Durham College’s Access and Support Centre (ASC) is committed to the belief that inclusion benefits everyone. On May 13, ASC staff members Kirston Arbour, disability advisor and Meghan Houghton, director of Learning and Disability Services were recognized for their dedication as they received the Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) Accessibility Award for outstanding commitment to accessibility for students who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing.

Since 1996 the CHS Accessibility Award has recognized individuals, businesses or organizations that have made or are making a significant or ongoing contribution that promotes the well-being and advancement of people with hearing issues.

The ASC has taken on numerous initiatives during their four-year partnership with the CHS including case consultations to jointly support students in the classroom as well as in the placement setting; development and delivery of workshops for faculty and staff; and promoting CHS services such as employment support and mental health counseling.

The joint initiatives have provided faculty and staff with tools to eliminate barriers. Student workshops have also provided opportunities to learn about employment supports and assistive devices that can increase access to the learning environment available through the CHS.

“About ten per cent of our student population has a disability and we want to ensure all our students can be successful and all the services we offer at the centre end up supporting that commitment,” Said vice-president of Student Affairs Margaret Greenley as she spoke of the importance of the ASC.

This past year, the ASC logged more than 12,300 service hours where interpreters or computerized note takers were in class providing assistance at both Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). Arbour, who is responsible for the scheduling and implementation of this service, has attended several external training sessions to continue her professional development and develop workshops for faculty and support staff in collaboration with the CHS.

“It is important that any student that walks though the doors has access to an inclusive environment,” said Arbour. “We appreciated the opportunity to work with the CHS to eliminate barriers and are looking forward to continued work with the faculty and staff to benefit all students.”

Houghton provides leadership and support for the ASC staff and has played a major role in ensuring students have access to technological devices that will ensure further inclusion. This past year, the ASC purchased the Bellman Alerting system which will help provide more inclusive placement opportunities for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing students. The Bellman Alerting system is a small portable device that uses flashing lights or strong vibrations to help individuals identify sounds that they would normally be unable to detect such as phones, alarms and doors.

“CHS has been our strongest partnership this year,” said Houghton. “We really appreciate all the support they have given us.”

Along with deaf, deafened or hard of hearing students, the ASC also provides services for students with learning disabilities as well as ADHD, physical, medical, mental health and visual disabilities. More than 1,000 students were registered with the ASC in the 2012-13 academic year.

In honour of nurses across the country and to celebrate their own nursing programs, Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) celebrated the 28th National Nursing week from May 6 to 12. The two institutions kicked off the week by welcoming Ontario’s Chief Nursing Officer, Dr. Debra Bournes to campus to speak with students and faculty.

The dialogue focused on the benefits of DC and UOIT’s partnership as well as the tremendous collaborative research strengths and innovating programming. First-year Practical Nursing student Mary Michalski attended the discussion with Dr. Bournes and faculty from both DC and UOIT.

“Debra Bournes provided insight into what nurses are initiating at the provincial level, and the health-care issues the Ministry of Health is currently working on and improving,” Michalski said.

Susan Sproul, dean of the School of Health & Community Services, said Bournes’ visit was to acknowledge and celebrate Durham College and UOIT as nurse educators, as well as to focus on improving the college’s Practical Nursing (PN) program and the Nursing – Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) (Hons) program offered by both the college and university.

“Both programs are offered on a shared campus at the same location.  Many of the PN students bridge into the four year nursing degree program,” said Sproul.

Always passionate about becoming a nurse, Michalski encouraged all students going into similar fields to get involved in the events taking place during the week.

“If nursing is your chosen profession, then Nursing Week is your chance to celebrate,” said Michalski. “Nurses make a difference in the lives of others.”

Attracting more than 50 learning facilitators from across the province, Durham College recently hosted the 6th annual Community Integration through Co-operative Education (CICE) Provincial Conference from May 8 to 10. The conference was designed to expand on existing initiatives that advocate for students who need extra support in the classroom as part of the college’s two-year CICE program.

CICE program liaison and field placement officer Karen Anderson spoke to the group about the many benefits of the existing program and the future initiatives that they hope to implement at Durham College and across the province.

“Our program is for students who won’t graduate with a diploma on their own, said Anderson.  “They wouldn’t be able to come to college without our program.”

The key note speaker for the conference was MPP for Whitby-Oshawa Christine Elliot, who has a personal interest in CICE as her son, John recently graduated from the program.

“The CICE program gives students an opportunity to get training, meet friends and get a job,” Elliott said. “John is going to be graduating with opportunities for a job and I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for my family.”

