College receives $6.79 million in federal funding
New infrastructure funding will allow Lethbridge College to create a flexible, modular innovation space that will benefit students, faculty and industry by providing real-world research opportunities in all disciplines. Lethbridge College will receive $6.79 million from the federal government, and a further $350,000 from the provincial government, for two projects under the Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund (SIF). A total of $6.44 million of that federal funding will go towards the development of a 7,000-square-foot innovation space in the second phase of the college’s new trades and technologies facility. Additionally, the federal and provincial governments will each provide $350,000 in funding to upgrade the power supply in the Aquaculture Centre of Excellence.
Paddling to perfection 
Congratulations to the two college dragonboat teams for an excellent showing at the Lethbridge Rotary Dragonboat Festival in June. The Kodiaks women’s team earned a gold in Division C and a bronze in the top four local women’s community teams’ race. The Klippers team received a gold in the top four local mixed community team and the Reynar Cup.
National Indigenous Education award
Lethbridge College, which is situated on traditional Blackfoot territory, received a bronze Indigenous Education Excellence award in May at the Colleges and Institutes Canada annual conference in Ottawa. Marcia Black Water, the college’s Indigenous student coordinator, accepted the award on behalf of the institution. From the college’s earliest days, it has been committed to and valued its Indigenous learners and communities and worked to nurture a culture that respects First Nations, Métis and Inuit intellectual and cultural traditions. Over the years, the college has developed Indigenous-centred programs and services to meet the educational and training needs of the First Nations communities from the region – the Kainai, Piikani and Siksika nations.
College team wins Business Case Competition
In a competition designed to put the province’s top young business minds into a pressure-packed, real-world scenario, Lethbridge College students kept their cool and took home first place and $4,000 from the CPA Alberta Education Foundation in the 12th annual Alberta Deans of Business Case Competition. Lethbridge College hosted the competition on its campus, in conjunction with the University of Lethbridge, in March. The winning team included Business Administration students Scott Anderson, Andrea Kowalchuk, Sarah Phillips and Taylor Waters, and was coached by School of Business chair Rita Halma and faculty members Rod MacGregor and David Orr. A total of 14 teams from colleges and institutes throughout Alberta worked to find solutions to real-world business problems.
First-in-Canada accreditation for Child and Youth Care
Lethbridge College is the first college in Canada to earn accreditation from the Child and Youth Care Educational Accreditation Board of Canada (CYCEAB). The CYCEAB is a consortium of educators from both university- and college-level post-secondary institutions, representing institutions across the nation. The CYCEAB created a process for post-secondary institutions to apply for accreditation, with Lethbridge College’s Child and Youth Care program becoming the first institution to apply for and receive accreditation. Social service agencies and employers throughout Canada will have assurance that students from Lethbridge College are educated in a program that has been thoroughly examined by a nationally-ranked accrediting body.
Northside Dodge honours Rita Simons with $100,000 gift
Northside Lethbridge Dodge has honoured one of its own by making a generous gift in support of post-secondary education and Lethbridge College. In May, the company and college announced a gift of $100,000 to create the Rita Simons Memorial student awards. Rita Simons was the mother of Diane Simons and the grandmother of Northside Lethbridge Dodge general manager Russell Gallant. A total of eight Rita Simons Memorial Awards, worth $2,500 each, will be presented annually to students in trades and apprenticeship programs, as well as to students in any program with a focus on Indigenous students, mature students or students who are single-custodial parents.
Best in our class
The spring and fall 2016 issues of Wider Horizons received a silver award – and the only award given in the “community college magazine” category this year – in the international CASE Circle of Excellence Award competition. The judges wrote: “truly a unique alumni magazine, Wider Horizons appeals to far more than the Lethbridge College community. With a wide variety of engaging written pieces and high quality design and photography, this publication stood head and shoulders above the other magazines entered.”
Top-notch teachers
The winners of the LCFA/SA Teaching Excellence and Rookie of the Year Awards were celebrated at Convocation in April. These outstanding instructors were chosen based on their teaching excellence, fulfilment of their professional responsibilities as well as their demonstrated interpersonal skills and ethics. Congratulations go out to:
- Marda Schindeler, General Studies, who won the LCFA/SA Teaching Excellence Award
- Amy Bright, General Studies; Natasha Fairweather, General Studies; and Marie Laenen, Nursing; who were named “Rookies of the Year.”
Dollars and sense
- $101,122 - Signature Homes, a fourth-generation Lethbridge-based custom home builder, along with its suppliers, tradespeople and building team, announced a donation of $101,122 to Lethbridge College as part of The College Home partnership on March 8.
- $75,000 - Funding received from the Government of Alberta’s Community Initiatives Program to create “Founder’s Square,” a legacy project planned in celebration of the college’s 60th anniversary.
- $10,000 - Funding received from the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta to be used for art and artifacts in Founder’s Square, which will open this fall near the Food Court.
Introducing…
Lethbridge College is pleased to introduce some of the people who have recently moved into new positions or came to campus in a variety of leadership roles.
- Samantha Lenci, who started work as vice president academic on Aug. 1. Most recently, she had served as the associate vice president of Academic Services at SAIT. Lenci has spent more than 20 years leading a variety of programs in education that provided leadership, community development, strategic planning, project management and program development during stints at Mount Royal University, Bow Valley College and SAIT.
- Dr. Kenny Corscadden, who started as Dean of the Centre for Technology, Environment and Design on Aug. 8. He previously had served as associate dean of research and graduate studies in the Faculty of Agriculture at Dalhousie University.
- Dr. Tim Heath, who started as Dean of the Centre for Applied Arts and Sciences on July 4. He is an experienced instructor and administrator who had previously worked as an associate dean at Red Deer College.
- Dr. Janet Welch, who has more than 25 years of higher education experience both in Alberta and internationally, is the college’s new associate vice president academic.
- Dr. Jagvir Singh, who has over a decade of involvement in post-secondary research collaborations, is the new director of Applied Research.
- Sandra Dufresne, who was named to the newly-created position of director, External Relations and Community Engagement. Dufresne has worked at Lethbridge College since 1990.
- Deanna Dotts, a former Kodiaks athlete and assistant coach, who was named the women’s head basketball coach for the 2017-18 season.
