Olds College

Olds College is an Alberta public post-secondary institution located in Olds, Alberta, established in 1913 as Olds Agricultural College. The college opened its first satellite campus in Calgary in 2006 in partnership with the Calgary Stampede Board.

Olds College
MottoReal-Life, Hands-on Education
TypePublic college
Established1913 Olds Agriculture College, now Olds College
PresidentStuart Cullum (president and CEO)
Academic staff
108[1]
Administrative staff
436[1]
Students1,350[1]
Location
Olds and Calgary
,
Alberta
,
Canada

51.79015°N 114.09538°W / 51.79015; -114.09538
Campusurban Calgary, Alberta and rural Olds, Alberta
ColoursGold      and black     
AffiliationsUACC, ACCC, CCAA, AACTI,
MascotBroncos
Websitewww.oldscollege.ca

Total student enrollment for the 2008–2009 year was 1,350.[1]

The college is a member of the Alberta Rural Development Network.

History

In 1913, the Alberta provincial government established three demonstration farms near Olds, Fairview, and near the Vermilion townsite. The Olds farm later became known as Olds Agricultural College. In 1963, the name was changed to Olds Agricultural and Vocational College to reflect course offerings which were expanding beyond agriculture. In 1970, the name was simplified to Olds College. In addition, provincial administration of the college was moved from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Advanced Education at that time.

Campus
Olds College
Olds College Building

Olds College has two campuses. The main campus, located on the eastern edge of the township of Olds, accommodates the majority of enrolled students. The campus covers over 2,000 acres (810 ha) and includes a number of buildings designed to support the specialized programming offered at Olds College.

Animal Health Building is home to the National Meat Training Centre at Olds College, and the Animal Health Technology program, including housing facilities for small animals, and research and veterinary facilities.

Ralph Klein Centre is home to the Community Learning Campus, The CLC Fitness Centre, the Olds High School, and also has government administration offices. The facility was named after the late Ralph Klein, former premier of Alberta. The Ralph Klein Centre is also home to the Olds College Broncos, and where they host the majority of their games.

Land Sciences Building. The Land Sciences building is connected to the Greenhouses and Landscape Pavilion, and features classrooms, typically in use by Horticulture and Land & Environment Classes, as well as offices for faculty in those programs. Land Sciences (LSC) and James Murray Building (JMB) host the Land Agent, Land Analyst and Land & Water Resources Programs. Here students can specialize in programs like the Environmental Stewardship & Rural Planning Major, a program that is accredited by CACPT (Canadian Association for Certified Planning Technicians). Planning students attend regular field schools in the area or at the Mountain View County Planning Offices, just south of Olds.

The highlight of the Land Sciences Building is the atrium, a glass seating area filled with vegetation. The atrium occasionally hosts special events.

The Trans-Canada Theatre opened in late 2008. The facility offers a 350+ seat theatre which is used for community events, high school drama productions and more. This provides a wide range of learning opportunities for high school students as well as Olds College students, who produce fashion apparel for the productions, create stage sets, and more. This building is also home to the Pre-Employment Hair Stylist program, offered in partnership between Olds College and Chinook’s Edge School Division.

The Olds College campus is home to the Frank Grisdale Hall residence, which hosts 350 students, and a number of townhouses available to second and third year students. In 2014, ground was broken on the new, state of the art Centennial Village residence, which will be open for the Fall 2015 school term.

The Library Research Commons (LRC) is home to the Library, Alumni Centre, Students’ Association offices, and the Bell E-Learning Centre The main campus is also home to the Botanic Gardens and Treatment Wetlands and two riding arenas. The Calgary campus was opened in 2006 and is located in the Bow Valley College south campus 7th Floor.

Curriculum and degrees

Olds College offers over 30 programs. They are authorized by the Government of Alberta to grant certificates, diplomas, Bachelor of Applied Science Degrees and Apprenticeship designations.[2]

Transitional Vocational Program

Olds College also offers University Transfer programs, and a number of Continuing Education options including courses in the fields of Agriculture, Animal Sciences, Business, Land and Environment, Machinery & Trades, Plants and Horticulture and Special Interest.

In December, 2012 Olds College entered into an agreement with two Calgary based companies, GoForth Institute and world-class app-designer Robots and Pencils Inc. to provide an iPad-based mobile gamified application in entrepreneurship for students. All new students entering Olds College with a longer-term certificate, diploma, or applied degree will be required to complete this app as part of a graduation requirement.

Scholarships and bursaries

Olds College offers over 450 scholarships, bursaries and awards annually, valued at over $500,000.

The Government of Canada sponsors an Aboriginal Bursaries Search Tool that lists over 680 scholarships, bursaries, and other incentives offered by governments, universities, and industry to support Aboriginal post-secondary participation. Olds College scholarships for Aboriginal, First Nations and Métis students include: TransAlta Aboriginal Educational Awards.[3]

Research

The Olds College Centre for Innovation (OCCI) is the applied research division of Olds College. Olds College actively pursues involvement in applied research that advances innovation-based rural economic development in Alberta.

OCCI conducts research on composting technology (including bio-gas energy), environmental microbiology, livestock genetics and nutrition, natural fibers, and new products from crops and bio-processing.

The Prairie Turfgrass Research Centre is a long-standing joint partnership between the Olds College Centre for Innovation (OCCI) and the industry led Alberta Turfgrass Research Foundation (ATRF). The PTRC conducts research and disseminates information regarding the management of turfgrass on the Canadian prairies.[4]

Athletics

The Olds College Broncos compete in the ACAL Alberta Colleges Athletic League and the ACAC Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. Broncos teams originally competed in ACAC in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Returning in 2012 sports include: basketball, soccer, volleyball, curling, cross country and futsal. Badminton will be introduced into the Olds College Broncos portfolio in 2014, and Women's Hockey will be introduced in 2015.

Community Learning Campus

The Community Learning Campus (CLC) is a partnership approach to collaboratively delivering high school, post-secondary, and community education. The CLC addresses specific rural needs by sharing resources and working jointly with a variety of community groups and agencies. The CLC is a joint venture between Olds College and Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) in collaboration with the Town of Olds, Mountain View County, and the University of Alberta. Integrated with the Olds College Campus, the CLC consists of five multi-use facilities complete with integrated programming.

Notable people

Sharon Carry served as registrar and vice president of student and support services at Olds College.[5]

gollark: I'm actually working on a robotics thing (at school, in a moderately sized team) which will need to move around objects, and it seems like it'll be quite hard.
gollark: Natural language processing is also a different and highly ææææææææ problem.
gollark: Voice recognition and object manipulation are pretty different problems.
gollark: A what?
gollark: You should probably try a simpler step toward whatever your goals are *first*, to see if it's viable or not.

See also

References
  1. Annual Report, 2009
  2. Government of Alberta, Ministry of Advanced Education Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Aboriginal Bursaries Search Tool". aadnc-aandc.gc.ca. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  4. "Research & Innovation". oldscollege.ca. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  5. "Sharon Carry". The Alberta Order of Excellence. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
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