The results of the 2013-2014 provincial government’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI) surveys have been released. Our efforts to ensure the student experience continues to come first at Durham College have translated into increases in four of five areas as measured by the KPIs. Our student satisfaction; graduate employment; graduate satisfaction; and graduation rates have all improved, some by two to three percentage points.

In addition, 92.2 per cent of employers are satisfied with their hiring of a Durham College graduate.

Four students in Nursing programs offered collaboratively by Durham College (DC) and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) have received prestigious scholarships from the Registered Nurses Foundation of Ontario (RNFOO). The awards recognize the students’ academic achievements and positive contributions to the nursing field.

“On behalf of Durham College I extend my sincere congratulations to each of our students for this wonderful accomplishment,” said Susan Sproul, Dean, DC School of Health & Community Services. “These awards demonstrate their commitment to hard work, dedication and academic excellence and the college and university’s dedication to providing high-quality nursing training designed to prepare students to play a leading role in the health-care sector come graduation.”

Recipients include:

• Nicole Deziel, UOIT-DC Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program, class of 2016: RNFOO Undergraduate Scholarship, which provides assistance to first- or second-year undergraduate nursing students who demonstrate high academic standing and outstanding potential in their chosen career, – $1,500
• Karen Foell, UOIT-DC Collaborative Registered Practical Nursing (RPN)-to-BScN program, class of 2016: Regina Borowska Scholarship, which is awarded to individuals who wish to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing, with preference given to post-diploma RNs, RPNs and applicants whose professional career goals enable them to contribute to the advancement of nursing, – $2,000
• Egers Metaj, UOIT-DC Collaborative RPN-to-BScN program, class of 2016: Regina Borowska Scholarship – $1,000
• Grace Wilson, UOIT-DC Collaborative BScN program, class of 2015: Dorothy Ferguson Scholarship, awarded to a nursing student pursuing a bachelor’s or graduate degree who demonstrates outstanding leadership potential,  – $2,000

“Congratulations to Nicole, Karen, Egers and Grace on their exciting achievements,” said Dr. Sue Coffey, director, Nursing, UOIT. “These awards are a testament of their hard work and commitment to their studies, as well as the success of the Collaborative Nursing program in producing nurses committed to professionalism and quality care.”

On March 22, Durham College (DC) opened its doors to over 3600 prospective students and families as it held its annual spring open house, offering potential students a glimpse into a future at DC by providing them with an opportunity to gain more insight about their educational and career choices from over 600 DC student and faculty volunteers.

The event showcased DC’s Oshawa and Whitby campuses and the Pickering Learning Site. Attendees had the chance to explore and learn about the colleges numerous services and state-of-the-art facilities through guided tours and information sessions with areas such as career services, financial aid and admissions being highlighted.

Attendees also took part in several fun activities including Ask the President which provided the opportunity to speak directly with DC President Don Lovisa; DC Photo booth which offered the unique experience of a photo booth reel; and Passport to Success which gave students the chance to win an iPad or a tuition certificate valued at $2,500 by visiting different stations located throughout the campus. All completed passports were entered in a draw with winners selected at a later date.

If you missed the spring open house but are interested in a tour of Durham College, please contact the Admissions and Recruitment Office at 905.721.3000 or visit us online to learn more about our extensive program offerings.

Durham College (DC) maintains a commitment to providing students in need with the financial aid necessary to succeed in pursuing their post-secondary education. As part of this commitment, DC hosted its annual donor and student reception on March 25 at the Whitby campus’ Centre for Food.

The donor and student reception is held annually to provide student award recipients the chance to meet their donors face-to-face and thank them for their assistance during their college journey. As well, the reception allows students and members of the community to share their personal stories and experiences at DC.

“The bursaries donated to Durham College provide much needed financial assistance to deserving students and enable Durham College to maintain a quality learning environment designed to help students reach their full potential and develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market,” said Durham College President Don Lovisa at the reception.

More than $152,000 was donated toward DC-endowed bursaries for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. These bursaries were directed to students of any age, background or culture, with good academic standing, who because of a myriad of circumstances confronting them in a critical stage of their lives displayed a financial need. This included new bursary donations from TD Bank and the Durham Region chapter of the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists.

At the reception, David Chambers, president of the Durham College Foundation and associate vice-president of the Durham College Office of Development, spoke of the immeasurable value of donations in providing students with the opportunity to focus on their educational goals.

“By creating an award, scholarship or bursary, these wonderful donors demonstrate that our students’ success matters,” said Chambers. “These contributions make a significant difference in the lives of recipients, allowing each of them to navigate their post-secondary experience confidently and worry-free.”

Students interested in applying for a donor award can do so through MyCampus. For more information on the Durham College Awards program and a listing of awards, please visit the Donor Awards page.

