Collaboration & Partnerships
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...
Read more...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 V...
Read more...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, ...
Read more...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,...
Read more...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 ei...
Read more...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 De...
Read more...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. “Strengtheni...
Read more...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 ...
Read more...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 constan...
Read more...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 ...
Read more...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 Hamil...
Read more...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...
Read more...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 fa...
Read more...College and Westbank First Nation sign new MOU, continue to deepen partnership
June 21, 2020
Okanagan College and Westbank First Nation (WFN) recently signed a new Memorandum of Understanding, building on a long history of working together to increase access and support WFN members in achieving their post-secondary education goals. In all, the new MOU outlines seven ways in which the partners will continue to collaborate on projects and programs that will benefit learners from the WFN community, while helping both organizations learn from one another and build professional capacity. Signing on behalf of Westbank First Nation was...
Read more...Kelowna Chevrolet invests in health professionals
May 28, 2020
Kelowna Chevrolet is investing in future health care professionals, with a $50,000 donation to the Our Students, Your Health campaign for a new Health Sciences Centre at Okanagan College. Kelowna Chevrolet Dealer Partner Ian Speckman says he felt a responsibility to support the state-of-the-art Health Sciences Centre that will train health care professionals for the region. “As we’re all realizing, health care professionals are essential for our community,” says Speckman. “This is about supporting students so they can get the right train...
Read more...Contest winner inspired to help others
May 26, 2020
When Brittani Sali answered the phone and learned she was the winner of a $5,000 tuition giveaway contest, she thought she might be dreaming. The 22-year old was just waking up, and she hadn’t been expecting the call from local radio announcer B Mack. Lucky for Sali, winning the tuition giveaway towards any health program at Okanagan College wasn’t a dream. The 22-year old was among one of 80 people who entered the contest, which was sponsored by the Payton and Dillon Budd Memorial Fund, in partnership with Virgin Radio and the Okanagan C...
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