(From left): Rachel Bard, CEO, Canadian Nurses Association; Barb Milton, President, Canadian Nurses Association; Karen Wall, RRC Chair of Nursing; the Hon. Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health; Cathy Rippin-Sisler, President, College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba.

Red River College is proud to congratulate Karen Wall, Chair of Nursing, on her recently-awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Wall was one of 30 individuals so honoured by the Canadian Nurses Association, who were given the medals by the Governor-General to recognize RNs who have demonstrated a strong commitment and dedication to the nursing profession and to health care in Canada.

She was first honoured at the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba’s centennial gala on Feb. 15, and received her medal during a ceremony in Ottawa on March 5.

(Back row): Sumeshini Letchmana, Project Assistant, RRC International Education; Eddy Lau, International Project Manager, RRC; Keith Muller, Dean, RRC School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts; Stevenson Alloso, Director, RRC International Education. (Seated): Toru Hoshino, Vice-President, International Hotel and Bridal College (WiSH) NSG Group; Christine Crowe, Vice-President, RRC Community Development.

Red River College welcomed delegates from Japan this week, to discuss possible partnership opportunities that will expand the College’s international reach.

From March 5 to 9, the College played host to Mr. Toru Hoshino — Vice-President of International Hotel and Bridal College (WiSH) NSG Group in Niigata, Japan — and Mr. Masashi Akagawa, a photographer from ICO Advertising.

Vice-president Hoshino was here to discuss joint programming opportunities in language training and hospitality management.

The visit comes just one week after RRC hosted a team of delegates from Siyuan University in China, to discuss joint programming opportunities in business, language training, and construction and engineering technologies.

Learn more about RRC’s International Education department.

Both Red River College basketball teams faced pressure over the weekend: The pressure of repeating, the pressure of being the top seed, and the pressure of being in their opponents’ building.

The women’s and the men’s teams overcame that pressure, though. Both beat #2-seeded teams from the University of Winnipeg College Wesmen to be crowned the champions at the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) Basketball Final 4‘s.

For the Red River Rebels men, it’s their fifth straight championship. For the women, their second straight.

The men’s final was won in the trenches, as the College Wesmen shooters went cold at the same time as the Rebels forwards got hot. Regular season MVP and Rebels forward Mike Hebert won all the hustle plays, as he would finish with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Leading all scorers, though, was Rebels forward Corey Neufeld. His 26 points earned him tournament MVP honours.

The women’s final, meanwhile, was a much closer affair. Down by 15 at halftime with their forwards in foul trouble, the College Wesmen made a remarkable run to take a lead in the fourth quarter. Responding, though, were Celecia Luckwell and Tia Ruddock of the Rebels, who made key buckets to secure the win. For her efforts, Ruddock was named the tournament MVP. Read More →

Red River College President Stephanie Forsyth was among the leaders in education, industry and government who met last week to help ensure the province meets its target of adding 75,000 new workers to the labour market by 2020.

Forsyth and Kevin Rebeck, President of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, served as co-chairs of the summit, which was hosted by the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council, and attended by representatives from business, labour, and education and training.

Discussions were focused on five themes:

• Training more young people for the jobs of tomorrow;
• Connecting more Manitobans with trades training;
• Growing Manitoba’s successful immigration strategy;
• Building Manitoba’s First Nations, Metis and Inuit workforce; and
• Ensuring every Manitoban who faces barriers to working has access to training and employment

When the skills summit was announced last November as part of the provincial throne speech, it was roundly applauded as a good idea, in particular by employers who remain concerned not only about the ongoing skilled labour shortage, but also about finding the right skilled workers to fill positions. Read More →

Red River College has teamed with The Winnipeg Foundation and the Winnipeg Free Press on a new weekly feature aimed at helping kids develop healthy eating habits.

Every Wednesday, the Free Press’ Food section will include an easy-to-make snack recipe provided by RRC’s Culinary Arts program and developed with young people in mind.

The new “Recipe for Success” feature is a component of The Winnipeg Foundation’s Nourishing Potential initiative — a planned $5-million endowment fund to support child and youth nutrition programs.

To date, nearly $2 million has been raised and more than $360,000 in grants distributed to organizations providing after-school, drop-in, and summer food programs for children and youth.

Click here for archived recipes and here for additional information or to make a gift to the fund.

This week, Red River College played host to a team of delegates from Xi’an Siyuan University (XSU) in China — one of a growing number of post-secondary institutions that have struck international partnerships with RRC in recent years.

The delegation was composed of the University’s Chairman Zhou, Yanbo; its Director of Human Resources Guan, Zhongmin; Director of International Development Shou, Shiheng; and RRC’s External Facilitator in China, Andrew Yang.

While here, the delegation met with RRC representatives to discuss joint programming opportunities in business, language training, and construction and engineering technologies.

