Red River College’s enrolment figures have hit yet another record high, with 3.3% more full-time students on campus this fall compared to last year.
 
Growth has taken place across all student categories, including significant jumps in Advanced Diploma (+17.7%), Certificate (+9.9%) and Apprenticeship (+8.0%) enrolments.
 
Full-time enrolment is also up 16.8% at RRC’s five regional campuses, located in Steinbach, Portage la Prairie, Gimli, Winkler and Peguis/Fisher River.
 
While students are increasingly seeing the value of an applied education, College officials say finding somewhere to put them all is a growing challenge.
 
“For several years now we’ve been operating essentially full,” explained Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, President of Red River College. “Through creative scheduling and program delivery we’ve managed to make room, but the time has come to expand the College to meet student and industry demand.”
 
RRC is currently pursuing several projects to expand capacity for students and for applied research projects, including:

• Construction of a new Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre.
  
• Development of a modern skilled trades centre at the Notre Dame Campus.
  
• Restoration of the Union Bank Tower to become the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, a student residence and a new home for RRC’s culinary and hospitality programs.
  
• Relocation of the Language Training Centre to the Massey Building in the Exchange District.
  

The College expects to release information about continuing and distance education enrolments later this week.

The Shocknife, a Winnipeg-based invention that was partly developed at Red River College, has won the 2009 Manning Innovation Award.

Developed by veteran police officer Jeff Quail, the Shocknife is a tool
used to train law enforcement officials how to deal with edged weapon
attacks.  Similar in appearance to a real knife, the device delivers an
electric charge that simulates the pain associated with a knife wound,
but leaves no permanent damage.

The Shocknife was one of the first products to emerge from RRC’s Applied Research and Commercialization program, which links industry with the College’s research expertise to create innovative, marketable technologies.

RRC electronics instructor Alex McIlraith worked with product designers to miniaturize the Shocknife’s electronics to fit inside a typical size knife casing.  He also re-engineered the product so it could be powered by a single nine-volt battery.

Since being launched in 2006, Shocknives have been sold to customers around the world, including the FBI, the Norwegian Military Academy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Special protection Group that guards India’s prime Minister.  The product has also been covered extensively in publications serving the law enforcement and military industries, and was featured on the Discovery Channel.

In appreciation of the role RRC played in developing the product, Shocknife, Inc. previously donated several pieces of equipment for use in the College’s electronics programs.

Interesting article in the July 20th issue of Time that focuses on the role that community colleges can play in helping rebuild the U.S. economy, and the attention they're getting from policymakers.

The article, penned by Laura Fitzpatrick, goes on to cite the flexibility of community colleges and their focus on the labour requirements of local industry as two reasons to justify further investment in college programs and facilities.

A tip of the hat to the Mohawk Matters blog for bringing this article to our attention.

 The July 2009 issue of Dogs in Canada magazine features a profile on the Canadian Animal Blood Bank (CABB), located at Red River College's Notre Dame Campus.

Founded in 1987, the CABB is Canada's largest animal blood bank. The organization is dedicated to improving veterinary care by providing
blood products for animals who require transfusion therapy as part of
their care.

Read the full story here.

Red River College’s groundskeeping staff have been hard at work over the past few months to bring some colour to the Notre Dame Campus. Here’s just a few examples of their work.

Photos courtesy of RRC’s Jonathan Ferber.

The Honourable Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board, was at RRC's Notre Dame Campus on Monday, June 29th to announce details of the new federal Apprenticeship Completion Grant.

The Apprenticeship Completion Grant is a $2,000 grant the Government will provide to eligible apprentices who successfully complete their apprenticeship training and receive their journeyperson certification in a designated Red Seal trade on or after January 1, 2009.

While on campus, Minister Toews and RRC President Dr. Jeff Zabudsky took time to visit with a class of carpentry apprenticeship students.

For more information on the Apprenticeship Completion Grant, see www.servicecanada.gc.ca/apprenticeship.

Building on our growing reputation as a leader in sustainability, Red River College achieved the highest participation rate among all Manitoba employers in our category during the recent Commuter Challenge.

122 RRC employees participated – a 135% increase from last year, giving us a 28.7% participation rate.

Thanks to all of you who bused, biked, walked, carpooled and worked from home from June 1st – June 5th, our green commute:

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2203 kg
• Saved $663 in fuel
• Burned 89,935 calories

Prizes for the College department with the highest participation will be announced later in the week. Congratulations to everyone who participated and helped to make Red River College a sustainability leader.

Over the next several weeks Red River College will be running a regular feature in Wednesday's edition of the Winnipeg Free Press. "The Dish" highlights prominent instructors and alumni from RRC's Culinary Arts and Professional Baking programs, sharing their success stories and drawing attention to this award-winning program area.

A complementary online component offers up a favourite recipe from each of our featured chefs, including David Bergmann's Prosciutto Basil Wrapped Salmon and Tom Pitt's Chicken and Asparagus Gruyère.

Red River
College’s 2009 Spring Convocation is taking place this week, with 749
students receiving diplomas, and 581 receiving certificates.

Several special awards are also being presented, including: the
Honourary Diploma to entrepreneur/philanthropist John Buhler; the
Teaching Award of Excellence to instructor Jason Taylor; and
Distinguished Alumni Awards to NBC News London Correspondent Dawna
Friesen (Creative Communications, 1984) and Merv Gunter (Business
Administration, 1970), owner of Frontiers North Adventures.

Read more about RRC’s newest graduates, including a full list of award winners, in the Winnipeg Free Press.