Red River College


Red River College is a college located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the province's largest institute of applied learning and applied research, with over 200 degree, diploma and certificate programs and more than 21,000 students annually.
The college boasts a 94% graduate employment rate and a 96% graduate satisfaction rate. Between 6,000 and 8,000 students attend daily, as well as students registered in continuing and distance education programs. Red River College hosts approximately 1500 international students each year, from over 60 countries.
The College has over 200 full-time programs in such areas as biotechnology, construction trades, digital multimedia, business, aerospace, nursing, engineering technology, as well as others.
The College offers one year certificate, two- and three-year diploma, joint-degree and post-graduate advanced diploma programs. English as an Additional Language programs for international students begin each month.
Red River College offers three Kids Technology Camps throughout the year to introduce kids to technology. "Girls Exploring Trades & Technologies Camp" is a program for girls 12 to 14, "Technology Exploration Camp" is a summer camp program for girls and boys aged 11 to 13, and "Saturday Kids Kamps" introduces Grade 7 students to Electrical Engineering Technology.

History

The forerunner to RRC, The Industrial Vocational Education Centre, was established in the mid-1930s by three Winnipeggers: R.J. Johns, T.O. Durin, and Otto Peters. The Centre provided evening programs to train unskilled and unemployed youths in various trades. The success of the Centre resulted in the federal government providing funding through the Department of Labour in 1938. A few of the first courses offered included carpentry, sheet metal, machine shop, needle trades, welding and forging, power engineering, and radio.
By 1948 the centre was rebranded the Manitoba Technical Institute and became the first public post-secondary vocational school in Manitoba.
In 1950 the Central School of Practical Nurses transferred from St. Joseph's Hospital to MTI. Advisory committees formed from top executives from local businesses and industry helped keep MTI up to date with changing industrial and business practices.
In 1963 the Notre Dame campus was built and the college name was once again changed this time to the Manitoba Institute of Technology. The name changes would continue with a change to "Red River Community College" in 1969 and eventually "Red River College" in 1998.
Stevenson Aviation & Aerospace Training Centre was established in January 2002, and Stevenson Aviation merged with Red River College to create the Stevenson Campus in April 2002.
In 2004, the Princess Street Campus was built in Downtown Winnipeg, with a large focus on multimedia design, computer technology, and the popular Creative Communications program, which prepares students for careers in advertising, journalism, media production, and public relations.
In 2011, the Princess Street Campus was renamed to the Roblin Centre in honour of former Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin. The Roblin Centre, together with the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute is now known as the Exchange District Campus.
On July 4, 2012, Red River College discontinued over the air broadcasting of student radio station 92.9 Kick FM after nearly 10 years of broadcasting, due to a campus radio policy change by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Campuses

It has a number of campuses located in Winnipeg, Selkirk, Steinbach, Portage la Prairie and Winkler. The two largest campuses are the Notre Dame and the Exchange District in Winnipeg.
Student Connections Red River College is the Student Connections centre which serves the Manitoba area. This centre is located in Winnipeg's downtown Red River College campus, 160 Princess Street. This affords easy access to all parts of the city. It has been housed at this location since January 2004.

Campus Locations

Located near the intersection of Notre Dame Avenue and King Edward Street, the Notre Dame Campus features fitness facilities with cardio, weight equipment, shower facilities, cardio and yoga classes, playing fields and running paths. The campus also has a Print Shoppe, library and student parking lots as well as cafeterias.
The Red River College Students' Association operates a convenience store at the Notre Dame Campus called "The Ox" which offers chips, drinks, health and beauty, chocolate bars, gum, lottery, cigarettes, as well as baked goods from Tall Grass Prairie Bakery, bubble tea, bus passes, hot dogs and reverse-osmosis water.

