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Home / 2005 / July / 04 / OUC keys passed to new institutions

OUC keys passed to new institutions

July 4, 2005

Dr. Martha Piper, UBC President and Brad Bennett, Chair, UBC Board of Governors

The keys to the future of post-secondary education in the Okanagan have been passed to Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan.

Okanagan University College Public Administrator Dr. J. Peter Meekison presented the keys to OUC’s five campuses at a ceremony this afternoon to UBC President Dr. Martha Piper and Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton.

“This signals the changing of the guard and the end of the transition period,” said Meekison, who has served as a temporary replacement for OUC’s Board of Governors and Education Council for the past 14 months. “The two new institutions go forward with strength and resolve and can build on the deserved reputation for excellence that OUC has established. I have been impressed by the professionalism and dedication demonstrated by OUC’s faculty, staff and administrators through this whole process and I commend them.”

Hamilton was presented keys to the Vernon, Salmon Arm, Penticton and South Kelowna campuses which are now Okanagan College. Piper was given a key to the former North Kelowna campus which is now the home of UBC Okanagan.

“Fifteen months ago we were given the job of establishing a learning college for the 21st Century,” says Hamilton. “Many people have been working diligently to make that a reality and today it is. The College will welcome students this fall with more than 300 new spaces in 20 expanded and new programs throughout our four regions. That’s a gigantic increase in access to higher education and training. We will be working closely with our colleagues at UBC Okanagan to further increase the choices for students.”

Piper is excited about building a distinctive university in the Okanagan.  “UBC Okanagan will be an intimate, learner-centred, research-intensive university, focused on helping our students become global citizens,” says Piper.  “We are fortunate to have many leading British Columbians share our vision including Dr. Irving K. Barber, who chose to endow the new School of Arts and Sciences that will bear his name.”

As part of the ceremony, Piper, Hamilton, UBC Board of Governors Chair Brad Bennett, Okanagan College Board Chair Norman Embree and Barry McBride, Deputy Vice Chancellor of UBC Okanagan signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions that spells out a new working relationship. The MoU is intended to foster partnerships, program linkages, and transfer opportunities for students.

For more information on the two new institutions, visit:

  • The web site for Okanagan College at www.okanagan.bc.ca
  • The web site for UBC Okanagan at www.ubc.ca/okanagan

The OUC website will remain active until mid-August at www.ouc.bc.ca and will then be linked to a historical website.

Media Contact

Bud Mortenson
Director
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250-807-9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
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About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

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We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

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