Bow Valley College hosts open house

Times Reporter

 

Bow Valley College, BVC, will be hosting one of the first community consultations on May 25 at the Civic Centre. 

“This is our engagement of the community and we’ll have four key areas we want to talk to them about,” said Teri McKinnon, one of three new education representatives hired by BVC in mid-February.   

The idea is for McKinnon, and her cohorts in Cochrane and Okotoks, to help residents and employers find education and training programs within the community.

“If we run programming out here, they have to be programs that are going to build the community, and we keep talking about education as a catalyst for economic development,” said McKinnon. 

“But I think it’s the catalyst for community development as well, because we’re back on that talent retention idea where we really want people to stay, study, and work in Strathmore and that’s what we’re building.”

One of the key areas that will be discussed is accessibility, what kind of learning are people looking at. For example, would future students want a blended classroom, a fully online classroom, or campus style traditional classroom? BVC also plans to discuss content, resources and sustainability. 

“Those will be the four questions we’re going to ask them about. When we talk about resources, we talk about existing community partnerships and alignments with others. Whether they come inside the workplace or they come inside the health force,” said McKinnon. 

“It’s going to be really exciting.”

Before being able to provide the community with what they may want, a needs assessment and consultations with the public must be done to determine exactly what the needs are. The open house begins at 5:30 p.m. on May 25.