.jpg;w=960)
With Lakehead University looking to expand, university officials have been making the rounds of local councils over the past month.
To that end, all four North Simcoe councils heard about the Orillia campus's accomplishments and future objectives during a series of recent deputations.
As Simcoe County’s only university, Lakehead representatives shared their goals to recruit and boost enrolment to more than 3,500 students at its Orillia-based campus and add 10 new programs within the next decade while also growing their annual economic impact to $400 million.
The councils each received a mostly-similar deputation from members of Lakehead.
Vice president of external relations Michael den Haan addressed both Midland and Penetanguishene, while interim principal Linda Rodenburg spoke to the councils for the townships of Tay and Tiny.
Accessibility was the core focus of the deputations, which addressed education, economic drivers, talent, innovation and research, as well as partnerships and collaborations. As each topic was explained further with cited facts and in-depth figures, the representatives explained how the university was working to offer post-secondary education for all.
Further to the broad presentations, each North Simcoe municipality was treated to a tailored persona and short video from one of their own residents who had prospered at Lakehead
In Tiny Township, Rodenburg also acknowledged Lakehead graduate Robert Lamb, who now serves as the township's CAO. The exchange allowed Lamb to speak to the origin of the university for Tiny council.
“Lakehead University was a community initiative started through the city of Orillia,” Lamb began. “That was one of the unique things about Lakehead versus a lot of the other universities; Lakehead actually understood very quickly what was the passion of Simcoe County and started looking for programming that would meet our needs as a community.
“Until Lakehead opened in Orillia, the county of Simcoe was the largest concentration of population in Canada without any university in its borders. We were losing generation after generation of university students to somewhere else, and hoped that they would come home.”
While Tiny received a deputation that referenced the agricultural foundations of the township, Lamb included another program not on the list.
“One of the new programs that is up and running is an executive leadership program, which is the first of its kind,” said Lamb. “Previously, we would have had to go to York University, Schulich School, or one of those others. And we now have the opportunity to have some of our senior executives from private and public sectors go and receive the type of training that they previously would have had to leave our area to go get.”
In Midland, Coun. Jim Downer expressed his congratulations to the advancement of the university from its humble beginnings.
Said Downer: “One of my first duties when I was elected mayor in 2006 was to sit on the advisory board, and it does my heart well to see how far this university has come. It’s just amazing for all of Simcoe County. You can be very proud; a job well done.”
Midland Mayor Bill Gordon also responded favourably to the presentation, taking interest in the technological innovations mentioned.
“Robotics and tactile interfaces – that sounds like our own little MIT equivalent right here in North Simcoe, which is really exciting,” said Gordon. “It’s also great to hear about that economic development goal where you’re working to attract, train and maintain youth in Midland and in North Simcoe post-grad, which is another really important thing for us.”
Gordon added that adding educational choices to meet the modern market and economy would “quickly solve the ever-evolving needs” of a traditional workforce.
At the Tay Township council, Coun. Sylvia Bumstead praised Lakehead's work with local environmental expert Bob Bowles and the master naturalist program.
Rodenburg agreed that Bowles had become “an incredible advocate” for the university and the environment.
“The Ontario master naturalist program is part of our office of community engagement and life-long learning,” added Rodenburg. “That’s a program that’s accessible to anyone in the county who has a passion about nature.”
With Penetanguishene, Mayor Doug Rawson pointed to the streamlining of the LINX bus service to get area residents to the university as a measure of accessibility, stating it had “a tremendous impact” on citizens.
“Most recently, I saw your memorandum of understanding you signed with Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital,” said Rawson, “and I think you’re doing a lot of really great things from the health human resource piece, so congratulations.”
Coun. George Vadeboncoeur summed up the gratitude of the dozens of local councils in giving his thanks for the Lakehead deputations.
Said Vadeboncoeur: “I think it’s great that the university is doing this outreach to communities like Penetanguishene – going beyond Orillia and coming out and explaining – because some of the information you presented tonight I found very informative and I wasn’t aware of.”
Each of the deputations can be found on the archived livestreams of the municipalities’ respective YouTube channels. Further information on the slideshow, including a breakdown of facts and figures along with an individual look at North Simcoe community members, can be found in agenda packages for recent council meetings through the municipality websites.
