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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconDevAdv 2012-10-24 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES October 24, 2012 City of Kitchener The Economic Development Advisory Committee met this date, chaired by Councillor Paul Singh, the following members were in attendance: Councillors Bil Ioannidis, Berry Vrbanovic and Scott Davey, Brian Bennett, Glenn Kohler, Rebecca Short, Peter Benninger, Darren Snider, Shawn DeBruyn, Steve Sachs, Peter Benninger, Lisa Polonoski, Ashley Reid, Ian Cook The following people sent their regrets: Amr Kebhi, Mark Bingeman, Adrian Conrad The following people were absent: Dr. Takhar Staff in attendance: Rod Regier, Valerie Bradford, Tracey DeVille Project Updates: The project update was handed out and reviewed by Rod Regier. New Business: 1. Conestoga College School of Media and Design John Tibbits provided an overview of where the college is going, who they are basing their models on and how they want to become a polytechnic institute. He advised that if they plan to compete on the world stage they are going to need to get 70 to 80% of our population into post-secondary education, not necessarily university but more applied learning. He advised that there is a challenge with interest in apprenticeships. Conestoga College currently has 10 degree programs, and is the only college in Ontario with an engineering program. The college has grown in the last 5 years by 60%, making them one of the fastest growing colleges in Ontario. The Committee asked the following questions: Is the college the size it should be relative to the size of the region or is there still need for expansion? - The college should be double the size it is now. We currently have 37,000 part time students and 58,000 students in total. Media, food and culinary can grow by 5 times but it takes resources What kind of relationships does the college have with business development at a regional level? - The college has had discussions with partners in Germany, many people in the region still see us as a community college but we are more than that Does the college have any strategies in place for engagement of youth? - It is a challenge since many families encourage university level education at an early age, we do spend a lot of time visiting high schools and we are slowly changing the culture Mark Derro, School of Media and Design, provided the committee with an overview of what the college is doing to help develop students, the work they are doing regionally as well as the work they are doing internationally. The work experiences that are built into the programs, the partnerships they have with businesses that help provide jobs to graduates. He advised the college is the fastest growing college in Ontario and the school of media and design is the fastest growing school within the college system in Ontario. The education market is very competitive right now and you are only as strong as the students you just graduated. The committee then went on a guided tour of the School of Media and Design.