The entire Durham College family extends its congratulations to President Don Lovisa who was named the Business Person of the Year by the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade (APBOT) at its 19th Annual Business Excellence Awards, held at the Ajax Convention Centre on October 10.  

Lovisa was recognized for his leadership style, commitment to entrepreneurship on campus, community involvement, support of faculty and staff development and more. Addressing the audience as he accepted his award he said “I am both humbled and appreciative of this wonderful award and proud to be the president of Durham College. This award is a true reflection of the work of everyone at Durham College and affirms the direct social and economic impact we have on Ajax and Pickering and the broader Durham Region community.”

Under Lovisa’s leadership Durham College has become the fastest growing college in Ontario, moving from under 7,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students in his first year as president, to more than 10,000 at the start of the 2013-2014 academic year.

The college has also taken on several revitalization and construction projects including opening the Pickering Learning Site in September 2012 and the Centre for Food at the Whitby campus in September 2013. In addition, it has enhanced its academic programming via the introduction of more than 30 new full-time programs.

The Business Excellence Awards are given to outstanding local businesses and business persons in Ajax and Pickering for their achievements in several different categories including Business Excellence 1-9 Employees, Business Excellence 10-49 Employees, Business Excellence 50+ Employees, Global Business Excellence, Sustainability Champion and Business Person of the Year.

Congratulations President Lovisa!  

The Durham Region dining experience got a little more intriguing this month when Durham College officially opened the doors to Bistro ’67, a full-service, green-certified teaching and learning restaurant located at the new Centre for Food (CFF).

Offering dishes prepared and served by students in the culinary and hospitality programs, featuring produce and delicious flavours from the region, Bistro ’67 offers a unique ‘field to fork’ culinary environment to diners. This includes seating up to 70 guests and the opportunity to choose from a variety of seasonal dishes designed to satisfy any palate such as delicious soups and salads, intriguing sandwiches and entrees and decadent desserts.

In addition to featuring the latest in culinary technology, the restaurant also offers a boardroom (available for public rental) surrounded by glass walls overlooking the kitchen and a living lab with exposure to all restaurant related jobs.

The restaurant’s name is a tribute to the year that Durham College opened – 1967 – and reflects its rich history while providing a fresh, modern perspective. The name was chosen following a month-long contest in June that asked college staff and students and members of the community to submit their top suggestions.

The CFF is designed to accommodate approximately 900 additional students studying in a variety of programs including Culinary Skills, Culinary Management, Cook – Apprenticeship, Hospitality Management – Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism, Hospitality Skills, Event Management, Special Events Planning.

This incredible new learning centre also features state-of-the-art labs including a food and beverage pairing lab and hotel living lab, classrooms and meeting spaces, a retail store that will  feature products produced by students including fresh-baked items, meals-to-go, preserved foods and ready-to-cook meals and a lecture theatre.

To celebrate the restaurant’s official opening, all guests who visit during the month of October will have the opportunity to enter a draw for a chance to win dinner for four.

For more information about Bistro ’67, including hours of operation and menu items, please visit www.bistro67.ca.

The Durham Children’s Aid Society (CAS) honoured staff from Durham College and UOIT at their Annual General Meeting for their commitment to helping improve the educational outcomes for our youth in care.

Lucy Romao Vandepol, first generation student co-ordinator and Crown Ward champion and Mary Blanchard, associate vice-president, Academic Planning have been working closely with the Durham CAS over the past few years establishing partnerships. This partnership has enabled Romao Vandepol to connect with students on an individual level and ensure they are accessing the appropriate services in order to reach their educational goals. As a result of this coordination some Crown Ward students have also received CAS scholarships.

The Crown Ward Education Championship Team is a provincial initiative developed to support students with crown ward status in successful high school completion and post-secondary education.

Durham College announced today that it has welcomed more than 10,900 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students to its Oshawa and Whitby campuses and Pickering Learning Site since classes for the 2013-2014 academic year officially began on September 4, an overall enrolment increase of nine per cent. This includes more than 5,700 new students as well as 346 international students.

“The new academic year is in full swing and Durham College is very pleased to see this significant increase in our enrolment numbers, which are reflective of our commitment to fostering student success through high-quality academic programs designed to meet the needs of today’s employers,” said Judy Robinson, vice-president, Academic.

