College Expansion Initiative

Programs and Investments

The College Expansion Initiative (CEI) works with all four institutions Red River College, Assiniboine Community College, University College of the North and École technique et professionnelle to develop multi-year plans that address each college’s unique programming needs.

New Programs 2009-10

 
Assiniboine Community College
 
• Instructional Release Time Re: Practical Nursing Conversion – ($85,000)

The Council approved $85,000 in one-time only funding for one full-time equivalent instructor position to convert the College’s Practical Nursing Certificate Program to a Diploma Program.  This follows the Council’s earlier approval authorizing the College to grant diploma credentials to students who successfully complete requirements for the 1800 hour Practical Nursing Program starting after July 1, 2010 and continuing thereafter.
 
Red River College
 
• Conversion of Nursing Programs to Bachelor of Nursing Accelerated (BNA) Degree Program – ($200,000)

In 2009/10, The Colleges Act was amended to provide Manitoba’s colleges with degree granting authority.  Accordingly, the Council approved $200,000 as part of the Government’s Nursing Strategy to support the conversion of the College’s Diploma Nursing Accelerated (DNA) and Joint Baccalaureate Nursing (JBN) Programs into a single Bachelor of Nursing Accelerated (BNA) Degree Program.  The program conversion supports the introduction of newly mandated competencies from the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba.  The funding approval covers the hiring of staff to revise the existing curricula to the new BNA Program.
 
• B. Tech., (Bachelor of Technology) in Construction Management – ($133,000 in 2009/10 and ongoing from COPSE; $125,000 in 2009/10 and 2010/11 from Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade (Apprenticeship Branch)

Following amendments to The Colleges Act, authorizing Manitoba’s colleges to grant degrees, Red River College received approval to offer a new four-year Bachelor of Technology in Construction Management, the only one of its kind in the province.  The baccalaureate degree program with an applied focus, encompasses eight academic semesters and three co-op work terms or internships of six months each to create a 44-month program.  A unique strength of the program is it allows entry with varying backgrounds (sequential, diplomas, degrees, journeypersons) and exit at several levels (certificate, diploma, degree).  Content is focused on four domains of Leadership and Management, Applied Research and Innovation, Science and Technology, and Ethics and Environment, and focus is on three main construction areas: heavy construction, industrial and commercial construction, and residential.
 
Responding directly to Manitoba’s rapidly expanding construction industry and growing demand for Construction Managers, graduates will be highly skilled in project management, estimating, information technology, financial and business management, team management, conflict resolution, negotiation, supervision, and communication.  Graduates are expected to be employed in senior management positions with Manitoba construction firms, engineering, architecture design and management firms with the federal, provincial and municipal governments, and crown corporations such as Manitoba Hydro, as well as starting their own firms as entrepreneurs.
 
University College of the North
 
• Practical Nursing Diploma Program – ($350,000 in ongoing funding)

The Council approved $350,000 to begin development of a 40-seat Practical Nursing Diploma Program for delivery in northern Manitoba.  The Council expects to receive a full program proposal in 2010/11.
 
College and University College Approvals that did not Receive Funding from COPSE
 
Assiniboine Community College
 
• Pork Production Manager Program –Redirection of Funds

The College received approval to redirect funds of $67,010 used to support the Pork Production Manager Program to hire a part-time faculty member to investigate the feasibility of offering a new program in horticulture for the 2009/10 curriculum.  The request to re-direct funds is due largely to substantial decline in enrollment since 2003, adequate training of current managers, maturity of labour market at the Pork Production Manager Level, and decreasing need for certification at the manager level.
 
• Horticulture Production Certificate

Following completion of a feasibility study on the offering of a new program in horticulture, the Council approved the College’s request to establish a new 15-seat Horticultural Production Certificate Program, the only one of its kind in Manitoba.  The program provides career training in four key sectors: greenhouse, nursery, fruits and vegetables, and parks and landscape, and requires two terms of study and a four-month co-operative work placement of 600 hours.  Graduates will have developed strong, hands-on training and skills in production horticulture, and will be well prepared to work in rural or urban settings, with opportunities in greenhouses and nurseries, food production and processing, applied research, public parks and landscape management.
 
• Authority to Grant Diploma Credentials in Practical Nursing

Assiniboine Community College received Council approval to authorize the granting of diploma credentials to all students who successfully complete the requirements of the 1800 hour Practical Nursing Program, for programs beginning after July 1, 2010 and continuing thereafter.  The Council’s approval occurs in conjunction with the Government’s decision to convert all diploma training programs for Registered Nurses to Baccalaureate degree programs, commencing in September, 2010. 