On March 21, the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations’ Paragon Awards recognized Durham College’s Communications and Marketing department with a Gold Award in the Successful Recruitment or Marketing Program category for the ‘After I graduate, I’m going to?’ campaign.

Launched in May 2013, the integrated marketing campaign was developed to support recruitment for programs seeing low enrolment numbers for September 2013. Focused on what a student might say if asked what they want to do after graduation in relation to their program choice, the goal was to connect prospective students with current students to help them see where their future might take them.

The department conducted a photo shoot with students and the images were used across all mediums to create a series of advertisements focused on different areas of interest including business, design, engineering, sustainability, graduate studies and more with written content based on the answer to the question “What do you want to do when you graduate?”

Dynamic and implemented on a budget of less than $40,000, the campaign was executed through a number of advertising platforms including newspaper and bus ads, online, social media (Twitter and Facebook), posters, brochures, digital signage, radio, video (YouTube), movie theatre (Cineplex Odeon), a microsite, the Durham College website and email signatures.

From May to September the microsite received close to 70,000 page views and the campaign garnered 809 video views on YouTube.

The only national competition of its kind that honours excellence exclusively among marketing and public relations professionals at two-year colleges, the Paragon Awards recognize outstanding achievement in communications at community and technical colleges.

This is the college’s second award for the same campaign; in January it received a Gold Award from the Educational Digital Marketing Awards, presented by the Higher Education Marketing Report,  for the ‘After I graduate, I’m going to? microsite.

For more information, please visit the Paragon Awards page.  

With an overall participation of 13.8 per cent, Durham College’s (DC) Alumni office is pleased to announce the winning school of the inaugural Graduating Students School Cup Challenge is the School of Skilled Trades, Apprenticeship & Renewal Technology (START)!

Overall, the contest saw 447 students share their best DC experience as well as the faculty or staff member that had a positive impact during their studies.

The Alumni office received 87 total submissions from START and as a result, the school will have a $1,000 bursary awarded to a DC student for the 2014-2015 academic year in the school’s name plus have START inscribed on the trophy.

The School of Justice & Emergency Services (JES) demonstrated the second-highest student participation with 13.3 per cent (117 total submissions) and will have a $500 bursary donated in their name to a DC student for the 2014-2015 academic year.

In addition, Courtney Bashaw, a student in the Community Integration through Cooperative Education (CICE) program (School of Interdisciplinary Studies & Employment Services) was the winner of $500 for sharing her favourite DC experience as part of the challenge. Courtney said her favourite moment was when she was given the chance to work on her communication skills in Lynette Jenkins communication class. She got to meet new people and got to know them more.

Jessi Post, a student in the Culinary Skills program (Centre for Food) was the lucky recipient of a pair of Toronto Maple Leafs tickets. The final overall standings for school participation are as follows:

1. START (including Centre for Food) – 13.8 per cent
2. JES – 13.3 per cent
3. School of Interdisciplinary Studies & Employment Services – 9.1 per cent
4. School of Business, IT & Management – 8.5 per cent
5. School of Health & Community Services – 8.4 per cent
6. School of Science & Engineering Technology – 7.4 per cent
7. School of Media, Art & Design – 6.9 per cent

Congratulations to START and JES; Courtney ($500 winner); and Jessi (Leafs ticket winner) and thank you to all of the students who participated!

Students in Durham College’s (DC) Journalism – Web and Print program were provided with a unique classroom experience on March 18 as a scheduled lecture on interviewing was transformed into a collective interview of one of Canada’s most iconic broadcasting voices, Peter Mansbridge.

Mansbridge, chief correspondent for CBC News and the anchor of CBC’s The National, provided insight and wisdom into being a journalist to the first- to third-year students in attendance. His more than 45-year career has taken him across the country and around the world in his 45 years in the industry and his first piece of advice that he gave before receiving any questions from students pertained to the ambition required to be successful in the difficult field of broadcast journalism.

“Ambition is a good thing; you want to think big but be prepared to start small,” said Mansbridge. “When you start being witness to events that may seem small in terms of local news but are still powerful, you take that experience and then raise that up as you progress further along the line in terms of covering bigger events that have bigger consequences. You use that vantage point to tell an audience that is desperate for information and you can have an enormous impact making people more involved.”

Mansbridge touched on several key areas for students to focus on during their journey into the industry including advice about field placements; the distinct difference in writing between mediums (television, print and online); and confidence in interviewing.

“There really are no bad questions, there can be bad answers but there aren’t ever bad questions,” he said. “You may think that it’s such a simple question but quite often those simple questions can get the most successful answers. If you can get them to pause before they answer then you’ve made them think and that’s what you want to get.”

Following the question-and-answer period, Mansbridge was thanked for his time and took the time to personally meet with all of the students in attendance. Following the impromptu interview, students were tasked with accumulating the information gained into assignments as well as the creation of material for both the student-produced paper, The Chronicle, and online magazine, The Water Buffalo.