In addition to increasing the number of students on campus, September also marked other important milestones for the college including the introduction of several new programs and the opening of the Centre for Food (CFF) at the Whitby campus, part of the college’s three-phase Whitby campus expansion project, which began in 2008.

Home to the new Culinary Management and Special Events Planning programs, which started this fall, the 36,000-square-foot CFF is located at the northwest corner of campus. Building on the success of the college’s first two hospitality-focused programs, Culinary Skills and Hospitality Management – Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism, which both launched in September 2010, it is based on the field-to-fork concept, bringing students, farmers and growers together with food science and the preparation and celebration of food.

Accommodating approximately 900 additional students studying in culinary, hospitality, tourism, agricultural and horticultural programs, the CFF also features Bistro ’67, a new, 70-seat, full-service, green-certified teaching and learning restaurant, which offers dishes that include local produce and delicious flavours from the region that are prepared and served by culinary and hospitality program students.

The college also introduced new Advertising and Marketing Communications; Architectural Technician; Architectural Technology; Broadcasting for Contemporary Media; Information Systems Security – Computers and Networking; Occupational Therapist Assistant/Physiotherapist Assistant; Project Management; and Horticulture – Food and Farming programs this September along with Mechanical Techniques – Plumbing and Electrical Techniques, which will begin in January.

For more information on the CFF, please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/CFF and for details on any of the college’s programs, please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/programs.

Please be advised the City of Oshawa has scheduled reconstruction of the intersection of Conlin Road and Thornton Road this fall. The existing four-way stop at that intersection will be converted to a roundabout (traffic circle).

The construction will impact traffic flow to and from the west side of the joint Durham College-UOIT- campus location in Oshawa.

The construction will take part in two phases:

• Site preparation work now underway will result in lane restrictions and traffic delays around the Conlin/Thornton intersection, however, the intersection will remain open during this period.
• In mid-October, the City of Oshawa will close the entire intersection for construction of the roundabout and the installation of sidewalks, ditches, storm sewers and streetlights.

Faculty, staff and students who normally use the Conlin/Thornton intersection to access campus will need to find an alternative route during this period. 

Suggested alternatives:

• East-west traffic flow should follow either Taunton Road or Winchester Road.
• North-south traffic flow should follow Simcoe Street or Thickson Road. Stevenson Road can also be used as a north-south alternative route between Taunton Road and Conlin Road.

All motorists should expect heavier traffic flow along Simcoe Street and allow for extra travel time during the construction period.

The Conlin/Thornton area is expected to reopen to through traffic at the end of December, but the city advises unfavourable weather conditions and unforeseen circumstances may impact the work schedule. Once construction is complete, motorists should familiarize themselves with the new traffic pattern at Conlin and Thornton.

The City of Oshawa realizes aspects of this construction work may be disruptive; however, it advises it will make every effort to complete the project as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The Durham College/UOIT Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program received outstanding results from the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination (CRNE), with 98 per cent of (BScN) graduates passing the exam. In addition, 100 per cent of graduates who completed the Durham College/UOIT Registered Practical Nursing bridging program and then the BScN program passed the CRNE. Finally, 92 per cent of graduates who completed the BScN after taking the Durham College/UOIT/Georgian College bridging pathway also passed.

“On behalf of Durham College, I extend my sincere congratulations to our collaborative nursing students on these outstanding results,” said Susan Sproul, dean, School of Health & Community Services. “The results are a true reflection of our students’ dedication to their studies as well as the college and university’s commitment to providing exceptional nursing education to students, ensuring they are able to meet today’s nursing needs.” 

In order to become a registered nurse in Canada, graduates of all BScN programs must pass this national exam. Not only are the recent results the highest yet in the history of the college and university’s collaborative nursing program, they are also some of the best in Ontario and across Canada.

“Success on the national registration exam is an important indicator of the high quality of our nursing programs,” said Dr. Sue Coffey, director, Durham College/UOIT and Durham College/UOIT/Georgian College collaborative nursing programs. “Even more importantly, it reflects the commitment of our students and faculty to ensuring our graduates are the very best nurses they can be. These results, along with consistently very positive feedback from graduates and employers about the degree to which the Durham College/UOIT and Durham College/UOIT/ Georgian College nursing programs prepare students for transition into nursing practice, underscore the success of these programs.”