Collaboration & Partnerships
RBC, local experts offer up virtual financial advice for students
November 6, 2020
AV trades students will have a unique opportunity later this month to ask questions of local experts and learn how they can build a strong financial foundation. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is hosting Business Planning for Trades, a virtual panel discussion geared toward students currently training for a career in the trades at the College. Panelists include: Jason Williamson, Commercial Account Manager with RBC (previously a small business account manager and has worked with clients through all stages of their business) ...
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New app aims to enhance communication between health professionals and patients
October 27, 2020
An applied research project by AV with Monashee Health Collective is focused on developing an innovative new tool that will help allied health professionals connect with patients in real-time – and support them on their path to wellness. Funded by a grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the researcher and students are working to develop, test and launch a prototype holistic wellness app over the next six months. Monashee Health Collective (MHC) provides chiropractic, physiotherapy, acupun...
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Visiting scholar discusses polarization over energy and climate in Canada: How bad is it? What’s to be done?
October 9, 2020
How can Canada chart a positive path for its energy and climate future amid polarization, partisanship and regional differences? Dr. Monica Gattinger, Director of the Institute for Science, Society and Policy, Full Professor at the School of Political Studies and Founder/Chair of Positive Energy at the University of Ottawa, will be delivering an online keynote delving into this topic on Friday, October 16 at 1 p.m. PST. Gattinger’s talk is presented by AV’s Department of Political Science, in conjunction with the BC Politica...
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Co-op Q&A with Salmon Arm Economic Development Society’s Lana Fitt
October 5, 2020
Meet Lana Fitt, the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society’s Economic Development Manager. In partnership with the College’s Salmon Arm campus, SAEDS hired three OC students over the summer of 2020, aiding a new initiative called the Digital Transitions Program. AV sat down with Fitt to hear her perspective as Manager and having students take part in Co-op education with SAEDS as well as the launch of the Digital Transitions Program in Salmon Arm.. AV...
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New work-integrated learning opportunities for OC students and employers across the region
October 5, 2020
Earlier this year, AV announced new opportunities through the Student, Graduate and Co-op Employment office for Indigenous learners and students who face accessibility challenges. With funding from the provincial government, the College is set to launch a third project to increase access to co-op and work-integrated learning for OC students and employers. Overseeing the project at OC is Alison Beaumont, a Coordinator in the Student, Graduate and Co-op Employment office. She notes that the new project has dual opportunities fo...
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Harvesting help needed: Enactus OC students invite community to join them in picking apples for a good cause
September 30, 2020
A group of AV business students are putting the call out for volunteers from OC and the community to help them harvest fruit that will be used to make healthy snacks for children and others in need. Started in the fall of 2018, FruitSnaps is a Vernon- and Penticton-based project, which sees Enactus OC students partnering with the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners Society facility, where unused apples from local orchards are dehydrated into snacks for local schools. The FruitSnaps team will be hosting small, physically-distanced...
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North Okanagan Talent Hackathon Looks for Out-of-the-box Thinkers
September 25, 2020
OC students, employees and alumni: check out this opportunity to collaborate, demonstrate your skills and connect with other business and technology minds in the community as part of the North Okanagan Hackathon. AV is a sponsor of this event and encourages OC students to take advantage of this unique virtual networking opportunity! The following media release is shared on behalf of Accelerate Okanagan: On October 29th, 2020, the Accelerate Okanagan team will be hosting the first North Okanagan Hackathon virtually from The V...
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New OC business program creates more real-world learning for budding entrepreneurs
September 24, 2020
AV’s School of Business is launching a new program that will teach entrepreneurship and business in a way most business owners would say is key to learning – by doing. The Experiential Entrepreneurship program will offer an entrepreneurship specialty to the College’s Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Modelled after a long-running and highly successful program at the College’s partner school in Finland, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, the Experiential Entrepreneurship program will see business students design, ...
