2018 a ‘transitional year’ for RDC

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“We continue to do the good work that we need to, to attain that university status,” says Brinkhurst. “The first initiative was a consultation process we’ve been doing with the community over the last number of months, helping us determine and shape RDC’s future, name and brand. We’ve submitted an outline to the government as to how we will make that transition and we have to work with quality council which is a body within Alberta to attain that status.”

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With the 2019 Canada Winter Games fast approaching, Brinkhurst says the new student residence will soon be ready as an athlete’s village.

“Construction has been going very well, we anticipate that we will be fully ready to receive the athletes for the Canada Winter Games,” he explains. “It will be a brand new facility, so hopefully we’ll have some of the bugs worked out in anticipation of those athletes arriving. The schedule as it stands now, looks like that’s all achievable.”

Brinkhurst points to a number of ‘pre-games’ events they’ve hosted in preparation for the Games including speed skating, figure skating, wheelchair basketball and badminton.

In terms of challenges over the past year, Brinkhurst notes their transition to more of an alternative energy direction moving forward.

“It was major for Red Deer College, we have over 4,200 solar panels now that are installed on the campus and that’s been lots of work in different areas to achieve that outcome,” states Brinkhurst. “Along with our combined heat and power plant and now with movement towards the prospect of becoming a ‘net zero’ campus within five to eight years, that’s our next major initiative. So that kind of transition doesn’t come without challenges as you do that good work.”

Following the 2019 Canada Winter Games from February 15-March 3, Brinkhurst says they will be seeking approval from the government once they have a name selected for the new university.

“Once that’s approved by government, then it’s a case of when can that name be used as we make that significant transition to a university,” adds Brinkhurst. “With a spring election in mind, it may be difficult to nail that down.”

Other initiatives noted by Brinkhurst include the start of construction this spring on a new Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre on campus, a development Brinkhurst says will link programming and work experiences for students at RDC.

With numerous capital projects recently completed, underway or already announced, Brinkhurst anticipates the focus moving forward to be quality programming well delivered.

“What we need to do is thank the community for their continued support of Red Deer College,” says Brinkhurst. “The reason we have university status is a big contributor from their involvement and lobbying to make that happen, so thanks to the community for helping us grow and meet the demands that are within this community.”