“This program has turned my son into who he is today.”

CICE graduate Scott Franklin, pulled on the heartstrings of everyone in attendance with his touching words and gratitude for those involved with the program.

“I miss coming to school everyday and saying hi to everyone. If I didn’t come here (CICE) I wouldn’t be where I am,” he said.

Connie Bell, a learning facilitator at Durham College was one of the many teary-eyed audience members and has seen the wonderful things the program provides.

“Students blossom here. You really see how much they grow from the first day until they leave two years later,” said Bell.  “It’s their choice to be here, and their choice to grow as a person academically and socially.”

Durham College President Don Lovisa, attended the event and spoke about the benefits of the program and the unique opportunities it provides students.

“We are so proud that Durham College has taken a leadership role in offering this program, which is so important to the community,” Lovisa said. “The CICE program provides a unique opportunity for individuals with intellectual disabilities or significant learning challenges to learn at their own pace at a college level, and to be successful.”

Durham College’s Board of Governors is pleased to announce that Ron Chatterton will serve as its chair, effective Monday, July 1, 2013 through to Monday, June 30, 2014.

The chair assists the president in securing strategic partnerships and college funding essential to its operation and advancement; supports and advises the president through collegial partnership; fosters teamwork among board members; presides over executive and board meetings; and communicates board-stated positions and decisions.

Chatterton is the director of Refurbishment Support in the nuclear power plant refurbishment sector of Atlantic Nuclear Services Inc. Previously he was an operations manager with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), supporting the development of its new reactor designs and prior to joining AECL worked at Ontario Hydro as an authorized control room operator at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station ‘A’. He also spent two years at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant in Romania where he assisted and trained Romanian staff about placing power plant systems into initial service and worked at Ontario Power Generation, holding manager positions in Operations, Outage and Maintenance at the Darlington and Pickering ‘B’ Nuclear Power Plants.

In addition to the appointment of Chatterton to chair of the board, Pierre Tremblay will serve as vice-chair, also effective July 1, 2013 through to June 30, 2014.

The vice-chair assists the chair in his or her role and shares the responsibilities of the standing committee meetings and any special events. Tremblay is a well-respected and dedicated leader in the Canadian Nuclear industry who was most recently appointed deputy chief nuclear officer and executive vice-president, Canadian Nuclear Partners, OPG. A Canadian Nuclear business veteran, his extensive career at OPG has spanned over 35 years. 

Some of Durham College’s most technologically talented students will see if they have the skills to pay the bills at the 24th annual Ontario Technological Skills Competition (OTSC) from Monday, May 6 to Wednesday, May 8.

The event, featuring more than 1,900 elementary, secondary and post-secondary school competitors in more than 60 skilled trade categories, will take place at RIM Park in Waterloo, Ontario. This year, Durham will send nine students to compete in five different areas of competition.

Zachary Winch and Connor Saunders, both third-year students in the Computer Systems Technology program, will compete in the IT & Network Systems Administration category. Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Techniques (HVAC) students Jeffery Thackery and Dylan Severn will participate in the Heating Systems Technician contest, while Mitch Tempro and Jordan Best, second-year students in the Mechanical Technician – Mechanical Maintenance and Control program, will compete in the Industrial Mechanic Millwright category.

Also competing are Mike Mills and Mark Schubert, Tool and Die (Level 3 – Advanced) apprenticeship students in the Precision Machining category, while Plumber (Level 2 – Intermediate) apprenticeship student Donny Reid competes in the Plumbing competition.

Gold-medal winners in each category (except Heating Systems Technician) will be eligible to compete at the Skills Canada National Competition taking place from Wednesday, June 3 to Saturday, June 8 in Vancouver, BC. Last year, Durham College students took home two gold and two silver medals, including Plumber apprentice Ryan Voscek who eventually won the Plumbing category with a gold at the 2012 Skills Canada competition.

More than 30,000 spectators are expected at the three-day event. 

Durham Region Transit (DRT) will be making route and fare changes that may impact your usage of the Universal Transit Pass (U-Pass).

The U-Pass offers  students savings and free use of any Durham Region Transit bus and selected GO Transit bus operating in Durham Region during the academic year, seven days a week. The cost for the U-Pass is included in your full-time student fees, providing transit service to students at a fraction of regular monthly student pass rates.

The changes will become effective on Saturday, June 29 and students are encouraged to view the DRT flyer or visit the DRT website for details.