Canada’s newest hospitality and culinary school opened its anchor restaurant today – Jane’s – the final piece in a 10-storey school where students learn, work and live in a facility modeled after the best European schools – all housed in a fully renovated historic building.

“From here we are going to attract people from around the world to Winnipeg,” said Red River College President Stephanie Forsyth as she opened the doors to Jane’s – the opulent 90-seat fine dining restaurant of the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute in the 1904 restored Union Bank Tower in downtown Winnipeg. “Learning and working in a space like this really inspires staff and students to do their best. The institute will attract and graduate the best hospitality people in Canada.”

“As the anchor restaurant, Jane’s provides the finishing touches to a school that the Canadian hospitality industry has been requesting for decades – a Canadian equivalent of the finest hotel and culinary schools in Europe. This is Canada’s answer. The Paterson GlobalFoods Institute combines culinary, baking and pastry arts, mixology and hospitality management with a student residence. At Jane’s, for example, the classroom is the restaurant. Students prepare and serve the meals in an open-concept kitchen, allowing guests to see the students and learn more about cooking while they dine,” Forsyth said.

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, who was among the first guests to walk through the facility, says Jane’s and Paterson GlobalFoods Institute will help meet the skilled labour shortage in Manitoba. The Manitoba government has contributed $5 million toward the school and restaurant.

“This new restaurant at Red River College is an innovative approach to helping meet the growing demand for skilled workers in Manitoba and we’re proud to support its creation,” said Selinger. “And for the 140 graduates every year who will have trained at Jane’s and the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute this means practical experience that will help them more quickly transition from school to a good job.” Read More →

Diane Ready, RRC Vice-President Finance and Administration (right) receives the Heritage Winnipeg Conservation award from Lisa Gardewine, 1st Vice-President, Heritage Winnipeg.

Red River College received a prestigious Heritage Winnipeg Conservation Award over the weekend, for its work transforming the century-old Union Bank Tower into the newly-opened Paterson GlobalFoods Institute.

The award, accepted Monday afternoon during a ceremony at the Millennium Centre, recognizes special efforts to protect, conserve and reuse structures of high historic or architectural value. Commercial, institutional or residential projects are eligible, in particular those that involve the sensitive and adaptive use or re-use of such structures, while providing for their long-term protection.

Of particular interest to the judging committee were RRC’s “amazing” efforts to preserve the bank tower’s original facade and windows, the repurposing of old materials such as marble corridors and hardwood floors, the marriage of old and new elements, the highly-accessible public spaces included in the design, and the fact that PGI represents one of the largest such projects undertaken in years.

“So why would Red River College, with its strong culture of innovation, put so much effort into restoring a century-old building?” asked Diane Ready, vice-president of finance and administration at RRC. “Because we strongly believe in preserving Winnipeg’s architectural heritage — for it reflects our history, culture, traditions and values.” Read More →

Tune into any radio station in Winnipeg, and you’re likely to hear a Red River College grad. From the deejays who chat in between songs, to the news reporters on CBC, RRC has a long history of producing excellent talent in radio. The tradition continues with the launch of Red River Radio this past summer, a fully-functional, online station run almost entirely by Creative Communications students. But that doesn’t mean they should have all the fun.

Red River Radio is looking for all RRC students to participate in the station. Listen online at radio.rrc.ca, or better yet — appear on the station yourselves! Got a cool project to talk about? Want to promote your band’s upcoming show? Are you planning a fundraiser, or bragging about a recent accomplishment? Red River Radio wants to hear from you. Plus, if you head down to the station in the Roblin Centre Campus you’ll get to experience how a real radio station works. Read More →

Students in Red River College’s Advanced Graphic Design class have harnessed their considerable technical skills to create a new iPad app that showcases the best the College has to offer.

Fifteen students collaborated on the fall project, which saw them develop an iPad version of RRC’s 2013-14 Viewbook, an annual recruitment publication featuring info on the College’s programs and support services.

Now available in the App Store, the 2013-14 Viewbook app is enhanced by additional photos, videos and slide shows, and was inspired by a similar project a few years ago in which program coordinator Diane Livingston beta tested the Adobe software used to create the app. This software is now part of the Adobe Creative Suite software used by all Graphic Design students.

Livingston says the work provides Graphic Design students with valuable experience learning to use the technology to adapt existing print material. After finishing work on the Viewbook project, each student then designed and created his or her own individual iPad apps.

“Graphic designers are no longer designing just for print,” says Livingston. “We are a design school, so our students are designing user interfaces and web pages too. We know this is the way industry is going, because it allows them to save on printing costs.”

Students appreciated the chance to push the boundaries of their skill sets by using technologies they’ll encounter in the workforce, says Livingston, noting the Viewbook app has been especially well-received by RRC’s student recruiters.

“They love it because they can just take it on the road — plug their iPad into a projector, and all their program information is there,” she says.

Click here to check out the iPad Viewbook app yourself, and here for more information on RRC’s Advanced Graphic Design program.