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AV joins Mohawk and other institutions across Canada to form Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery
September 24, 2020
Eight colleges, institutions, CEGEPs to support new climate-resistant economy AV is joining forces with a group of colleges, institutions, polytechnics and CEGEPs from across Canada to educate a post-pandemic workforce to support a new climate-focused economic recovery. The group of eight climate-action leading institutions from all regions of the country have launched an initiative called Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery. The group will champion projects across Canada to support a recovery that delivers good jobs,...
Read more...Health Care Assistants thankful for bursary support
September 14, 2020
Twenty-three-year-old Shoshanna Fremont works the night shift as a Care Aide at a local long-term care home, a shift she loves as it gives her an opportunity to provide precious one-on-one time with residents who are up during the night. “When you get them a glass of water and take the time to hold their hand, especially when they can’t have many visitors, their entire mood changes,” says Fremont. “When I go home I take comfort that I took care of people today, I made them smile, or helped in whatever way I could.” Fremont is one of ei...
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Hospitality training in Okanagan leads to tourism jobs
September 14, 2020
Published on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. See original release here. Up to 40 eligible British Columbians will be able to tap into a unique online training program at AV and gain work experience to prepare them for jobs in the hospitality industry, thanks to more than $611,000 in funding from the provincial government. “The tourism sector is resilient. We’re seeing evidence of that in the Okanagan and Shuswap as businesses begin to reopen,” said Shane Simpson, Minister of Social De...
Read more...Advisors from across BC post-secondary institutions unite to engage and support Indigenous students
September 10, 2020
Strengthening Connections, an Indigenous recruitment initiative for post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, will have a whole new look and feel this fall. As post-secondary institutions across the province have geared up for remote or alternative delivery for fall semester, recruiters have also made the switch to a virtual world, notes Jewell Gillies, who currently serves as Executive Board Chair for Strengthening Connections and works in Indigenous Services and Student, Grad and Co-op Employment at AV. “Strengtheni...
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Major Rotary gift supports nursing education
August 10, 2020
A $100,000 gift from the Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation Reichwald Fund will support the education of Registered Nurses (RNs) at Kelowna’s major post-secondary institutions. AV and the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) are each receiving $50,000 to support high-quality skills training and provide financial support for students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. “We are thrilled to support our future health care workers in Kelowna and throughout the Valley,” says Catherine Comben, Rotary Club ...
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College honours Brooks with Distinguished Service Award
July 20, 2020
One of AV’s longest-serving employees, Dr. Jayne Brooks, will be recognized by the College with the Distinguished Service Award. “Jayne’s leadership, dedication and commitment to excellence helped to cement the national reputation of the Okanagan School of Business,” says AV President Jim Hamilton. “Her work to grow partnerships with the business community and other institutions locally, nationally and internationally created a tremendous increase in access and opportunity for students. Furthermore, her constan...
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Outdoor play is critical: OC’s Dietze and other experts contribute to new recommendations by Lawson Foundation
July 16, 2020
Outdoor play is good for kids and good for our communities. A new statement released on July 13 by the Lawson Foundation highlights why opportunities for children to play outside are critical to their development and learning – both during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement also outlines the role of outdoor play in mitigating COVID-19 exposure risk for children in a variety of settings, from childcare facilities to schools. Read the full statement online. It was prepared with the input of advisors from public health and the ...
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College names Pamela and Wilfred Barnes, Robert Foord, Louis Thomas and Don Turri as 2020 Honorary Fellows
July 15, 2020
AV is bestowing its highest honour on five notable residents of the region, each of whom has made unique and meaningful contributions through education, public service, mentorship and philanthropy. Pamela and Wilfred “Grouse” Barnes, Robert Foord, Louis Thomas and Don Turri have been selected by the College as its 2020 Honorary Fellows. “It would be impossible to quantify or to adequately put into words the positive impact this year’s Honorary Fellows have had in their communities,” said AV President Jim Hamil...
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