{"id":15904,"date":"2018-05-16T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=15904"},"modified":"2018-06-05T09:32:46","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T16:32:46","slug":"post-secondary-predictions-as-camosun-moves-forward-with-its-master-plan-we-look-at-whats-next-for-the-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2018\/05\/16\/post-secondary-predictions-as-camosun-moves-forward-with-its-master-plan-we-look-at-whats-next-for-the-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-secondary predictions: As Camosun moves forward with its master plan, we look at what\u2019s next for the college"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0<\/span>lot can happen in 47 years.<\/p>\n

The grounds I walk each day at Camosun College\u2019s Lansdowne campus have come a long way and seen a lot of use since they were, in part, a hospital during World War II. It makes sense that Camosun is changing: the whole world is changing, at a pace only comparable, I think, to the pace in 1911, when the invention of the uniflow steam engine changed things forever. But even that doesn\u2019t really come up to snuff with the incredible changes we\u2019ve seen since the mid-to-late 2000s with regard to technology\u2014and I don\u2019t just mean your smartphone.<\/p>\n

Since I started going to school here a few years ago, the Fisher building has been revamped, Interurban has become something out of a modern-day science-fiction novel, and the quality of technology in the school\u2019s classrooms has consistenly risen.<\/p>\n

In a world where values have changed immensely since 1971, when Camosun was founded, what exactly does the future hold for the college? Camosun is currently working on a long-term master plan, which made us think it was time to look at some of the major current developments at the college.<\/p>\n

NOWHERE TO LIVE\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Students are starving, now more than ever. Those attending Camosun are often overworked, under-rested, and up to their kneecaps in debt after graduation. I\u2019ve spoken with students who are living out of their cars, commuting from Duncan at 2 am for an 8:30 am class at Lansdowne; I\u2019ll never forget the time a student told me about how he brought $1,000 cash to a showing of a dingy apartment building just so he could pounce on it if he had to. The problem of meeting some of the most basic human needs we learn about in entry-level Psychology classes is a legitimate problem for more students than one may initially think.<\/p>\n

The college wants to bring student housing on campus in the future, says Camosun vice president of student experience Joan Yates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s real,\u201d says Yates about the housing crisis. \u201cHow can you concentrate on your studies and do well in building your career or your future plans when you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going to stay the night?\u201d<\/p>\n

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This story originally appeared in our May 16, 2018 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yates says about a third of students who filled out a recent survey that Camosun conducted found it very difficult to find housing. She says that if the college can put housing on or near campus\u2014the latter of which she says many students indicated in the survey that they wanted\u2014it will free up housing to more of those who need it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also very aware that Victoria\u2019s a tough marketplace,\u201d she says. \u201cThe other thing that concerns us is that if students can\u2019t find good places to live it impacts their experience here, but it also impacts whether or not they stay here when they graduate. Young people leaving this community and taking their skills and their careers to other communities doesn\u2019t serve Victoria at all. If we can look at a good residence program, then we\u2019re in a position whereby we can relieve the Greater Victoria area and open up affordable housing for other people who need it. We know that a number of our students are renting and taking up that space because they have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) executive director Michel Turcotte says the CCSS always supports student housing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s currently a government that\u2019s willing to put a little bit of money into student housing,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re more open to allowing institutions to borrow money to create student housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The college\u2019s master campus plan will be ready next spring, according to April 9, 2018 Camosun College board of governors meeting minutes. According to those minutes, Camosun is in a good position to apply for money the government has allocated for loan funding for student housing, and the next steps include finance analysis, site analysis, and positioning with the government. The master plan as a whole, of which student housing is a part, is a long-term plan. The minutes say the board will make a decision on moving forward based on the business case, which Iverleith Consulting is working on. The Scion Group developed a demand analysis for types of housing and student preferences.<\/p>\n

CREATING SYNERGY<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my talk with Yates, she brings up the \u201cenergy and synergy\u201d of the Lansdowne library. She says that it\u2019s needed in other places at the college, too, pointing to Lansdowne\u2019s Dawson building as an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go into Dawson, it\u2019s not the most beautiful and welcoming spot, right?\u201d she says. \u201cSo how do we look at services in a way that welcomes students from the very first moment they set foot on the college and feel that they actually are really a part of this place?\u201d<\/p>\n

