won another silver and one gold. He has been involved with coaching some of these girls since they were in the U10 division. Sauter says “It has been pretty cool to see them develop into a pretty competitive and often successful team.”
Instructors, staff win awards, recognition
Several Lethbridge College instructors have won various awards and recognition, including:
• Deb Bardock, Dean of the Centre for Health and Wellness, won the Alberta Nurse Educators Administrators award for Leadership in Practical Nurse Education last May.
• The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development celebrates teaching excellence yearly. This year, Kirsten Fantazir and Bill Anderson, instructors in the Criminal Justice program, were named the NISOD Excellence award recipients.
• Melanie Kalischuk, an instructor in Environmental Sciences, was successful with her proposal on early detection of late potato blight. She received a three-year grant from the Board of Directors of the Potato Growers of Alberta to continue her work on “Early Warning and Prevention of Late Blight.”
• Correctional Studies instructor Jim Laing, a retired RCMP Counterfeit Co-ordinator, was featured in an article in the winter 2013-14 magazine, Anti- Counterfeiting Connections. He retired after 35 years as an RCMP officer before coming to teach at the college.
• Dr. Sandy Vanderburgh, dean of Applied Arts and Sciences, has recently published two papers in academic journals. The first appeared in the journal Geomorphology. The second is titled “Late Holocene Geomorphology of the Columbia River Estuary, Oregon and Washington, USA” and will be published in the Journal of Geography and Geology.
• Karla Wolsky, chair of the Bachelor of Nursing (NESA) program, and Melanie Hamilton, nursing instructor, will speak at the 11th annual Teaching Professor Conference. Their presentation is titled “I’ve Got a Funny Bone: Ideas for Student Engagement.”
Camps for kids at the college
Lethbridge College offers a wide variety of summer camps for children and youth. Go to lethbridgecollege.ca/conted and click on “Camps for Kids” to get all the information you need about summer camps involving fashion, wind energy, cooking and baking, art, dance and more. In addition, you can enroll a child in sports camps including volleyball and basketball camps for middle school and high school athletes.
College project inspires CIT paper
One of the Computer Information Technology projects completed in 2012 has resulted in a paper that will be published this year in the Journal of Open Source Software. Instructor Stephen Graham reports that alumnus Matt Forster submitted a paper about the group project he and his team developed as students in 2012. They received word in November that the article was accepted. The project involved developing lab management software for a lab at the local Agriculture Canada Research Centre. It allowed the students to engage with the larger research community by providing a useful product and provided the students with an educational opportunity as well as a chance to build their resumes with a peer-reviewed publication.
English instructor publishes 28th book
Lethbridge College English instructor Richard Stevenson just had his 28th book accepted for publication. The book is called Fruit Wedge Moon and it will be out in 2014 from Hidden Brook Press. It is a collaborative project Stevenson undertook with his friend, photographer Ellen McArthur. The book includes a collection of haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka, zappai, various sequences, and other western forms of the Japanese imagist tradition mixed with black and white landscape photography.
College wins gold and silver in ACAC track championships
The Kodiaks men’s track team won its first ever indoor track ACAC championship at Grant MacEwan University at the CFB Edmonton Garrison Fieldhouse/Track in Edmonton in March. Winning the men’s indoor title was a sweet revenge from the silver medal the team received in the cross country season. In total, the team ran away with one individual gold and five silver medals. Solomon Ngetich won gold in the 3000 metres, silver in the 1500 and fourth in the 400. Alex Andres won silver in both the 400 and 800 metre races as well as a team silver in the 4x400 relay with Matt Horgus, Jeremy Ferguson and Andrew Kimosop. Cross country champion Edwin Kaitany won silver in the 3000 metres and finished fifth in the 1500. Matt Horgus finished seventh in the 400 metre race. The women’s team repeated its silver team medal from the cross country season and team captain Caylee Vogel ran personal bests and earned two bronze medals along with a team silver for the 4x400 relay along with Sarah Makowsky, Rachel McKenzie and Hattie Kanyo. Hattie Kanyo also finished fourth in the 400 metre race, 1/100th of a second behind Caylee. Michaela York ran a seasonal best and finished fifth in the 3000 metre race. Rachel McKenzie finished fourth in the 800, sixth in 400 and seventh in the 1500. Sarah Makowsky came seventh in the 3000 and ninth in the 1500. The Kodiaks men and women won the combined overall title, where all 18 runners ran their personal or seasonal best times. Three Kodiaks earned top six Grand Prix “all stars” recognition: Caylee Vogel, Alex Andres and Solomon Ngetich.
Kodiaks win Prairie Mountain Cup
The trophy for the Prairie Mountain Cup is a challenge cup between the Kodiaks and the Medicine Hat Rattlers. This competition began in 2009 as a challenge between the presidents at Medicine Hat and Lethbridge colleges. Each team receives points following matches between the two southern Alberta colleges, and the points are tallied throughout the academic and athletic year. The president of the losing college has to wear a sweater from the winning college for a day (or two). The Kodiaks won the cup from 2009 to 2012. In the 2012-13 academic year, Medicine Hat won for the first time with a combined final score of 20-14. This year saw some Kodiaks revenge as the Lethbridge College athletes combined for a convincing 24-1 final score. Medicine Hat’s only point this year came from a come-from-behind tie in women’s soccer. We do not believe there has ever been a more dominant year in the six-year history of the cup – and we do not plan on ever giving it back. Congratulations to all of the Kodiaks, coaches, and fans who made this victory possible.
