OLDS — Olds College of Agriculture & Technology has launched a new way to encourage students to register for one or more of their programs.
It’s called OC VIP Fridays.
Each Friday through February, Olds College representatives have taken prospective students on tours of the campus.
They get a personalized tour of the campus as well as a craft coffee from the college’s Bloom Café to enjoy during the tour.
After the tour, those students can talk to recruiters about programs that interest them and if they choose to apply for those programs, their fees can be waived. They can also pick up a free hoodie if they want.
Earlier, three representatives of the college: Lana Van Damme, communications advisor - student experience; Kate Harink, interim manager of recruitment operations; and Emmanuel Borquez, on-campus experience coordinator; took the Albertan on one of those personalized tours.
“We’re working towards opening our doors so that we can see more students come in and enjoy hands-on learning and learn about all the benefits of Olds College,” Van Damme said.
“We do campus tours throughout the year. This is just an opportunity for us to give a little bit extra of an experience of to anybody who’s looking for post-secondary (education).”
Van Damme said college officials are aware that this is the time of year when many high school students, especially those in Grades 11 and 12, begin seriously thinking about what they want to do next, and if that involves post-secondary education, what they want to study and where.
“The college is always looking to open their doors to more and more students and so this is just another way for us to invite students to join us on-campus,” she said.
Derek Ivananics, 17, who lives on a farm/ranch near Medicine Hat, was one of the students who took advantage of the VIP tour.
“I learned more about what I want to take,” he said.
“I came here thinking more about agriculture mechanics and they’ve encouraged me to do ag management, since I’m going to be going back to the farm, so that’s been lots of information and lots to think about.
“I can take both, and I think that’ll probably be my plan; spend more time here and do both programs.”
Ivananics also hopes to make the college’s rodeo team while on campus.
“I’ve been rodeoing since Grade 9,” he said. “I qualified for provincials the last few years and then made Canadians just this last year.”
He primarily competes as a calf roper, but does some team roping as well.
His favourite, though, is calf roping.
“You get more adrenaline from it. It’s more fun to do, exciting,” he said.
Ivananics says going to college in Olds would be his first time away from home.
“It should be fun,” he said.
Along with many other buildings, which have been in campus for years or decades, the tour also included a brief look at construction underway for renovation and expansion of the W.J. Elliott Building, also known as the Trades Building.
The cost of that project is projected to be more than $63 million over three years.
The purpose of the project is to “enhance student spaces and meet the growing demand for skilled trades education in Alberta, marking a significant step toward the future of trades training at the college,” according to the college’s website.
The work is expected to get underway in earnest this summer.
Meanwhile, starting in May, all classes, labs and workstations currently located in the W.J. Elliott Building will be temporarily relocated to either the Industry Training Centre on campus or one of six bays at the Netook Crossing Business Park.
The only exceptions will be classes scheduled in Lab B and Lab C, which will remain accessible during construction.
The new Animal Heath Education Centre was also visited.
That facility which opened last fall, features some labs, a hospital, even dental suites.
The $15.6 million project, which began in 2020, involved incorporating and expanding its Lachlin McKinnon Building into the new centre.
At the same time, the James Murray Building was redeveloped to become the 3,000 square metre Werklund Agriculture & Technology Centre at an estimated cost of $6.21 million.
The tour also included a visit to the college’s Alumni Hall of Fame & Alumni Hall of Merit, located in the lower level of the Learning Resource Centre.
It gives special recognition to former students or staff who “have distinguished themselves by making significant contributions to Olds College, the community, society, and/or their chosen career or industry,” the college’s website says.
“This is a place that inspires me,” Borquez said. “Maybe one of us will be there at some point, we never know.”
Near the Hall of Fame is a model of the college's original main building, which later became the home economics building.
“It’s pretty cool that they made this model to see where we started and then the other brand new buildings we have on campus too,” Van Damme said.
Behind the model is the college’s alumni museum. Private tours of that facility can be booked.
During the tour, a couple of deer could be seen looking at the goings-on before scampering away.
Other Olds College attractions include the botanic gardens and constructed wetlands, athletic facilities, the Land Sciences Centre, and student residences.
