Site preparation work has begun at the College of New Caledonia’s new Vanderhoof campus.
CNC Vanderhoof Regional Principal Troy Morin said the new campus is going to enable the college to effectively provide trades programming courses, as they will now have access to shop space. He said even though the trades program has been in existence for a while, the limiting factor at the Vanderhoof campus was the lack of a teaching place that allows for machines and equipment.
Morin said the current building plan has shop space included in it.
“So not only do we get to offer trades programming but we also get updated rooms and space for our other educational programs as well,” Morin added.
Safety fences and signs have been installed around the site and Morin said as the project is in its renovation phase there will be some demolition inside as well as overall site preparation around the building.
The new campus is located off Yellowhead Highway in Vanderhoof, on Chilco Avenue.
Morin said that part of the building plan was the addition of two delivery instruction teaching classrooms as well. Digital Delivery Instruction was introduced three years ago and there has been a very high demand for its use in the past year, he added.
“I am very excited about the addition of these classrooms because it provides me with more flexibility to offer university transfer courses and other programming that could be delivered to Vanderhoof digitally,” Morin said.
“For example in Fort St. James, two semesters ago we had one student taking an anthropology class and they took that through this technology,” he said adding earlier the college was not able to offer anthropology as they would have to wait for a minimum number of students.
“Minimum number of students would be maybe 16, sometimes 20 and then we would wait for an instructor to come, and other things that would make it more challenging,” Morin said.
But now with Digital Delivery Instruction, students are able to join a classroom from Prince George and take their coursework in Fort St. James, he explained.
“I am very excited to see the construction move forward and I will provide updates as they become available to the community,” Morin said.
CNC has brough Stantec Inc. on as the project’s prime consultant and IDL Projects Inc. as the construction manager.
Aman Parhar
Editor, Vanderhoof Omineca Express
aman.parhar@ominecaexpress.com
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