The results of the 2012-2013 provincial government’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI) surveys have been released and Durham College graduates continued to impress employers this year with an employer satisfaction rating of 95 per cent, the highest employer satisfaction of all colleges in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the Eastern Region. In addition, Durham College has the highest graduate employment rate of all colleges in the GTA with 83.7 percent of our students finding employment within six months of graduation.  

For patients who require special assistance, it’s important that they have access to a proper bed while at a hospital. That’s why Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) have joined together to support the Lakeridge Health Whitby Foundation’s Buy a Bed campaign.

Lakeridge Health Whitby has a high-priority need for specialty beds for patients with complex medical needs that require long-term hospital stays exceeding 30 days. These technologically advanced beds allow patients and hospital staff to adjust the height of the bed for easier transition from sitting to standing.

With the cost of one bed being $5,000, the foundation had originally hoped to raise $200,000 that would be used to purchase these technologically advanced beds and specialty air mattresses. However, thanks to donors like Durham College and UOIT, the foundation has surpassed their goal and recently announced that they have raised $225,000 thus far.

“This opportunity was a tremendous way to show our appreciation for their partnership in supporting our students’ learning opportunities,” said Susan Sproul, dean of the School of Health & Community Services at Durham College.

In addition to acquiring new beds, the foundation raises funds to ensure that Lakeridge Health Whitby has the best patient equipment and programs possible and invests in capital projects, equipment, specialized services and unique programs that benefit each patient and offer support to their loved ones.

Durham College has a long-standing relationship with Lakeridge Health Whitby that goes beyond donations and beds. Students of the School of Health & Community Services benefit from the opportunity to apply the knowledge they’ve learned in the classroom to real-life situations that include caring for patients in a hospital setting. 

Speaking to a packed house, former professional hockey player and sexual abuse survivor Sheldon Kennedy had Durham College students, staff and faculty hanging on every inspirational word as he described how he dealt with and overcame years of abuse at the hands of his junior hockey coach, Graham James.

Kennedy, who played for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames, answered a number of questions from the large audience as he discussed how far he has come since those dark days, when he visited the Oshawa campus on April 1.

“Pedophiles and sexual predators make up about two per cent of the population,” said Kennedy. “But it’s the other 98 per cent that we need to focus on educating.”

“It’s all about empowering bystanders (to recognize the signs) – it’s about taking action.”

Also included in the audience were a number of victims of abuse who shared their stories and thanked Kennedy for providing them with strength and inspiration. He in turn recognized their courage.

He also emphasized what he believes is the difference in being a victim and a survivor.

“You need to work hard to get out of being a victim, it’s about taking a risk to trust again,” he said. “The goal is to get people from victim to survivor but I don’t believe you’re a survivor until you’ve got your power back.”

Amy Power, a second-year student in the Child and Youth Worker program, saw the chance to hear Kennedy speak as an opportunity to better understand those she hopes to help.

“As a soon-to-be-graduate, Sheldon’s visit was an inspiring learning experience for me as a professional and a mother,” said Power. “I will soon be working with youth with similar traumatic experiences and he not only gave me an increased knowledge on the subject of sexual abuse and prevention strategies, but also advice and ideas that I can carry with me throughout my career to better help my clients.”

Kennedy has turned his troubled past, which included struggles with alcohol, depression and cocaine addiction, into creating awareness about sexual abuse and preventing it. In 2004, he, along with Wayne McNeil, founded Respect in Sport – Canada’s only online bullying, abuse, harassment and neglect prevention program for coaches and community leaders.

Since its inception, the program has been implemented by a number of national and provincial sports organizations including Hockey Canada, USA Triathlon, Sport Manitoba and many more.      

As part of Durham College’s commitment to provide financial aid to students in need, the college hosted a donor reception at the Oshawa campus’s Student Services building on March 26.

Student recipients were able to meet their donors face-to-face and thank them for their assistance during their college journey. In the 2012-2013 academic year, more than $1.6 million was donated to Durham College-endowed bursaries which allows students to pay for essential items like laptops, textbooks and school supplies or for daily expenses like food or clothing.

Durham College President Don Lovisa spoke at the event and emphasized the importance of college donors and what these awards mean to the students.

“Long-term investments in our students by our endowment fund donors, are what helps lead to quality employment and stronger neighbourhoods across Durham Region, Ontario and Canada,” said Lovisa. 

An example of this type of partnership is the contributions of Ontario Power Generation (OPG). In 2010, OPG partnered with the college and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) for a five-year agreement. As part of the OPG agreement, Durham College will receive $2.95 million for capital improvements, education programs, equipment, training, scholarships and bursaries. 

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.