Lethbridge College, the University of Lethbridge and Medicine Hat College have come together to form a new written partnership: the Eight Regional Collaboration Principles.
“The three of us as presidents got together and said: ‘We really need to formalize it and we really need to make a statement about the principles that we’re following,'” Paula Burns, the president and CEO of Lethbridge College, said.
“We want to make sure that everyone in the province knew the strength of southern Alberta in terms of post-secondary education.”
The new partnership stems from a prolonged relationship between the three institutions.
Mike Mahon, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Lethbridge, said the schools decided to create these principles to better provide more efficiency, quality and accessibility to southern Alberta’s post-secondary school system for future students.
Mahon added putting these principles down on paper creates a “call to action” for those involved.
“We’re challenging ourselves to really deliver,” Mahon said.
“Going forward, what it means is that our institutions have to continue to get together on a regular basis, look at how we bring the principles to life and ensure that they really are principles that drive our business.”
The Eight Regional Collaboration Principles include:
- To create an ecosystem of post-secondary learning that supports the Government of Alberta goals while operating as independent institutions
- To increase participation and retention in post-secondary education through domestic and international recruitment strategies and student support services
- To ensure success for learners through a seamless pathway between certificate, diploma and bachelor programs, as well as opportunities to progress to graduate studies
- To enable access to work-integrated learning opportunities across southern Alberta
- To support regional economic development by aligning programming with the needs of industry
- To support the health and vibrancy of our rural communities by working together to enhance access and develop programming relevant to the rural economy
- To further develop partnerships with Indigenous communities that support regional reconciliation and Indigenous learner success
- To find operational collaborative opportunities, spanning the full mandates of our institutions, to support our sustainability and protect jobs in the post-secondary sector
Burns said this new collaborative effort also allows the institutions to share resources, which is an important asset in light of the provincial government’s cuts to education this year.
“A big part of it is making sure that where there was an opportunity, we could share resources and reduce the cost for all institutions as we go down the road,” she said.
Cutting costs through this new method is a notion echoed by Kevin Shufflebotham, the president and CEO of Medicine Hat College.
“Medicine Hat College believes in the strength of collaboration within the post-secondary system,” he said.
“These principles focus on students and it focuses on access, and I think that’s really in line with where the government wants us to go.”
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