2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011 EDITOR BRITTANY LEE ews & features Design class competes to display work at art show Langara design formation students are partnering up with a local chocolate shop to create art show exhibit By LYNDA CHAPPLE their ideas for an arts and crafts trade show display to a local gour- met chocolate boutique in hopes of be- ing hired for their first job. Students will find out on Friday which pair will have the chance to cre- ate a display for Mink Chocolates and have it shown at the One of a Kind trade show in December. The One of a Kind Show is a contem- porary craft show focusing on local tal- ent. It takes place December 8-11 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Kevin Smith teaches retail interiors for the second-year design students. He said students presented their ideas to Mark Leiberman, the owner and operator of Mink Chocolates, and to his designer, David Newson. “They [students] have been part- nered, working in tandem and are working within the specs of the client, will be presenting a budget, a look board, a schematic and a pop-up mod- el.” said Smith. “It’s a real gig.” The only request made by Leiber- man, according to Smith, is that he wants to see something he’s never seen before. Design students Ron Baldesancho and Lauren Popadiuk are partners on this project. The design they proposed for Leiberman is what Popadiuk de- scribes as an inexpensive pop-up shop. “We wanted ours to be sustainable and reusable,” Popadiuk said. “We're very nervous but inspired to get this going and win this competition that we have going in the class,” Balde- sancho said. Popadiuk said that whoever wins will be very busy with the display and an additional “secret project” the class is working on for a different exhibition in December. Smith has been essential in connect- ing the students with the One of the Kind trade show and with Leiberman. Smith said that he and the college have had a partnership with the trade show for two years now. He described the collaboration as a perfect fit. Smith said the winning pair goes to the trade show, sets up, gets credit, and gets paid, not just in chocolate. Lier design students presented VOLT . ene junteer Progr?” OLT Stude! BOB LOITZ photo Human kinetics student Jeremiah Humphrey talked to Langara students about the school’s new VOLT program during the volunteer fair on October 4. He was also the MC of the event and helped to organize the fair. New volunteer program helps Students leap into university VOLT gives students chance to gain life experience and travel world 66 [We] wanted to create a volunteer program with sub- stance and signifi- cance. CLAYTON MUNRO, Dean of student services By DEVON MACKENZIE tudents are set up to electrify with Langara’s new volunteer placement program, VOLT. Langara’s VOLT program al- lows students to connect with various organizations that are looking for vol- unteers. VOLT was the brainchild of Clayton Munro, dean of student services, and two students, Jade Arignon and War- ren Springer, who saw the need for such a program. “[We] wanted to create a volunteer program with substance and signifi- cance,” Munro said. “Essentially what we wanted was for VOLT to connect our students with ex- ternal volunteer opportunities, but it has moved from that to external, inter- nal, domestic and international oppor- tunities,” said Munro of how the pro- gram has evolved since its conception last fall. According to a recent article in the Vancouver Sun, aside from grades, a personality profile which documents a person’s skills and extracurricular ac- tivities including volunteering, plays a factor in helping universities deter- mine whom they will accept. In August, Langara’s VOLT program signed a partnership with Vancouver based charitable organization and vol- unteer coordinators, Compassionate Assistance Relief and Education (C.A.R.E.) Society, to help provide Lan- gara students with international volun- teer opportunities. The new partnership means Langa- ra students will be able to volunteer abroad, have their airfare covered and have the volunteering officially noted on their transcripts by applying, being accepted and completing Langara’s VOLT and C.A.R.E. Society partner- ship. C.A.R.E. Society, established in 1994, partners with Cathay Pacific Airways and their Asia Miles program which enables people to earn air miles from flights and purchases. Members can then donate their miles to C.A.R.E. So- ciety to pay for students’ airfare to and from their volunteer destinations. Megan Richardson, the VOLT volun- teer program coordinator, says the new program has yielded an excellent re- sponse. “Right now we have probably just shy of a 100 members, so we have seen significant growth this semester,” she said. “Students are really stepping for- ward [to participate in] on-campus op- portunities as well as opportunities in the community and abroad.” Christina Theocharis, a university transfer student, is studying to become a dietician and is taking advantage of the partnership between VOLT and C.A.R.E. Society this spring. “One of my goals with my career path is to work internationally, so to be able to do this kind of volunteering abroad at this point in my education is perfect,” she said. Employability reflects skill continued from page 1 Recent library and information tech- nology graduate Alison Davidson was able to transition straight from classes to full-time employment, but admitted that her experience was not typical. “T was very lucky,” she said. “Lots of other people in my class aren’t really working. If they are, it’s not even full time.” While McLean said he believes stu- dents graduating today are “walking into a world worse in terms of pros- pects than before,” no matter what the figures show or how bad the economy gets, “there will always be room for someone who is good.” “If you're good, and you’re hard- working, you will find a place,” McLean said. Enrolment rises to record for 5th time Number of students Classroom space is full during of Canadian Community Colleges. highest college has seen, according to Langara’s VP academic and provost By JEN ST. DENIS ment at Langara is slowing, but there is still an unprecedented 9,588 students on campus this fall com- pared to 9,489 students last fall. “This year [enrolment] is up by one per cent,” said Martin Gerson, college vice-president academic and provost. In the past five years, enrolment has increased by an average of 5 per cent each year. But Gerson said this year’s numbers are “still the highest we’ve ever had.” Te: five-year trend of record enrol- “prime time,” between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., SO more courses are being of- fered in the early morning and late af- ternoon, Gerson said. The college also tries to add courses where there is the most demand. He said whether or not there is an available instructor, money within the budget, and a free classroom limits how many extra courses the college can offer. Of those three factors, budget is the most significant. “Our provincial grant is maxed out, and domestic [student] fees pay only a marginal cost [of the added course],” said Gerson. “The more [courses] we put on, the more we lose.” Langara’s high enrolment is not unique. Colleges across Canada have experienced rapid growth over the past few years, according to the Association “We have seen enrolment numbers increasing over recent years,” said Anna Toneguzzo, manager of policy re- search with the ACCC, in an email. She said the recession has caused the high enrolment numbers in some regions as people changed careers or decided to upgrade their skills. Based on surveys of ACCC’s mem- bers, Toneguzzo said the biggest chal- lenges for colleges right now are hav- ing the capacity to meet demands and attracting faculty. At Langara, finding teachers is also a challenge. “Attracting faculty is an issue in cer- tain departments and programs, such as nursing, business, and some arts and sciences programs,” said Gerson, especially when in-demand courses are added close to the start of a term. FACTS on enrolment HM Enrolment up by one per cent this year HE Classroom space limited between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Hs Finding faculty is challenging for cer- tain departments ME Courses in demand often receive more classes