Red Deer College will soon be able to offer their own degrees but perhaps not as the Red Deer University as originally planned. The Government of Alberta’s post-secondary system review means the school may be turning their sites to becoming a polytechnic institution rather than a university.

Although the report has not officially released, the school looks forward to the prospect of offering a full breadth of credentials and their own degrees.

“Given our conversations with the Ministry of Advanced Education, we anticipate RDC could become a polytechnic institution under the Alberta 2030 framework from the post-secondary system review,” says Guy Pelletier, Chair of RDC’s Board of Governors. “While this would be a different name than expected, in that we would not be a university, it would still allow our institution to serve students with our full complement of existing credentials plus our own degrees. That was, and continues to be, our goal to best serve students and surrounding communities.”

President of RDC, Dr. Peter Nunoda feels a polytechnic institution would be the best way for RDC to achieve their goal of offering expanded programming and degrees.

“For me, the most important thing is what we will be able to achieve. As a polytechnic, we would be able to partner with government and industry to produce highly employable graduates that meet the ever-changing needs of the labour market. We would be innovative, allowing students to integrate work-integrated learning into their studies for all programs. Plus, we would be able to offer our own degrees while keeping trades programming, and that is an absolute win for this entire region,” said Nunoda.

Pelletier and Nunoda understand that some people may be disappointed after looking forward to becoming Red Deer University. However, they feel the change will better suit the school’s history and relationship to the community.

“What is most important for post-secondary students in this region is to ensure they have increasing choices that allow them to stay close to family and friends. This can be achieved by RDC offering everything it does now, plus having the ability to grant its own degrees,” said Brittany Lausen, President of the RDC’s Student Association.

RDC awaits the final decision from the Government of Alberta as the province completes their post-secondary system review.