OCNews

Collaboration & Partnerships

Dr. Monica Gattinger
Visiting scholar discusses polarization over energy and climate in Canada: How bad is it? What’s to be done?

October 9, 2020

How can Canada chart a positive path for its energy and climate future amid polarization, partisanship and regional differences? Dr. Monica Gattinger, Director of the Institute for Science, Society and Policy, Full Professor at the School of Political Studies and Founder/Chair of Positive Energy at the University of Ottawa, will be delivering an online keynote delving into this topic on Friday, October 16 at 1 p.m. PST. Gattinger’s talk is presented by Okanagan College’s Department of Political Science, in conjunction with the BC Political ...

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OC Co-op Students
Co-op Q&A with Salmon Arm Economic Development Society’s Lana Fitt

October 5, 2020

Meet Lana Fitt, the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society’s Economic Development Manager. In partnership with the College’s Salmon Arm campus, SAEDS hired three OC students over the summer of 2020, aiding a new initiative called the Digital Transitions Program. Okanagan College sat down with Fitt to hear her perspective as Manager and having students take part in Co-op education with SAEDS as well as the launch of the Digital Transitions Program in Salmon Arm.. Okanagan College (...

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Alison Beaumont
New work-integrated learning opportunities for OC students and employers across the region

October 5, 2020

Earlier this year, Okanagan College announced new opportunities through the Student, Graduate and Co-op Employment office for Indigenous learners and students who face accessibility challenges. With funding from the provincial government, the College is set to launch a third project to increase access to co-op and work-integrated learning for OC students and employers. Overseeing the project at OC is Alison Beaumont, a Coordinator in the Student, Graduate and Co-op Employment office. She notes that the new project has dual opportunities for...

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FruitSnaps Team
Harvesting help needed: Enactus OC students invite community to join them in picking apples for a good cause

September 30, 2020

A group of Okanagan College business students are putting the call out for volunteers from OC and the community to help them harvest fruit that will be used to make healthy snacks for children and others in need. Started in the fall of 2018, FruitSnaps is a Vernon- and Penticton-based project, which sees Enactus OC students partnering with the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners Society facility, where unused apples from local orchards are dehydrated into snacks for local schools. The FruitSnaps team will be hosting small, physically-distanced a...

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Talent Hackathon
North Okanagan Talent Hackathon Looks for Out-of-the-box Thinkers

September 25, 2020

OC students, employees and alumni: check out this opportunity to collaborate, demonstrate your skills and connect with other business and technology minds in the community as part of the North Okanagan Hackathon. Okanagan College is a sponsor of this event and encourages OC students to take advantage of this unique virtual networking opportunity! The following media release is shared on behalf of Accelerate Okanagan: On October 29th, 2020, the Accelerate Okanagan team will be hosting the first North Okanagan Hackathon virtually from The Ver...

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Experiential Entrepreneurship program supporters
New OC business program creates more real-world learning for budding entrepreneurs

September 24, 2020

Okanagan College’s School of Business is launching a new program that will teach entrepreneurship and business in a way most business owners would say is key to learning – by doing. The Experiential Entrepreneurship program will offer an entrepreneurship specialty to the College’s Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Modelled after a long-running and highly successful program at the College’s partner school in Finland, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, the Experiential Entrepreneurship program will see business students design, pl...

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The Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence at the Penticton campus
Okanagan College joins Mohawk and other institutions across Canada to form Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery

September 24, 2020

Eight colleges, institutions, CEGEPs to support new climate-resistant economy Okanagan College is joining forces with a group of colleges, institutions, polytechnics and CEGEPs from across Canada to educate a post-pandemic workforce to support a new climate-focused economic recovery. The group of eight climate-action leading institutions from all regions of the country have launched an initiative called Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery. The group will champion projects across Canada to support a recovery that delivers good jobs, i...

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Health Care Assistants thankful for bursary support

September 14, 2020

Twenty-three-year-old Shoshanna Fremont works the night shift as a Care Aide at a local long-term care home, a shift she loves as it gives her an opportunity to provide precious one-on-one time with residents who are up during the night. “When you get them a glass of water and take the time to hold their hand, especially when they can’t have many visitors, their entire mood changes,” says Fremont. “When I go home I take comfort that I took care of people today, I made them smile, or helped in whatever way I could.” Fremont is one of eight...