Exchange District Campus

The Roblin Centre

Located at 160 Princess Street in Winnipeg's Exchange District, the Roblin Centre is home to approximately 200 staff and 2,000 students. The Centre has a focus on modern media, information technology, and business.
The building features the original façades along Princess Street, and incorporates modern green building technology. The Roblin Centre's construction merged five prominent heritage buildings on Princess Street as well as a 1905 warehouse on William Avenue. The merging of these buildings incorporates a former lane into the current Atrium. Many of the architectural features of the original buildings, such as wood columns, floors, brickwork, millwork, and windows were restored and incorporated into the new structure.
The Roblin Centre has a building energy management system and is the largest C-2000*
building in Canada. The Centre was completed before the advent of LEED Certification in Canada, but the environmental performance of this project would put it at the level of LEED Gold or Platinum. The Centre was the largest Canadian project to date involving extensive material re-use, and incorporates a 34 kW building-integrated photovoltaic system which was the largest of its kind at the time of installation.
The Roblin Centre features fitness facilities, Campus Store, a library and a full-service Tim Hortons.
Similar to "The Ox" at the Notre Dame Campus, the RRCSA operates a convenience store at the Roblin Centre called "The Mercantile" which offers chips, drinks, health and beauty, chocolate bars, gum, lottery, cigarettes, as well as baked goods from Tall Grass Prairie Bakery, bubble tea, bus passes and hot dogs.

Paterson GlobalFoods Institute

The Paterson GlobalFoods Institute is the home of the Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Tourism Management and Professional Baking and Patisserie programs. Located in the Exchange District, the Institute was completed in January 2013.
In May 2009, the Government of Canada pledged the college with $9.5-million of funding to help reconstruct the Union Bank Building at the corner of Main Street and William Avenue in downtown Winnipeg. The Manitoba government also announced it would contribute $5-million for the construction of the building.
The Institute is located in the Union Bank Building in Winnipeg's Exchange District, an 11-storey building that dates back to 1903. The institute provides classroom and kitchen space and two restaurants on the first three floors, as well as residence for 103 students on the floors above. The renovation is expected to cost $34 million, up from the initial $27 million estimate, and involved the addition of two new glass fronted structures adjacent to the existing Union Bank Building. The new adjacent structures were required for the project, as the tower itself could not house the necessary heating and cooling systems. The Union Bank Tower is the last skyscraper of this vintage remaining in Canada, and had been sitting vacant since 1992.

Scholarships & Bursaries

The Government of Canada sponsors an Aboriginal Bursaries Search Tool that lists over 680 scholarships, bursaries, and other incentives offered by governments, universities, and industry to support Aboriginal post-secondary participation.
Red River College scholarships for Aboriginal, First Nations and Métis students include:

Athletics

Red River College's Rebels Athletics has the following groups:
The men's and women's volleyball, basketball and soccer teams compete in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference.

Newspaper

The official newspaper of Red River College is "The Projector", which is published by the Red River College Students’ Association every second Monday. The Projector has been the official Red River College student newspaper since 1967.
The Projector is a member of CUP.

Restaurants

Until December 2012, Red River College students operated "Prairie Lights", a fine dining restaurant at the Notre Dame Campus. The restaurant featured full service lunch and dinner menus from September to November and March to May. The evening program featured flambé service and was licensed for alcohol service. The restaurant provided practical experience to the students of the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management programs, and also functioned as a catering room for the Food Services Department for private functions. The restaurant was open to the public. In December 2012, the restaurant closed, with plans to move the program to Jane's, a fine dining restaurant at the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute.
The restaurants in the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute opened to the public in early 2013. The Culinary Exchange café opened on 15 January 2013, and Jane's opened 21 February 2013.

Radio Station

Students in Red River College's Creative Communications program run an online radio station known as "Red River Radio". The radio station is an opportunity for students to host, program and produce both music and news/talk format radio, and features music and talk shows, as well as news, sports, and weather.
Launched on August 24, 2012, the online radio station replaces the over-the-air local radio station formerly run by the College, 92.9 Kick FM. The online station follows similar format to the discontinued broadcast station, with 24-hour programming and a focus on local indie rock and folk bands.

Directions Conference

Red River College operates a yearly Business and Applied Arts conference called "Directions". The conference promotes networking between current students and potential employers, and features a roundtable event with representatives from career areas such as Accounting, Finance, Creative Arts, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality, Information Technology, Sales and Marketing, and Management.

Notable alumni