Camosun College vice president of education John Boraas says Camosun is really focusing on creating an inhabitable environment that is purpose-built and suitable for what it\u2019s used for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve been through some of the learning spaces at the Lansdowne campus for the Nursing program\u2014it\u2019s pretty underwhelming,\u201d says Boraas. \u201cThe space is old and very, I would say, shabby. We really are determined that all of the new buildings at Camosun are, for inhabitancy, pleasant to live in, but also inspirational in terms of being beautiful. That\u2019s part of learning, in my mind.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the nature of the new spaces being built, Boraas says the college is going to be able to focus more on cross-disciplinary education.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have Early Learning and Care students who are able to participate in other programs, so that Nursing students can learn from health care assistants and so on,\u201d he says. \u201cWe believe a big part of the future of health care in Canada is going to be having more professionals who are trained across disciplines; we think we have the vehicle to be able to do that much more effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

The range of high- and low-fidelity simulation labs, for example, will allow technology to be used in many different ways to deliver lectures, resulting in many learning outcomes, says Boraas. He also mentions \u201cthe technology to re-create health care assistant spaces for in-home care\u201d and says there are \u201cjust so many more elements for what the future of health care looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yates says part of enhancing the student experience comes down to coming up with more collaboration spaces for students on campus, as that has a direct impact on how they do in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a lot of that at Camosun; in fact, we have very little of it,\u201d she says. \u201cThe cafeterias become collaboration space, but they\u2019re really for meals, and people sort of feel like they\u2019re eating and in a space that\u2019s not really designed to have them spend hours and hours there, so how do we redefine that?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yates says the college does that with breakout rooms around classrooms, the library, and other areas where students can work together. Indigenization, says Yates, also lends some key aspects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen classrooms are set up in a traditional row-by-row way, it can isolate students, but put them in a circle and watch what happens,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s having space lend itself to what we want to do as human beings.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A QUEST FOR WELLNESS\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing worth having is easy. Construction crews have been hard at work on Interurban\u2019s Centre For Health And Wellness since May of 2017. The building was projected at a cost of roughly $48.5 million; once it\u2019s built, over 1,000 students will be transferred from Lansdowne to Interurban, a number that concerns Turcotte.<\/p>\n

\u201cInfrastructure for absorbing more is not there,\u201d he says, talking about transit issues specifically. \u201cEven if BC Transit had the buses to provide tons of extra service\u2014which they don\u2019t, at the moment\u2014the road infrastructure going to Interurban doesn\u2019t necessarily allow for that. If you were going to set up a transportation hub, you would not put it where the Interurban campus is, because a lot of factors\u2014including the district of Saanich\u2014have conspired in ways to make it almost impossible to get in and out of there at times.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yates says the move of students to Interurban will be gradual.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not all going to happen at the same time,\u201d she says. \u201cThere will be a very steady rollout, so not everybody\u2019s going to be out there in September; we\u2019re going to stagger this.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yates says definite dates depend on when construction is completed (on its website, Camosun says the building will be ready for student occupancy sometime in 2019, with the exact date to be determined). But Turcotte says he hasn\u2019t heard anything about the movement of students being gradual, and he says that while he\u2019s happy the college is exploring different opportunities, he feels that if the movement takes more than a year, the building would be wasted space during that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a building is built and ready, what is considered a gradual time? A year? I can\u2019t see them waiting more than a year, once the new facilities are ready, to be able to put students in that facility,\u201d he says. \u201cThese are designated facilities\u2014labs and things like that\u2014so you can\u2019t really use them as easily for other classes.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Boraas says the rollout won\u2019t take more than six months to a year; he adds that there are points of constriction when it comes to expanding Interurban, but that students will also come from Interurban to Lansdowne once that space is freed up at Lansdowne.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to begin a process of migrating some programs and services back to Lansdowne, so, ultimately, although we\u2019re growing, we\u2019re also pulling,\u201d says Boraas, adding that there are still logistical issues to be worked out. Boraas says the college is working with Saanich to prepare for additional buses, and that Camosun is increasing their food services at Interurban. Boraas says some problems\u2014such as library space\u2014won\u2019t be solved immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth care students are fairly high consumers of library services, and until we have space freed up at Interurban we aren\u2019t going to be able to expand that,\u201d says Boraas. \u201cWe have nowhere to expand to.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First-year Nursing student Natasha Lennam says the move is supposed to happen when she is in her third year, meaning she would only have one semester left. She says she\u2019s not worried about it, because she doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s going to happen on time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing how construction works, I don\u2019t really think it\u2019s going to happen,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t think it will happen on time because when you consider how long it took them to fix [Fisher] when it was just supposed to be done in the summer, I don\u2019t really think that I\u2019ll be moving to the new building. I think it will happen after.\u201d<\/p>\n

