For over 20 years, Yukon College has celebrated the arrival of the holidays with a First Nations feast and this year will be no exception, with a festive event planned for staff and students.

Before students leave for the holidays, they will have the chance to gather for the feast on December 8th at 12 p.m. in the “Pit.” There will be turkey with all the trimmings, oranges, candy and more. Ben Charlie will provide entertainment with his fiddle and Mr. and Mrs. Claus may also make an appearance.

Whitehorse, Yukon – On Monday, December 7, at noon in the Boardroom, the University of Alberta (UofA) and Yukon College (YC) will sign a Collaborative Program Agreement for an Environmental and Conservation Sciences Degree. This agreement will be what is commonly referred to as a 2+2 program – two years in a Yukon College program and then two years in the University of Alberta Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree program. Most students will begin with two years in either the Renewable Resource Management or Northern Science Diploma programs before transferring into the BSc, however other routes of entry will also be available. All studies could take place at Yukon  College taught by UofA and YC faculty, or students could choose to spend some or all of their +2 study time at UofA. It will also be possible for students from Edmonton to complete part of their program in Whitehorse.

Yukon College’s new website is gaining momentum and seeing increased traffic, with 27,000 unique visitors who connected to the site 81,000 times in the first two months.

The website was soft-launched at the end of September as part of the College’s rebranding. The objective of the new site is to simplify navigation, sport the new Yukon College brand and provide current, intuitively located information.

“Improving the identity of the College is one of our six strategic goals and the website is an important component of that,” Bedard says. “Increasingly, this will be the source for program and course information.”

Two new Board members were appointed to the Yukon College Board this month. Ranj Pillai is the staff representative, nominated by college employees, and Fabiana Naves is the student union representative, chosen by the student union.

Pillai has worked at Yukon College for the past five years as an Instructor and Coordinator. He was also recently elected to Whitehorse City Council and he’s active in many community organizations including the FASSY Board, Whitehorse Elementary School Council, and Copper Ridge Neighborhood Association.

Naves is an international student from Belo Horizonte, Brazil who is studying Tourism. As Student Union President, a full-time student herself, and holding down several part-time jobs, Naves is busy learning about the life, culture and governing structures of Canada.

           
Two-time bursary and scholarship recipient,
Kimberly Blake receives her awards from
Yukon College President, Terry Weninger.
                                                     
    A Yukon College student dedicated to giving back to the community is among four students being recognized with scholarship and bursary money this semester, this time totaling $2,000.

Yukon College will be on Parliament Hill next week helping to promote the value of community colleges as a central part of Canada’s economic and social development.

Karen Barnes, Vice President of Education and Training, will participate in the Association of Canadian Community Colleges on Parliament Hill event on November 16th and 17th. Barnes will gather in Ottawa with 100 other college representatives, including the President of Yellowknife’s Aurora College and the President of Nunavut Arctic College, to highlight the value of their institutions and to demand a fair share of post-secondary funding. “Yukon College is part of national system and we’re coming together in Ottawa to use our collective voice to garner support for community colleges across the country,” Barnes says.

The group will meet with politicians including, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, to highlight the need for more support for community colleges.