By rdnewsNOW staff

long time coming

Red Deer College to become polytechnic

May 4, 2021 | 9:50 AM

Red Deer College will become a polytechnic institution.

Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides made the announcement during a virtual event Tuesday morning.

The province says RDC becoming a polytechnic enables it to better align programming with local student, business and industry needs – including high-quality degrees, apprenticeship education and diploma programs.

Provincial government officials say they worked in partnership with Red Deer College and student leaders to determine the most flexible and best-fit model for central Alberta, with a goal of ensuring students have access to the education they need and employers in the region have access to the talent they need.

“Ensuring all Albertans have access to opportunities to build their skills for in-demand local jobs empowers people to achieve success close to home, helps strengthen and grow communities, as well as attracting investment to the province,” Nicolaides said.

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“We are very supportive of the polytechnic designation because this model will allow us to build on our strengths to become an ever more innovative institution that will best serve our students, partners, industry and community members. Becoming a polytechnic achieves all of the goals we have had for many years, and it allows us to consider exciting new possibilities for the future,” said RDC Board Chair Guy Pelletier.

“We need to be a competitive contender in keeping and attracting new population to our city,” said Mayor Tara Veer, “and one of the most promising means of doing so is through the development of a skilled labour force, offering a broader spectrum of career options locally, and attracting a population who will stay and strengthen our local economy through their future contributions in various sectors.”

Last week, the provincial government shared its future vision, “Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs,” officials say provides a framework for the province’s post-secondary sector moving forward.

The former NDP government gave the green light in March 2018 for RDC to pursue university status. That was put on hold by the UCP government pending a review of post-secondary education in Alberta.

Polytechnic status in Alberta enables institutions to offer apprenticeship education along with degree, diploma and certificate programs. Red Deer College is currently approved to offer three degree programs, including the recently approved bachelor of science in biological sciences degree.

The institution has also put forward four degree program proposals to Advanced Education for program approval review. These include: bachelor of arts (psychology), bachelor of science (psychology), bachelor of business administration and bachelor of education.

Savannah Snow, president, Students’ Association of Red Deer College, acknowledges that more degrees allowing RDC students to broaden their options, is a top priority.

“Red Deer is ready for a polytechnic. Students of central Alberta want to learn and live close to their support systems. We need to stop the brain drain and focus on what really matters most – making sure our population is well-educated and remains in this region,” she said.

In terms of when the new polytechnic status officially goes into effect, Nicolaides says a little more works still needs to be done in advance of that changeover.

“Primarily, there needs to be a change of mandate for the institution to reflect its updated status and new priorities,” he explains. “That will require some time for us to connect with Dr. Nunoda and Guy and the rest of the team at RDC to make sure we get the new mandate right. So we will be doing that over the course of the next few weeks and months. I anticipate we’ll be in a position as late as this fall to have all of those pieces in place and formalized.”

An official new name for the institution has not yet been chosen either, but is expected to be announced in the coming months.

“A series of approvals are currently underway to confirm the name of our post-secondary institution. For now, we are still proudly operating as Red Deer College and we will continue to be known as such,” Pelletier explained. “We will stay connected over the next several months to let all of our students, employees, partners, supporters, and community members know what our new name will be and when we will officially become known as a polytechnic.”

“The polytechnic status for Red Deer College is precisely the way that we want to go from an institutional perspective,” Nunoda added. “I’m confident to say that for the foreseeable future, our path is clear and we will continue to innovate and serve students and our communities to the maximum of our abilities. But we have so much flexibility now as a polytechnic.”