News

WHITEHORSE, YT—Yukon College announced today that it is postponing the annual May Convocation Ceremony and planned Yukon University transition celebration. New dates will be announced once they have been determined. 

“Given the serious health implications of COVID-19 and protective measures in place at the present time, we have made the difficult decision to postpone these events for the health and safety of our graduates, their families, guests, faculty and staff,” said Karen Barnes, Yukon University president and vice chancellor. 

The 2020 Convocation Ceremony will be the first Yukon University convocation and feature the first graduates of the new institution crossing the stage.  

WHITEHORSE, YT—The Yukon University Board of Governors is pleased to announce Dr. Mike DeGagné as president and vice chancellor of Yukon University, Canada’s first university north of 60.

DeGagné will begin a five-year term on July 1, 2020. He will be the eighth president of Yukon’s only post-secondary institution, succeeding Dr. Karen Barnes, who has served two terms since 2011 and will retire June 30.

DeGagné comes to YukonU from Nipissing University, in North Bay, Ontario. He was appointed Nipissing president and vice chancellor in 2013, as one of the first Indigenous presidents of a Canadian public university.

While president of Nipissing, DeGagné dedicated much of his life to Indigenous issues and ensuring Nipissing University took a leading role in the Indigenization of the post-secondary education sector.

WHITEHORSE, YT—Following the request from Yukon’s Chief Medical Officer of Health to limit gatherings and support working from home, Yukon College is moving to alternative service and class delivery for the foreseeable future. 

In an email sent late yesterday, students are told not to return to campus on Monday, March 23 following Reading Week. 

During Reading Week there are no classes and reduced services at all campuses. Faculty and staff are using this time to work out the details of this change in service in the next few days and shifting to working from home this week wherever possible.  

For the remaining six weeks of the Winter Term, it is anticipated that some classes may wrap up early, or students can access class materials and their instructor remotely at the usual class time via Zoom software or access materials and video lectures at any time via the Moodle platform.  

WHITEHORSE, YT— Today, Yukon College Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) and the Government of Yukon launched the application period for the 2020 Yukon Innovation Prize (YIP).

The contest, open to all Yukoners and Yukon-based organizations, is back for its sixth year, with the UN Sustainable Development Goals as its theme. Applicants are asked to submit their innovative ideas to evolve their existing business or start a new one, addressing one or more of the UN goals.

WHITEHORSE, YT — The Yukon College community is saddened by the passing of former chancellor Elder T’aaḵú Tláa Pearl Keenan. We offer our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends and the Teslin Tlingit Council. In observance with Tlingit protocol we will not display images of Pearl until after the headstone potlatch.

Pearl was passionate about education and dedicated to the College and all our students. In the 1960s, she was a fierce advocate for a vocational school to provide training, skills and education to Yukoners. The school opened in 1963 and became Yukon College in 1988. 

Pearl then became our longest-serving chancellor, from 1993 to 2000, during a time when the College saw the first graduates of the Bachelor of Education (YNTEP) program, the creation of the Bachelor of Social Work program and establishment of the Northern Research Institute

WHITEHORSE, YT— A newly launched institute for climate policy research will have a Yukon connection. Brian Horton, Manager of Northern Climate ExChange at the Yukon Research Centre, has been named to the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices expert advisory panel for Climate Adaptation.   

The Institute, launched Tuesday morning, aims to bring clarity to Canada’s climate policy choices. The Institute’s initial report, Charting our Course, describes the current climate landscape in Canada and provides recommendations for policy makers and governments seeking to implement more effective policy.  

WHITEHORSE, YT. — An exhibit of new work by Amber Church invites us to consider the threats facing iconic Canadian landscapes.

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WHITEHORSE, YT— Future City starts with a question – how can we make our city more sustainable? For the first time, Yukon College invited local youth in grades six to eight to share their curiosity and creativity around the topic.  

SACKVILLE, NB & DAWSON CITY, YT: Mount Allison University and the Yukon School of Visual Arts have announced a new partnership for Fine Arts students. 

Students in the Yukon School of Visual Arts Foundation Year program can now apply to Mount Allison’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program with advanced standing, enabling them to complete both a Visual Arts certificate and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in four years.

Kwanlin (Whitehorse, Yukon) - Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN) and Yukon College are partnering on a new 21-week Interpretive Guiding course called Dän Dákeyi Uyenjì. The Southern Tutchone name means ‘that person knows our country’ and reflects the land-based nature of the program.

Unlike a typical classroom environment, the program is based in a wall tent on Yukon College’s Ayamdigut campus in Whitehorse with regular backcountry excursions on the land in the CAFN Traditional Territory.