From left: Vida Reader (2012 Conference Committee Co-Chair, PMI Manitoba), Debbie Wilgosh (President, PMI Manitoba), Kirk Johnson (Program Manager, IT and Professional Studies, RRC), and RRC grad Scott Hinkson.

Red River College alum Scott Hinkson has been honoured by RRC and PMI Manitoba, having received a $1,000 student achievement award at the organization’s annual conference last week.

Hinkson, who earned his Project Management certificate through RRC’s School of Continuing and Distance Education in November 2011, works as a project manager for the Western Canada Lottery Corporation. But he’s also well-known in certain local circles as an acclaimed singer and songwriter.

“Every year, we ask all of the Project Management instructors to nominate a student for this award based on a combination of academics and attitude,” says Kirk Johnson, RRC’s Program Manager, I.T. and Professional Studies. “This year, the clear winner was more than just a good student — he’s actually an all-out rock star!”

Hinkson now has two RRC credentials under his belt, having completed the College’s Business Analyst program in 2010. Johnson says he made such an impression on his instructors, they quickly recommended he join the Business Analyst program’s advisory board — first as a student, and later, as a permanent member.

“(In the last year), on top of being a new father, Scott has somehow found the energy to successfully complete the PMP (Project Management Professional) exam, finish the Project Management program, and begin teaching in the Business Analyst program — all of this while holding down a fulltime Project Management job and releasing a fantastic new album,” says Johnson. “I’ve always said if you want something done, give it to a busy person — and Scott proves my point.”

For his part, Hinkson says both the Business Analyst and Project Management programs provided him with the tools, techniques and core fundamentals to succeed in his job. The Project Management program, in particular, helped him fast-track his PMP certification.

“I finished the program in November, took a month of study and then wrote my certification in a month, which is really quick,” says Hinkson. “It’s usually recommended that you take six to eight months — one of the reasons I was able to do it so quickly is because the program really hit on everything I needed to know.”

Having worked for the Lottery Corporation for the last 15 years, Hinkson says his RRC training proved invaluable in the course of his day-to-day duties.

“(While taking the program), I was involved with a three-year, $8-million project,” says Hinkson. “(The program) helped me and prepared me to complete that work successfully — and the project itself was considered a great success.”

As a performer, Hinkson juggles a similarly hectic schedule, having released two albums — 2011’s One Beside Two and acoustic follow-up Howlings from High Lake — in the last year. Prior to that, his 2008 album The Torrent Sessions landed him on Power 97’s River City Rawks compilation and CTV/NBC’s The Listener.

Click here for more information on the Project Management program at RRC, and here for more information on Hinkson’s work as a musician.