Beginning this September, students will have the chance to gain the skills and experience necessary to succeed in Mansbridge’s arena of broadcast journalism through the college’s new program stream, Journalism – Broadcast and Electronic Media. In the first year, students are introduced to the core journalism skills and will begin to focus on broadcast and online media platforms in the second year.

The post-diploma Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program, collaboratively offered by Durham College (DC), the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and Georgian College (GC), has reached a significant milestone, achieving a seven-year accreditation from the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN).

“Durham College is proud to see our collaborative RPN to BScN program recognized in such a meaningful way by the CASN, “ said Susan Sproul, dean, DC School of Health & Community Services. “This accreditation is a reflection of our important partnership with both UOIT and Georgian, the strong curriculum and learning experiences we have in place for our students and the ongoing hard work and dedication of our faculty.”

The accreditation is consistent with the seven-year accreditation status previously granted for DC and UOIT’s collaborative BScN and RPN-to-BScN programs, which are offered at the college and university’s joint campus in Oshawa.

“Congratulations to Dr. Sue Coffey and the entire nursing team on this outstanding achievement,” said Dr. Ellen Vogel, dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, UOIT. “This accreditation is a testament to the high-calibre program we provide our students and the dedication of our team.”

The collaborative DC-UOIT-GC program is an educational pathway available for individuals who have successfully completed their RPN diploma from an approved program and are interested in pursuing their BScN degree. Students enrich their knowledge in the sciences, nursing and additional disciplines while being introduced to the latest in learning technologies to enhance their success as a working professional.

Full- and part-time study options are offered at the joint UOIT/DC campus with full-time studies also available at GC’s campus in Barrie.

The CASN is the national voice for nursing education, research and scholarship in Canada. Only nursing programs successful in achieving accreditation status from the CASN Accreditation Bureau, within the term limit of the accreditation status granted, are eligible to claim CASN-Accredited Program status.

As part of its commitment to providing both international academic pathways and opportunities, Durham College (DC) announced today that its International office is hosting two professors from Brazil as part of the newly created  Brazil-Canada Technological and Professional Fellowship Exchange program, a joint initiative between  the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) and Brazil’s Secretaria de Educação Profissional e Technológica (SETEC) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). The program is designed to bring together instructors and administrators from Brazilian federal institutes of education, sciences and technology to observe how Canadian colleges operate and collaborate on projects linked to applied research and science innovations.

Paulo Roberto Barbosa, a professor of mathematics and mechanical engineering from the Instituto Federal São Paulo, and Sandra Mariotto, a food biotechnology professor from the Ïnstituto Federal do Mato Grosso, are part of a pilot group of 43 professors being hosted by ACCC-member colleges across Canada prior to the Brazil-Canada Technological and Professional Fellowship Exchange program being implemented.

Both professors arrived at DC’s Oshawa campus on February 18 for a three-month visit to explore the Canadian college system and work closely with college faculty members, administrators and subject matter experts to develop detailed curriculum for future fellow visits. In particular, they will focus on the linkages between DC and local industry from an applied research perspective.

“The idea is that upon completion of this activity in Canada, we will be well positioned to assist with designing a custom program for Brazilian educators,” said Barbosa.  “One of our main goals is related to linkages between the college and local industry and the model of applied research and innovation. It is the institutional mission of the Brazilian institutes and efforts have been made in order to have effective actuation in this area – this exchange is part of these efforts. This experience has been fantastic for us!”

In addition to participating in the Brazil-Canada Technological and Professional Fellowship Exchange program, DC is pleased to count nearly 400 international students from more than 32 countries around the world as part of its overall student population. Each receives a high-quality post-secondary educational experience and access to the college’s International office including front-line service for all aspects of the admissions process; international student mentors; and arrival services. DC also offers Canadian students looking to study aboard access to academic pathways with universities in Ireland, Australia and the United States as part of the more than 450 academic pathway opportunities in place with universities in Ontario, Canada and around the world.  

Durham College is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Alumni of Distinction Awards, which are awarded at annual spring convocation ceremonies in June.

Designed to recognize the extraordinary contributions its alumni make to society while achieving career success, past Alumni of Distinction Award winners include health-care leaders; entrepreneurs; business owners; chief executive officers; journalists; multimedia designers; and many more.

 Since 1969 more than 63,000 alumni have graduated from Durham College and gone on to make a significant impact in their communities.

Winners may also be nominated for Premier’s Awards, which recognize Ontario college graduates for their tremendous contributions to the province and beyond.

Deserving alumni can be nominated via an online nomination form from now until Friday, April 11. For more information, please contact Lori Connor, alumni officer, at 905.721.2000 ext. 3035.