Red River College is working closely with public health authorities and is focused on providing timely information, reassurance and support to our staff, faculty and students as we continue to take necessary measures to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19 at all of our campuses and to our broader community.

Our campuses are currently open and our classes, labs and exams have not been cancelled — however, our Senior Leadership Team is working with academic program areas to determine alternative program delivery approaches and models that could be implemented in order to further reduce the numbers of students, faculty and staff on site.

Additionally, RRC has suspended all international and domestic travel outside of Manitoba, cancelled all College events and large gatherings, and restricted the number of meetings to only those that are essential to core operations.

RRC’s Incident Management Team continues to monitor the situation closely in concert with our response plans, and in conversation with our colleagues at other post-secondary institutions across the province, and with advice and direction from our provincial and federal public health authorities.

As news and information regarding COVID-19 continues to unfold, the College will continue to ensure that staff, faculty and students are informed and that we continue to take necessary action to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

Daily updates are available at www.rrc.ca/coronavirus

Red River College is proud to have been named as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2020.

The College joins 74 other Canadian organizations recognized by Mediacorp Canada Inc. for leadership in creating inclusive workplaces for employees from five diverse groups: women, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) peoples. Today’s award marks the fifth year RRC has been recognized with this distinction.

“This award is an honour because equity and inclusion are at the heart of our workplace culture,” says Melanie Gudmundson, RRC’s Chief Human Resource Officer.

“Red River College is home to thousands of staff and instructors from all backgrounds and virtually every corner of the globe. Each brings unique perspectives, experiences and connections to our classrooms and work spaces. That diversity is one of our greatest strengths — and it’s why we work so hard to provide a welcoming, safe and equitable work environment for all members of our Red River College family.”

Over the past year, RRC advanced a number of programs and initiatives to encourage diversity and inclusivity at the College, including a Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy that will serve as a roadmap to fostering a safe campus environment by ensuring everyone has the chance to work, learn and access services in an inclusive and welcoming manner. The College hired Priyanji Mediwake, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, to execute this strategy.

To kick off this initiative, a College-wide Diversity Matters poster and communications campaign promoted diversity as one of RRC’s greatest strengths. The campaigns invited staff and students to self-identify as belonging to one or more designated groups: women, racialized persons, Indigenous peoples, persons with a disability, and people of all gender identities. Read More →

Ever wondered what a typical day looks like for Red River College’s President? Now you can find out.

Armed with an iPhone and a plan, Dr. Christine Watson — RRC’s interim President and CEO — has launched a new video series where she’ll share a behind-the-scenes look at what she’s up to on campus.

The “Where’s Watson?” series will be recorded entirely by phone, so it’ll be as real and raw as it gets.

What can you expect to see? Think tours with community leaders and industry partners, major events happening all over the College, celebrations with staff, faculty and students, and what Watson is up to in the community (and maybe even a sneak peek underground a campus or two).

We’re excited to provide you with an inside look and a new way to engage with Watson as she documents the work of an interim President. You can connect with her directly on LinkedIn to watch her videos, which will also be shared on other platforms for those who don’t have a LinkedIn account.

Check out the first instalment in the series, taken right before Watson hosted her first Breakfast with the President. These breakfasts happen monthly and give employees from all areas of the College an opportunity to chat with the President one-on-one, share what’s going on in their worlds, and bring new ideas to the table.

Red River College, North Forge Technology Exchange and North Forge East are joining forces to help more entrepreneurs bring their businesses to life.

The three organizations announced the partnership today at RRC’s ACE Project Space in the Exchange District; they intend to work together to increase the success rate of entrepreneurial activity, provide real project-based learning opportunities for students, and encourage investment and growth in start-up companies in Manitoba.

“We’re very excited to officially grow our partnership with North Forge,” says Haider Al-Saidi (above, second from right), chair of Applied Computer Education at Red River College. “This will allow us to expand the services we provide to our entrepreneurs-in-residence and provide our students with additional resources and technology to enhance their skills.”

