On September 20, the grounds of Durham College’s (DC) W. Galen Weston Centre for Food (CFF) were once again filled with guests dining under the stars during the fourth-annual Harvest Dinner, as 130 community members celebrated fall’s abundance.

In keeping with the CFF’s field-to-fork philosophy, the family-style meal featured food planted on and picked from the CFF’s grounds and prepared by its students. Beginning with assorted appetizers including DC-made charcuterie and cheeses, the meal consisted of seven courses ranging from a trio of garden fresh salads, baked black beans with triple-smoked pork belly to Ontario lamb and apple goulash and roasted Ontario-beef striploin. Desserts included pavlova with raspberry pink-peppercorn marmalade and beet-velvet cake.

The event was the culmination of countless hours spent preparing in the CFF’s fields, labs and classrooms. It was a true team effort that saw Horticulture – Food and Farming and Horticulture Technician students cultivate and harvest the produce used in the meal, Culinary Management, Culinary Skills and students prepare the dinner and students from the Special Events Management, Hospitality – Hotel and Restaurant Operations and Hospitality Skills programs serve guests.

For those who missed the Harvest Dinner, CFF fruits and vegetables, as well as other local ingredients, will continue to be served at Bistro ’67, the college’s full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant. Fresh produce and student-prepared goods are also available at Pantry, the retail store within the CFF. For anyone looking to expand their own culinary skills, cooking classes and demonstrations are available through DC’s School of Continuing Education.

For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca/cff.

Durham College (DC) is pleased to welcome approximately 13,600 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students, including over 1,800 international students representing 64 different countries from around the world. This includes over 7,300 first year students and, as a testament to the value of a college education and the importance of both theoretical and experiential learning, over 530 students will join DC having already attended university.

“This is going to be another exciting year for DC,” said Paul Bishop, executive director, Strategic Enrolment Services, registrar, Durham College. “The diversity of our student population – from first-time students to those with previous university experience – is a testament not only to the market-driven programs offered at the college but also its commitment to ensuring students are learning the skills they need to succeed in today’s rapidly changing economy.”

Over the last several years, DC has developed a number of programs that are not only the first of their kind in Canada, they have also been created in direct response to industry needs. These include the college’s new degree, the Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management, which addresses an identified gap in the health care sector for professionals with a hybrid skill set consisting of medical technology expertise and business management acumen, and Mechanical Technician – Elevating Devices.

Other programs new to DC this fall include Civil Engineering Technician, Civil Engineering Technology,Cosmetic Techniques and Management, Data Analytics for Business Decision Making, Esthetician – Spa Management and Power Engineering Techniques – Fourth Class, all of which have been created with a successful career after graduation in mind.

Also new is the Centre for Collaborative Education (CFCE), which just opened its doors at the college’s Oshawa campus. Home to the Durham College Spa providing massage therapy, cosmetic and esthetic programs and services, as well as many other innovative spaces, such as the Global Classroom, the CFCE was designed to support experiential, modern approaches to learning, helping usher DC and its approximately 13,600 students into the future.

On September 5, Durham College (DC) flung open the doors to the Centre for Collaborative Education (CFCE) and invited students and employees to explore the newest building on the Oshawa campus.

While enjoying free cupcakes and lemonade, as well as music spun by DJ Greedo, members of the campus community took self-guided tours of the CFCE’s innovative learning spaces, which include the following:

• 360insights Entrepreneurship Centre, home to FastStartDC, a program that helps students and youth develop valid business ideas and plans to take their products and services to market quickly and successfully. 
• Centre for Success and Academic Upgrading, home to the School-College-Work Initiative, a partnership between DC and five regional school boards, which assists at-risk students to earn their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) in a college environment and find their way to post-secondary education. Students also have the opportunity to take college-level courses in order to earn dual credits that can be counted against both completing their OSSD and a chosen college program. Academic upgrading supports mature students in achieving prerequisites they need in order to pursue post-secondary education. 
• Durham College Spa, an inclusive space committed to making beauty, health and wellness accessible and more affordable for all, while supporting the intensive training and learning of a new generation of massage therapy practitioners, makeup artists and estheticians. It includes a massage therapy clinic and makeup and esthetics labs. 
• First Peoples Indigenous Centre (formerly the Aboriginal Student Centre) which uses a holistic approach to education, serving First Nations, Métis and Inuit students by focusing on their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. 
• Global Classroom, where state-of-the-art technology enables students and faculty to discuss topics in a virtual classroom, joined by experts and other students from around the world in real time to foster intercultural competency and experience. 
• Interprofessional Simulation Lab, a 21-bed unit that simulates a hospital environment for students in various health-care programs. 
• Office of Student Diversity, Inclusion and Transitions, a space dedicated to ensuring that DC students feel welcomed and supported on campus through a variety of diverse and comprehensive programs designed to foster academic and social growth.

Located on Simcoe St. North, the CFCE stands just east of where the aging Simcoe building once stood. The new multi-level facility is a legacy project tied to DC’s 50th anniversary in 2017 and will now serve as an educational access point for students while bringing together local, Indigenous and global community groups and members of key business sectors.

Up next for the CFCE will be a formal, by-invitation grand opening celebration on Tuesday, October 2, which will include an Indigenous ceremony, official ribbon-cutting, unveiling of the donor wall and time capsule installation.

