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RDC upgrades give students, instructors better tools

Improved facilities for Red Deer College culinary students, larger and upgraded space for the student advising and recruitment offices and a larger space for campus recreation are part of $4.5 million in recent campus improvements.
RDCTour1Nov19OBrien
Jade Gervais

Improved facilities for Red Deer College culinary students, larger and upgraded space for the student advising and recruitment offices and a larger space for campus recreation are part of $4.5 million in recent campus improvements.

Around 60 people got to tour the finished facilities on Friday.

Cornerstone Dining, where hospitality and tourism students learn the tricks of the trade, has been upgraded to look like a real restaurant.

“As you walk through, you’ll see it’s a very functional space and we are very fortunate to have a space that has been designed as a restaurant, not a classroom that has been converted. So from a student learning perspective this is an incredible opportunity for them,” said Brenda Hodgins, a hospitality and tourism management instructor.

Culinary students have three times the space they once had. They now work in a new kitchen with state-of-the-art ovens, as well as other equipment. Students can also now use an ice-cream maker that can make small batches of ice cream from scratch in 10 to 15 minutes.

Anew mixology lab has been created. In the past, students worked on five portable stations but now there are eight permanent stations.

“Every bar is fully equipped as you would see in the actual industry,” said Bill Alcorn, instructor in the hospitality and tourism program at RDC.

People also had the chance to see the newly upgraded student advising and recruitment office.

RDC academic advisor Angela Campbell said the office space now has more areas for students to be able to meet with advisors and speak with them privately.

Work will soon be complete on an area transformed to house campus recreation.

There will not only comfortable chairs and tables for students, but also a spot for any kind of extracurricular activity and a place for the student ambassador and aboriginal services programs.

Upgrades also included the combining of all of the programs in the Centre for Professional Development and the Centre for Teaching and Learning in the 900 wing of the campus.

Two prototype classrooms and meeting rooms were created to give instructors a spot to hone their skills and learn new ways to use technology and teaching techniques.

As well, information technology, audiovisual and records management areas were put together in the 814 part of the campus, three classrooms in the 900 wing were converted for testing, and a painting studio was turned into a motion picture arts/theatre studies practice space.

Funding for the upgrades was split equally between the provincial and federal governments.

sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com