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[Institutional Report] Vancouver Community College

VCCContributed by Brett Griffiths, Vancouver Community College

It is an exciting time for Vancouver Community College (VCC):  the past year has marked the 50th anniversary of the College and has been filled with a plethora of celebration events.  September 1965 marked the formation of VCC, British Columbia’s first community college and the second in the country. VCC was formed from the union of Vancouver Vocational Institute, the Vancouver School of Art and Vancouver School Board’s Night School Program.  To learn more about VCC’s rich and diverse history visit: http://www.webuiltthiscity.ca/timeline.html
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The past year has also seen some exciting developments for educational technology at the College.  In 2015 the Educational Technology Advisory Committee was re-formed.  The committee was tasked with creating an Educational Technology Plan, and drafting policy for Educational Technology and successfully completed these two tasks early this year.
In addition to the creation of these important documents, the committee also initiated the first Innovation in Educational Technology showcase in May 2015.  Coordinated through VCC’s Centre for Instructional Development (CID), the showcase enabled faculty to share how they were using Educational Technology in their classrooms to support learner success.  The showcase was well received by presenters and participants alike.  Some of the highlights included 3D printing, Camtasia, Morpholio Board, iPad and AppleTV, and a Hydraulic Trainer.  Visit the CID blog to see a summary of the presentations at: https://cidspotlight.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/vcc-ed-tech-showcase-may-26-2015/.  Building on the success of last year’s showcase, this year’s event has been opened up to all faculty, staff and students.
In November 2015, VCC had the pleasure of hosting the 2015 ETUG Fall Workshop.  This event was held at the downtown campus, which provided participants with not only access to amazing presentations, but breathtaking views of the north shore mountains to enjoy when taking breaks to network.  One highlight of the day was the Agora panel, which involved some panel members participating at a distance using Google Hangouts.
To streamline and provide oversight to all system and technology-related projects, application infrastructure, and policy at VCC, the Systems and Technology Executive Coordinating Group was formed in January 2016.  This group aims to:

  • Evaluate and approve projects, application infrastructure and policy
  • Prioritize projects, application infrastructure and policy
  • Coordinate and monitor ongoing projects, application infrastructure and policy
  • Develop a decision matrix as part of project proposals, and
  • Ensure that communication, implementation and training plans are in place

2015 has been an amazing year for the College; the VCC community looks forward to the growth of Educational Technology over the next 50 years.

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