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Aerial view of Kelowna and Okanagan Lake
Hospitality training in Okanagan leads to tourism jobs

September 14, 2020

Published on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. See original release here. Up to 40 eligible British Columbians will be able to tap into a unique online training program at Okanagan College and gain work experience to prepare them for jobs in the hospitality industry, thanks to more than $611,000 in funding from the provincial government. “The tourism sector is resilient. We’re seeing evidence of that in the Okanagan and Shuswap as businesses begin to reopen,” said Shane Simpson, Minister of Social Developme...

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Aboriginal Services Jewell Gillies
Advisors from across BC post-secondary institutions unite to engage and support Indigenous students

September 10, 2020

Strengthening Connections, an Indigenous recruitment initiative for post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, will have a whole new look and feel this fall. As post-secondary institutions across the province have geared up for remote or alternative delivery for fall semester, recruiters have also made the switch to a virtual world, notes Jewell Gillies, who currently serves as Executive Board Chair for Strengthening Connections and works in Aboriginal Services and Student, Grad and Co-op Employment at Okanagan College. “Strengthening...

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Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation
Major Rotary gift supports nursing education

August 10, 2020

A $100,000 gift from the Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation Reichwald Fund will support the education of Registered Nurses (RNs) at Kelowna’s major post-secondary institutions. Okanagan College and the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) are each receiving $50,000 to support high-quality skills training and provide financial support for students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. “We are thrilled to support our future health care workers in Kelowna and throughout the Valley,” says Catherine Comben, Rotary Club of...

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Jayne Brooks, Distinguished Service Award recipient
College honours Brooks with Distinguished Service Award

July 20, 2020

One of Okanagan College’s longest-serving employees, Dr. Jayne Brooks, will be recognized by the College with the Distinguished Service Award. “Jayne’s leadership, dedication and commitment to excellence helped to cement the national reputation of the Okanagan School of Business,” says Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton. “Her work to grow partnerships with the business community and other institutions locally, nationally and internationally created a tremendous increase in access and opportunity for students. Furthermore, her constant...

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Beverlie Dietze, Director, Learning and Applied Research
Outdoor play is critical: OC’s Dietze and other experts contribute to new recommendations by Lawson Foundation

July 16, 2020

Outdoor play is good for kids and good for our communities. A new statement released on July 13 by the Lawson Foundation highlights why opportunities for children to play outside are critical to their development and learning – both during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement also outlines the role of outdoor play in mitigating COVID-19 exposure risk for children in a variety of settings, from childcare facilities to schools. Read the full statement online. It was prepared with the input of advisors from public health and the ear...

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Pamela and Grouse Barnes, 2020 Honorary Fellows
College names Pamela and Wilfred Barnes, Robert Foord, Louis Thomas and Don Turri as 2020 Honorary Fellows

July 15, 2020

Okanagan College is bestowing its highest honour on five notable residents of the region, each of whom has made unique and meaningful contributions through education, public service, mentorship and philanthropy. Pamela and Wilfred “Grouse” Barnes, Robert Foord, Louis Thomas and Don Turri have been selected by the College as its 2020 Honorary Fellows. “It would be impossible to quantify or to adequately put into words the positive impact this year’s Honorary Fellows have had in their communities,” said Okanagan College President Jim Hamilto...

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OC Serves Up logo alternate
OC Culinary Arts program Serves Up meals for students in need

July 9, 2020

It’s an example of students helping students that is sure to warm hearts and bellies. With the support of RBC Royal Bank of Canada, the Okanagan College Students’ Union (OCSU) and Sysco, Okanagan College’s Culinary and Pastry Arts students are launching an innovative new program designed to hone their skills while providing nutritious meals for fellow students who are struggling financially. When the pandemic hit B.C. earlier this spring, OC’s training kitchens went dark. Students and instructors donated food to the Kelowna Food Bank as C...

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Enactus OC FruitSnaps Team
OC business students adapt FruitSnaps project to feed those in need during pandemic

June 23, 2020

When the pandemic hit, they adapted. When greater need appeared, they collaborated. When an unthinkable tragedy struck, they supported each other through it. And when the chance came to share their idea with the country, they rose to the challenge. It all started in the fall of 2018, when Okanagan College business student Abby Lagerquist noticed apples still on the trees at the end of harvest season. After inquiring with the orchard owners, she discovered that these apples were imperfect and would be left on the trees to rot (sadly, the fat...

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