From the president's desk: February 21, 2024

I am very proud to announce that for the eighth year in a row, Lakeland College has been named by Mediacorp Canada Inc. as one of Alberta’s Top 80 Employers. Many factors are considered by the selection committee. These include physical workplace, social and work atmosphere, health, financial and family benefits, vacation and time off, employee communications, performance management, training and skills development, and community involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs. This is indeed a milestone to be proud of.

I want to share another success story--Lakeland College has been identified by Oracle, our database provider, as a PeopleSoft Feature Innovator for deploying PeopleSoft fluid self-service for students. Lakeland College has successfully implemented this capability for students, significantly improving their user experience and allowing students to use mobile devices for critical transactions. I sincerely congratulate everyone involved for their part in enhancing the student experience.

The Lloydminster campus will host the CCAA Women’s Basketball Nationals on March 13-16, 2024. Both campuses will be decorated in a sea of green and gold, showing off our Rustler pride. The Lakeland College ACAC women’s basketball team, led by coach Chris King, has had an undefeated season and looks forward to hosting Nationals. Everyone is welcome to attend. Congratulations to all of our Lakeland College sports teams who enjoyed very successful seasons.

Lakeland College proudly supports Truth and Reconciliation and Indigenous wellness. An Indigenous services support team is in place to ensure that all students enjoy success. Earlier this month, we hosted Indigenous Storytellers event, where speakers shared their experiences and discussed important topics like cultural legends, the fur trade and The 60’s Scoop.

Our human services students have also been hard at work planning a student-led event aimed at addressing stress and burn out in students and staff. All staff and students are invited to attend the Wellness Symposium planned for February 28.

I also want to take a moment to recognize Black History Month, a time to reflect on the importance of equity, diversity and inclusiveness, qualities that I wholeheartedly support and encourage at Lakeland College. It's a time for us to come together to celebrate and deepen our understanding of the rich African Canadian heritage and to recognize the many contributions Black Canadians have made to shaping our country.

Lakeland’s activities and programs focus on providing knowledge and skills that assist students in preparing for significant achievements and where lifelong learning is developed in a hands-on, experiential way. As you can see from the above-noted successes, Lakeland is a great place to work and study.

Until next time,
Alice