RRC will provide office space, access to its UX labs, and other technological resources, while North Forge will provide access to its Fabrication lab. Each party will also engage in cross-promotion of events, services and news.

The goal of the partnership, made official by the signing of an exchange of services agreement, is to create an innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem that benefits Manitoba entrepreneurs and enterprises of all sizes — one that includes RRC students and North Forge’s office locations in Winnipeg, Pinawa and The Pas.

“Start-up companies and entrepreneurs are hard-working, determined and have brilliant ideas, but they may need additional help in developing their concepts into products,” says Teresa Dukes (above, at right), President of North Forge Technology Exchange. “We believe this partnership with Red River College will provide those businesses with the resources, technology and knowledge needed to grow their products, reach their sales and market goals, and add value to Manitoba’s economy.” Read More →

A Red River College research chair has been named a member of the Order of Canada, in recognition of her lifelong commitment to the health and well-being of young children.

Jan Sanderson, a research chair with the College’s School of Health Sciences and Community Services, was among 120 new companions, officers and members of the order announced by the Governor General in December.

Sanderson was recognized “for her leadership within Manitoba’s pubic service by promoting improved quality of life and health for children.” She was one of only three Manitobans to receive the designation, along with physician and researcher Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg and TV and film producer Louis-Frederic Paquin.

Sanderson says she grateful to those who nominated her for the honour, but noted the irony of being singled out for work in the field of early child development, where “every success depends on partnerships and collaboration.”

“I have been incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work with amazing, committed people across multiple sectors — government, non-profit, academia, health and education — to support children and their families,” she says.

“And now the opportunity with the research team at RRC seems like the icing on the cake. The work that is done by this quiet but mighty team is impacting on children’s well-being locally, nationally and around the world.” Read More →

The office of Brian Gebhardt, a Masonry instructor at Red River College, is reminiscent of the classrooms adjacent to it: surrounded by projects and artwork made of bricks, with a layer of dust on every surface.

Gebhardt is everything one would expect from a mason — covered in the same dust that cakes his office, with calloused hands hardened from almost 45 years in the trade.

For 30 of those years, that dust has been a byproduct of his work at RRC, and this year he received the highest honour an apprenticeship instructor can achieve when he was named Instructor of the Year by Apprenticeship Manitoba.

Gebhardt doesn’t let a little dust bother him; after all, he’s been working with bricks since his first construction job right out of high school, where time spent watching and talking with masonry veterans sold him on the trade.

“They seemed to enjoy what they were doing, and wage-wise it was what I was looking for,” he says.

To get a foot in the door, Gebhardt cold-called as many masonry contractors as he could to ask for a job, which he eventually landed — through what he’s convinced was a real-life game of Telephone.

“I phoned them and said, ‘I want to be a bricklayer,’ and I think he thought I said, ‘I am a bricklayer.’ And he said, ‘Have your tools tomorrow at 1700 Taylor,’” Gebhardt recalls with a smile.

“I picked up some tools — I had none — and I showed up at the job.” Read More →

Red River College is celebrating its connections to industry and employees, after landing a spot on Manitoba’s Top Employer list for the 10th year in a row.

The College’s 2,600 staff and faculty are among its greatest resources. A big reason for that is their connection to industry, and that connection is also why many students choose an RRC education here in Manitoba.

“Simply put, what we’re doing is working. We’re proud to celebrate 10 years of recognition with all of our employees,” says Melanie Gudmundson, Chief Human Resource Officer at RRC.

The College knows it has a responsibility to create a workplace where employees feel valued, fulfilled and supported. That’s why employee engagement is one of its strategic priorities.

This fall, RRC launched a new employee engagement initiative by inviting staff to participate in a survey. The College plans to share results and feedback with all staff, and employees will work together to create action plans that address the issues that matter to them.

