Monthly Archives: July 2011

Girls Explore Career Options at Trades & Technology Camps

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Staff and instructors at Red River College helped expose young women to an array of trades- and technology-related career options this summer, by hosting the Girls Exploring Trades & Technology (GETT@RRC) Camps over three weekends in July.

With a focus on technology and applied skills, the GETT@RRC camps provide girls 12-14 with a chance to explore non-traditional career options via hands-on activities and encounters with female mentors. The camps reinforce the importance of pursuing science, advanced math and industrial arts courses in high school, by stressing the impact these subjects can have on future career choices.

“During the five-day GETT camps, the instructor and assistants emphasize to the girls the importance of continuing with Math and Science courses because many occupations, particularly technical ones, require a solid grounding in these subjects,” says Dr. Dale Watts, Dean of the School of Construction and Engineering Technologies. “An awareness of that requirement at this age may provide the motivation for these students to continue taking Math and Science courses throughout secondary school.”

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Shaw TV’s Joanne Kelly to Join RRC’s CreComm Team

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205186_5410051717_581081717_98286_9423_n Shaw TV’s loss is Red River College’s gain.

Longtime Shaw TV personality Joanne Kelly has revealed she’ll be leaving the community-access channel by mid-August, having accepted a new position as a journalism instructor with RRC’s industry-renowned Creative Communications program.

“I can’t believe I am writing this,” Kelly said in a Twitter post yesterday, “but after seven amazing years at Shaw TV I am moving on to my other dream job — teaching CreComm!!!”

Kelly — who’s served as host and producer at Shaw since 2004, and a producer at CTV stations in Winnipeg and Vancouver in years prior — will take over broadcast journalism duties from former CreComm instructor Steve Vogelsang, who retired in June. Continue reading →

RRC Instructor Accepts Prestigious Industry Award

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General Mills

Red River College instructor Linda Ament accepted a prestigious honour on behalf of General Mills Winnipeg recently, after the company was named Employer of the Year at the Manitoba Food Processors Association’s Industry Excellence Awards.

The award was based on a wide range of criteria, including General Mills’ employee relations, training, communications, continuous improvement, labour relations, and compensation and benefits practices. Ament (shown, bottom right), who serves as Human Resources Manager at GM’s Winnipeg plant, says the honour comes at an especially important time in the company’s evolution.

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Measuring Sustainability Success

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Building on the honour of being named one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2011, Red River College (RRC) is the first post-secondary institution in Manitoba to join a new program to measure sustainability in all aspects of higher education across North America.

The Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) is administered by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). To date, over 230 higher education institutions have registered as STARS participants, including 22 in Canada.

"We’re participating in STARS to give us a measure of our sustainability performance in all areas of the College – from the courses we deliver, to the way we operate our campus, and the way we plan for the future," explained Sara MacArthur, Manager of Sustainability for RRC.

AASHE’s STARS program is the only one of its kind that involves publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in three overall areas: 1) education & research, 2) operations, and 3) planning, administration & engagement.

“The advantage of STARS is that institutions can earn credits for all of their contributions to sustainability,” said AASHE Executive Director, Paul Rowland. “From providing sustainability coursework, to using green cleaning products, to energy efficiency in campus buildings, there are lots of opportunities for a school to identify and track its sustainability progress.”

STARS is open to all institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Canada, and the program criteria and ratings are transparent and accessible to anyone. Because it provides a common standard of measurement, STARS allows colleges and universities to compare their sustainability performance against peers across North America.

"We're looking forward to engaging the College community in this process, and watching our sustainability efforts grow across all our campuses through our participation in STARS,” said MacArthur.

For more information about the STARS program, visit www.aashe.org/stars.

RRC Appoints New Chair of Aviation and Aerospace

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Bill Fraser has been appointed the new Chair of the Aviation and Aerospace department at Red River College.

Bill has been involved in aircraft maintenance training for 16 years, and has spent the last nine years as the coordinator for the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) diploma program at RRC's Stevenson Campus in Winnipeg. Previously, he worked for several companies as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, including eight years as a crew chief supervising AMEs and apprentices. Bill holds a current AME M1 and M2 license.    

An accomplished writer, Bill is the author of “CARs for the AME”, a text on the Canadian Aviation Regulations used by approved training and maintenance organizations across Canada. He has also published articles for the CBC, Wings magazine and the Winnipeg Free Press. Bill has been very active within the Manitoba aerospace and aviation industry, and has received an award of recognition from the Manitoba Aerospace Association for his leadership in organizing aviation events, such as the Centennial of Flight Aircraft Display.

"Bill is very enthusiastic about the future for aviation and aerospace in Manitoba, Canada and globally," says Don MacDonald, Dean of RRC's School of Transportation, Aviation and Manufacturing. "We are excited to have him lead our aviation and aerospace programs, staff and students — ensuring we meet the challenges and opportunities of the future."