• Heavy Duty Equipment Technician Certificate Option

The Council approved the offering of an optional 66 credit certificate exit at the end of the first year of the two-year Heavy Duty Equipment Technician Diploma Program.  The certificate option offers a college credential to those students opting to remain employed at a co-operative work placement at the end of the first year.  The College intends to pursue accreditation for the one-year certificate program as being equivalent to the Manitoba Apprenticeship Branch’s Heavy Duty Equipment Technician Level One in-school apprenticeship training.  The certificate option aligns with other trades pre-employment certificate programs currently offered at the College.
 
• Environmental Technologies Diploma

The College received approval to modify its existing Geographical Information System (GIS) Environmental Technologies Diploma and Land and Water Management Diploma Programs to establish the new Environmental Technologies Diploma.  The new program includes 30 credits of common courses in the first term, and a choice of specialization of 105 credits in either the GIS or Land and Water Management.  The modified program reflects current national occupational standards for similar program types, allows students more time and information before choosing a career path, creates scheduling efficiencies, reduces course administration and maintenance overhead, and simplifies communications and marketing activities to employers, graduates and potential students.
 
• Re-direct of Northern Nursing Funds

The Council approved the College’s request to redirect $265,000 in Northern Nursing Funding towards establishment of LPN cohorts in six Aboriginal communities.  The six, 25-seat cohorts were established in Selkirk, The Pas, West Region Tribal Council, Ebb and Flow First Nation, Nelson House and Oxford House.  The LPN cohorts were funded in 2009/10 and 2010/11 in partnership with the Provincial Government (Employment Manitoba), Federal Government, as well as several Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement stakeholders.
 
• Construction Electrician Certificate – Program Expansion

In response to the increasing demand for construction electricians and electrician apprentices in Manitoba, the College received Council approval to expand its pre-employment Construction Electrician Certificate Program by an additional 15 seats at its Parkland Campus in Dauphin, commencing September 2010.  Since demand for the program has consistently far exceeded capacity of 15 students when it was first offered in 2000 at the Brandon campus, the expansion helps train more students to work in the high-demand construction electrician trade.  In addition to serving the Dauphin area, the expansion offers training opportunities to several neighbouring First-Nations communities whose members make up a high proportion of the Parkland student body.  
 
Red River College
 
• Union Bank Tower

The Council approved several initiatives related to Red River College’s proposal to acquire the historic Union Bank Tower to establish a culinary arts and hospitality training centre, office, lab and classroom space, and student housing.  These included the College’s request for procurement of the Union Bank Tower and associated land at no cost based on an independent property appraisal, and a business plan outlining cashflow projections and revised scope, and completion of the architectural and design planning leading to the completion of Class A estimates for the Union Bank Tower residence facilities. 
 
• Pre-Employment Construction Trades Program 

Based on positive results of a pilot project, the Council approved the College’s request to complete the permanent conversion of the construction Pre-employment (PE) Carpentry, Electrical and Plumbing Programs from two nine-month sections of each trade per year to four five-month programs per year to deliver programming to twice as many students per year.  This follows the Council’s approval last year to shorten the PE programs pending the results on a pilot project basis.  The College also received approval to convert its remaining nine-month PE construction trades programs to two five-month offerings.  The program changes help address the skilled trades shortage and the concerns of business and industry, shorten waiting times for applicants, and increase completion rates.
 
• Wood Products Manufacturing Technology Program – Program Changes

Red River College received approval to convert its 32-month Wood Products Manufacturing Technology Program to a 20-month Cabinetry and Woodworking Diploma Program and a four-month Cabinet and Woodworking Certificate exit.  The shorter program enables the College to train more individuals to meet the skills shortage in the manufacturing industry, and reduce waiting times for applicants wanting to access a career in the cabinetry and woodworking trades.  Students who complete Semester 1 of the Cabinet and Woodworking Certificate may choose to either seek Level 1 accreditation with the Cabinetmaker Apprenticeship Program, to enter Semester 2 to earn a Woodworking Technology Diploma (with a 4-month co-op work placement) at the end of Semester 4, or enter the workforce directly with hands-on shop-floor skills.  With the rapid growth in Manitoba’s construction industry over the last five years, graduates are expected to help fill the shortage of skilled cabinet-makers and wood-related workers. 
 
University College of the North
 
• Use of One-Time Surplus Funding for Capital Projects

The Council approved UCN’s request for use of one-time funding of $119,800 from within its internal resources in support of operating costs related to travel, support staff, equipment requirements and other incidentals related to UCN’s capital projects at the Thompson and The Pas campuses.
 
• Use of One-Time Surplus Funding for Regional Centre Director

UCN’s 12 northern regional centres are spread over a wide geographical area creating significant challenges of coordinating, staffing and managing post-secondary programming, as well as focusing on student success.  To address these challenges, UCN received Council approval for use of one-time funding of $70,300 from within its internal resources in each of 2009/10 and 2010/11 in support of the hire of a Regional Centre Director for a two-year term.  