“Everyone’s voice matters. We want to learn more about an employee’s experience working here so that we can all work together to build an even stronger culture,” says Gudmundson. Read More →

Students in Red River College’s Engineering Technology programs now have the opportunity to earn life-changing scholarships, thanks to the generosity of local philanthropists Dr. Gerry and Barb Price.

Well-known for their altruism, the couple will donate $525,000 to RRC over the next five years. Their scholarships will reward high-achieving students by providing them with the financial support they need to minimize time spent in part-time jobs to pay for tuition, rent and other living costs.

The first award recipients will be recognized tonight at RRC’s Technology Awards dinner.

“If you can barely keep food on the table and have a part-time job just to survive, you might not be able to put the best effort into school,” says Dr. Gerry Price (shown above, second from right), chairman and CEO of the Price group of companies.

“High-achieving students need to put in long hours, but if you’re broke, you’re kind of in trouble because you need to eat and sleep too. We want these scholarships to provide more time for hardworking students to focus on their studies so they can end up being the best they can be.”

Through the Price Family Foundation, Gerry and Barb Price have been generous supporters of education, arts and culture, and health care. They already fund about 200 scholarships each year, with a focus on those who don’t always have champions — children, single mothers and families in distress. With today’s announcement, they’ll be supporting an additional 30 to 60 students each year.

“This is significant,” says Andrew Roncin, an instructor in RRC’s Electrical Engineering Technology program. “Up until now, our programs haven’t had as many available scholarships — but with this gift, about 10 per cent of our Electrical Engineering Technology students can receive some support each year.”

The Price Scholarships will be offered to students who are enrolled full-time in Electrical Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Instrumentation and Control Engineering, and Manufacturing CAD, and have achieved a minimum GPA of 3.0 after their first year. Read More →

It may not look like much, but the panel pictured at left — built by staff at Red River College’s Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing (TACAM) — is a powerful weapon in CancerCare Manitoba’s fight to save lives.

Dave Austin, a program facilitator for TACAM, says the panels are fabricated by hand using the same materials, equipment and processes that students in RRC’s Aerospace Manufacturing program use to create aircraft paneling.

“The process is simply a matter of getting the materials (graphite and aluminum) cut into the size they need, and pressing them together to create a solid piece.”

The compressed sheet is heated in an oven for 90 minutes and then cooled, removing the air to ensure the plies bond. The result is a quarter-inch, 30-ply aerospace-grade sheet of carbon fibre.

From each panel, CancerCare fabricates indexing bars designed to help cancer patients maintain the same body position across multiple radiation treatments.

Chad Harris, a member of the Department of Medical Devices at CCMB, says the carbon fibre has unique properties that make it especially useful for radiation treatment.

“When you’re firing a beam of radiation at a tumour, it’s critical to maintain an exact distance between the beam and the tumour each time you do it.” Read More →

A bell rings, piercing the silence. In the South Gym at Red River College’s Notre Dame Campus, a nervous group of well-dressed students rise from their chairs and rustle towards a large group of tables — where their futures may await.

Seated at each table are recruiters from leading Manitoba companies, hoping to scope out RRC’s best and brightest at the sixth annual First Impressions Recruitment Event.

Over the next four hours, more than 500 interviews with 114 students take place here, each no more than 12 minutes long.

“That’s not a lot of time to wow, but our students always come prepared to impress,” says Kirk Johnson, RRC’s Dean of Business and Applied Art and Hospitality and Culinary Arts.

“We’re known for the calibre of our job-ready candidates, which is why so many employers come back here year after year.”

“(First Impressions) is probably the most successful recruiting event we have all year,” says Aida Rodrigues, a senior talent acquisition partner for CIBC, one of the companies attending the event.

“The students we speak with are all well-prepared for industry. The faculty here has lots to do with it. People who’ve worked in banking and finance know how to prepare students for success in positions like the ones we’re hiring for.”

First Impressions is open to all students in RRC’s Applied Accounting, Business Administration, and Commerce Industry Sales and Marketing programs. The companies they meet are all looking to fill paid, full- and part-time, entry-level/trainee positions and higher. Read More →