LOOKING THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE LENS\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lots of Camosun\u2019s big changes as of late have been at Interurban, where the college\u2019s trades and technology programs are based. Camosun dean of trades and technology Eric Sehn says society is focusing on both trades and technology more today than in recent years, and that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emphasis started, I\u2019m going to say, about six years ago, and it was really hands-on trades,\u201d he says. \u201cIn the last couple of years, of course, they\u2019re starting to shift to tech, and, of course, look at where we live on Vancouver Island\u2014you know that health programming has to be a big thing as well. Our population on the island, on average, is older.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sehn says that during graduation ceremonies is when he really notices the wide appeal of trades and technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the crowd someone will yell, \u2018Way to go, Mom; right on, Dad.\u2019 I\u2019ve even heard, \u2018Yay, Grandpa,\u2019\u201d says Sehn. \u201cAnd you just <\/b>go, \u2018Yes. That\u2019s why we do this work, you know?\u2019 We have the opportunity to help people and help make a difference and that\u2019s a very, very satisfying thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sehn says it came time to replace Interurban infrastructure in a lasting way.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a society, we\u2019re in a cycle where large investments were made in the 1960s, for example, when buildings were constructed in communities across British Columbia. All of this infrastructure is coming to the end of its life,\u201d says Sehn. \u201cAs an organization we have to make decisions: do we refurbish these things or do we make a new investment and set up the organization and the community for the next 30 to 40 years?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Centre for Trades Education and Innovation was just phase one of Camosun\u2019s trades complex renewal. Phase two was the renovation of the old welding shop, which is now the new electrical trades centre. The last phase will be an expansion on John Drysdale, where electrical used to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Carpentry program will be taking over in the vacated spaces by the electrical department, because construction trades are in such high demand,\u201d says Sehn.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the college plans to start teaching in more detail about renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a one-year certificate or a two-year diploma for people that want to learn about all different types of renewable energy: solar, geothermal, and solar hot water\u2019s another big one for us,\u201d says Sehn. \u201cTo give people an exposure to the potential of what the green economy will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I walk the campus now, having spent the last week talking to people at the college about what the future will hold, I\u2019m taken aback by the amount of time and effort it takes to keep a post-secondary institution up to beat with what the times demand.<\/p>\n

As a student, I do the easy part. That might sound strange, but I just show up to class, do my readings, study in the library, eat at the cafeteria, then do it again the next day. I don\u2019t have to worry about what is best for the students, or how the college will progress over time in a world that is constantly evolving.<\/p>\n

Take a minute to look around at the architecture of Fisher, or the new trades building. They\u2019re an impressive sight that have come at a cost of many long hours spent shuffling paperwork in meetings as construction crews go to town. The sound of power tools right outside Fisher as I wrote tests was irritating, but, when it\u2019s all said and done, I think it\u2019s going to be worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0lot can happen in 47 years. The grounds I walk each day at Camosun College\u2019s Lansdowne campus have come a long way and seen a lot of use since they were, in part, a hospital during World War II. It makes sense that Camosun is changing: the whole world is changing, at a pace only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,211],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-may-16-2018"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15905,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15904\/revisions\/15905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}