• Use of One-Time Surplus Funding for Regional Centre Operations

The Council approved UCN’s request to expend $402,600 from within its internal resources to support operations at Oxford House and Grand Rapids, UCN’s two newest regional centres that opened in 2007/08.
 
• Grand Rapids Regional Centre – Reallocation of Funds

The Council approved UCN’s request to reallocate $215,000 from within its internal resources towards construction of a teaching facility and instructors’ accommodations at the Grand Rapids Regional Centre.  The provision of the facility and accommodations addresses the challenge of delivering post-secondary programming to more students within the community.
 
• Construction of Teaching Facility to House A Mining Academy in Flin Flon

UCN received approval to reallocate $500,000 from within its internal resources towards funding construction costs of a new 2,000 square-foot teaching facility to house a Mining Academy in Flin Flon.  Several stakeholders, in addition to UCN, including the mining industry, Apprenticeship Manitoba, Industry Workforce Development, the Community Economic Development Committee of Cabinet, the City of Flin Flon, and the Community Adjustment Fund, administered by Western Economic Diversification Canada, jointly contributed towards establishment of a Mining Academy in Flin Flon.  The facility is expected to provide educational opportunities for research and training in several mining-related areas included geology, engineering and environmental studies.
 
• Student Support Fund

UCN received approval to expend its $600,000 student support fund to address specific needs concerning student academic success, retention and study outcomes.  The eight proposals approved for funding include Student Support and Development Research to create baseline data related to student recruitment and retention, Clerical and Administrative Support for the Institutional Research Dept., Residence Life/Student Support to address the need for planned and facilitated recreational activities and cultural events for students living in residence, a Counsellor, a Learning Support Instructor, an Academic Advisor, Learning Lab Support, and three Educational Assistants.
 
• Purchase of Former Greek Orthodox Church in Thompson

The Council approved UCN’s expenditure of $300,000 from within its internal resources to purchase a former Greek Orthodox Church for future development plans of the new Thompson campus.
 
Colleges with Practical Nursing Mandates
 
The Council approved a policy change for Practical Nursing Mandates in the Province whereby the exclusive mandate of Assiniboine Community College to deliver Practical Nurse training programs was replaced by a regional delivery model.  Under the new policy, Assiniboine Community College will deliver base budget Practical Nurse training activities in southern Manitoba, University College of the North will deliver Practical Nurse training in northern Manitoba, and Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface will deliver base budget Francophone Practical Nurse training province-wide.

Historical Funding of Programs

2008-09 (49 KB)
2007-08 (16 KB)
2006-07 (17 KB)
2005-06 (15 KB)
2004-05 (13 KB)
2003-04 (22 KB)
2002-03 (17 KB)
2001-02 (19 KB)
2000-01 (15 KB)

Investment Overview

The colleges and the College Expansion Initiative (CEI) have developed multi-year expansion plans that address future programming needs. Each plan is unique and builds upon the strengths and challenges of each institution. CEI's responsibility is to ensure that investments are balanced among all economic sectors and roughly allocated according to breadth and size of each institution.

The following chart illustrates CEI program investments from 2000/01 to 2009/10

Sector	RRC	ACC	UCN	ETP	Total	% of Sector Investment
Health	5,734.4	1,798.3	1,188.7	829.0	$9,550.4	24.9%
Aerospace	1,818.6	0	0	0	$1,818.6	4.7%
Information Comm. Tech	2,670.6	640.1	0	82.5	$3,393.2	8.8%
Mfg./Industrial/Mech.	1,499.9	210.2	126.2	0	$1,836.3	4.7 %
Business/Tourism/Hosp.	772.3	683.1	115.0	0	$1,565.6	4.0%
Community/Human Ser.	833.1	644.4	224.3	0	$1,570.4	4.1%
Agri/Natural Resources	0	523.1	0	0	$523.1	1.3%
Strategic Intervention	2,029.4	0	1,754.0	0	$3,783.4	9.8%
Other	1,403.0	684.3	0	0	$2,087.3	5.4%
Inflationary Increase	5,067.3	960.5	780.4	201.2	$7,009.4	18.3%
Princess Street Campus	5,146.4	0	0	0	$5,146.4	13.4%
Total Investment	$26,978.0	$6,144.0	$4,188.6	$1,112.7	$38,284.1	100%
% of College Investment	70.4%	16.0%	10.9%	2.9%	100%

NOTE: Strategic Initiatives are investments that will indirectly foster enrolment growth. Support for regional centres, for example, has allowed UCN to extend its reach in northern Manitoba. Similarly, investments in distance education permit colleges to increase access to their programs. The RRC Princess Street Campus and the ACC relocation to the site of the former Brandon Mental Health Centre are other examples of strategic initiatives.