ASSOCIATION POUR LA RECHERCHE AU COLLÉGIAL
ARC, the main partner in the Experience makes the difference project

The Association pour la recherche au collégial (ARC) is proud to announce that it is the main partner in the Experience makes the difference project being led by the Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative du Québec (CTREQ), thanks to a grant from the Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation (MEI).

In addition to CTREQ and ARC, this project brings together researchers Isabelle Cabot (Cégep Édouard-Montpetit), Caroline Cormier (Cégep André-Laurendeau), Michelle Deschênes (Université du Québec à Rimouski) and Éric Richard (Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy), the ÉCOBES research group at Cégep de Jonquière, the CIRADD team at Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles, as well as Cégep de La Pocatière, the Centre de documentation collégiale (CDC), and the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec. "The Experience makes the difference project represents an innovative and formative contribution to ARC's mission of promoting college research," said ARC president Renaud Bellemare. "The MEI grant obtained by CTREQ under the Programme de soutien aux organismes de recherche et d'innovation illustrates ARC's commitment to rolling out its college community services and to expanding the outreach of college research, two orientations of its new strategic plan," he added.

Over the next three years, CTREQ and ARC will strive to provide college students in the fields of social sciences and humanities and arts and literature with a space for professional development aimed at promoting their perseverance and educational success, enhancing their employability, and facilitating their integration into a changing labour market. Their goal is to help ensure a future of highly talented individuals in research, knowledge transfer and innovation, in a key sector that can successfully address the challenges facing many fields of activity in Quebec. This approach will make it easier to understand the training and employment needs of students and the labour needs of employers in a post-pandemic world. Work on this project is already well underway and will be carried out in a context that fosters optimized collaboration and contribution of the various stakeholders around a concerted, structuring approach.

The Director Generals of CTREQ and ARC, Linda St-Pierre and Lynn Lapostolle, are determined: "Over the next three years, we intend to work closely and tirelessly with the project stakeholders. We have brought them together because we sincerely believe that their collaboration will be both extremely relevant and worthy of the highest quality standards. We are proud of their involvement and we believe that together with our partners we have designed a truly innovative project." The first year of the Experience makes the difference project is the preparatory phase