On August 28, employees from all corners of Durham College (DC) gathered together at the annual Academic Kickoff event for a morning of inspiration and motivation ahead of the new school year.

Led by Dr. Elaine Popp, DC’s vice-president, Academic, the event gave colleagues at the college a chance to reconnect while also sharing and igniting new ideas to continue growing the student experience inside the classroom and beyond.

Dr. Gerard Puccio, department chair and professor at the International Centre for Studies in Creativity, Buffalo State, delivered this year’s keynote address. A renowned creativity scholar, Dr. Puccio discussed creativity as a life skill and shared strategies with DC employees to unleash creativity in their own work and inspire it in students.

The morning also featured a panel presentation and discussion by student entrepreneurs from FastStart, the college’s free, co-curricular program that helps DC students and youth from the greater college community to develop and launch their own businesses.

The FastStart panel shared examples of how DC encourages and supports students’ entrepreneurial pursuits. Emphasis was also put on promoting and encouraging entrepreneurship to more students, including those specializing in creative arts, social innovation, food and more.

As part of its ongoing commitment to putting the student experience first, Durham College (DC) is redeveloping its Student Centre to offer new spaces, dining options and additional space for supports.

While the location remains the same, the redeveloped space will now be home to:

• New dining options for all students and employees, available as of Tuesday, September 4
  • Booster Juice – Enjoy premium smoothies and juices.
  • The Grill House – Enjoy fresh food options representing global cuisine.
• New student spaces
  • eSports Gaming Arena – Scheduled to open in 2019, the arena is part one of a four-phase eSports plan, which will also see an eSports club, varsity program and eventually, integration of eSports into current and future curriculum.  More information about eSports at DC can be found on the website.
  • Student Lounge – Students will be able to enjoy downtime and study in the newly renovated Student Lounge, which is scheduled to open at the end of September.
• SALS Tutoring Centre available as of Monday, September 3
  • Student Academic Learning Services (SALS) is extending their services to the Student Centre. In addition to the supports and programs offered in the Student Services building, students can access the SALS Tutoring Centre in room 217, a space dedicated to peer tutoring. SALS workshops and drop-in tutoring sessions will be offered and the area will also serve as a student study space for individuals and homework groups. Contact SALS by email or at ext. 2491 for additional information on available services.
• DC Students Inc.
  • DC Students Inc. (DCSI) provides a range of services from administration of the health and dental plan to offering outreach services:  support, counselling, information, referrals, events, and training with a focus on four key areas: Women’s Issues, Pride and the LGBTQ Centre, sexual health and the Campus Food Centre, a food bank available to all DC students who need help making ends meet. Email DCSI for additional information on the services they offer.

As the college prepares for another exciting academic year, the Student Centre will continue to play a vital role in campus life and we look forward to sharing it with the college community.

On July 16, in anticipation of the opening of Durham College’s (DC) new Centre for Collaborative Education (CFCE), demolition of the Simcoe building began.

“Thousands of students, hundreds of employees and countless student groups and service areas called the Simcoe building’s classrooms, offices and meeting rooms home for nearly 50 years,” said Don Lovisa, president, DC. “While the building will no longer be physically present, its place in the college’s history will be forever remembered.”

Part of DC’s Building Something Amazing capital campaign, the new four-storey CFCE will replace the Simcoe building by bringing together local, Indigenous and global communities, and provide a new home for several of the college’s innovative and ground-breaking programs.

The demolition will also reclaim land for the Simcoe Geothermal Field project, a living lab that will help to create a net-zero carbon footprint in existing campus buildings. It will be incorporated into a wide variety of program curricula to address new green-energy technologies and careers.

In commemoration of the Simcoe building and its impact on campus life through the years, pieces of its iconic stone façade, removed as part of the ground-breaking ceremony in 2016, have been incorporated into the CFCE as part of a unique entrance feature wall that symbolizes the integration of DC’s history and future. Additional stone will also be relocated to the student lounge in the Student Centre after its renovations are complete.

Demolition on the Simcoe building is expected to be complete in August.

Durham College (DC) is pleased to share that its president, Don Lovisa, has been named chair of Colleges Ontario, an advocacy organization for the province’s 24 colleges.

“Don’s passionate commitment to students and his drive to innovate will advance college education in this province,” said Linda Franklin, president and CEO of Colleges Ontario. “He’ll play a strong role in producing the best possible college system for the rapidly changing economy.”

As chair, Lovisa will serve a two-year term overseeing the college sector’s Committee of Presidents. Comprised of one representative from each of Ontario’s colleges, the committee is responsible for a wide range of decisions affecting research, advocacy, communications and marketing, and more. Its focus will be on providing quality education to prepare students for today’s in-demand careers, as well as assisting with the expansion and development of career-specific college degree programs, much like DC’s new Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management.

“In an environment of mass change, automation and technological disruption, it is essential that more people have access to a high-quality, skills-focused post-secondary,” Lovisa said. “The colleges’ entrepreneurial approach and expertise in experiential learning can ensure Ontario is at the forefront of the new economy.”

Lovisa is no stranger to leadership, having served as the founding co-chair of the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer and chair of Colleges Ontario’s 50th anniversary task force. He was also one of the driving forces behind the Idea Summit, a conference bringing together local business leaders to discuss strategies for creating jobs and stimulating local investment, as well as establishing an Innovation Hub in the Durham Region.

The DC community offers its support and congratulations on this impactful achievement.