Lakeland College is preparing to welcome students back to campus for the fall 2021 semester.
Our goal is to have our campus community at our Vermilion and Lloydminster campuses this fall if it is safe to do so. With guidance from provincial health authorities and the Ministry of Advanced Education, we will ensure any required health and safety protocols are in place so that our students can fully benefit from the most hands-on education in Canada.
On behalf of Lakeland, I thank everyone for doing their part to keep our campus community safe this year. We've been successful in providing a blended program delivery that's allowed more than 90 per cent of our students to engage in in-person learning activities. Approximately 60 per cent of our total course hours have been delivered on campus and in person.
Earlier this month, we welcomed a full cohort of students in our emergency services technology program to our Emergency Training Centre at the Vermilion campus. Firefighting students will be on campus in mid-April. Students in these programs will complete their studies and hands-on training on site thanks to the COVID-19 protocols we have in place.
Our work to ensure on-campus labs, lectures and activities this year have received positive reviews from our students. In a survey I conducted earlier this year, 89 per cent of students shared that they were satisfied with their program. Overwhelming, 96 per cent of students responded that they would recommend Lakeland to others, while 100 per cent of our apprentices shared they would as well. Lakeland is one of only two colleges in Alberta this year to offer full-time, face-to-face trades training for apprenticeship and pre-employment students.
We're proud of our Lakeland community and how we've been able to provide on-campus experiences this academic year safely and successfully for our students. Together, we'll build on this success in the fall and continue to provide the best educational and campus experience possible.
As well, we're enhancing our online programming this fall to include first-year business administration courses and both the 4th Class and 2nd Class power engineering programs, in addition to our other traditionally online programs.
We're committed to keeping everyone - our students, staff and community - informed as we continue to move forward in our plans for the upcoming academic year. Updates will be provided as they become available at lakelandcollege.ca/covid19.
Thank you,
President and CEO
Lakeland College
