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The Packet and Times
Since it opened in downtown Orillia, Lakehead University has grown from 104 students to more than 1,300. In five years, the campus has expanded; an academic building, residence and cafeteria have blossomed in west Orillia. The university is now embarking on the next leg of its journey, which will be directed by a five-year campus plan.
Over the coming months, the local post-secondary institution plans to unveil its new Leacock Centre for Arts, Culture and Community, its ground-breaking Centre for Sustainable Communities and expects enrolment to jump from its current number of 1,300 full time students to 2,000 by 2018.
These new initiatives are spelled out in the Orillia Campus Plan 2013-2018, which is part of the strategic plan being developed to guide the development of the campus over the next five years.
“We believe it’s the community’s university,” says Herman van den Berg, acting dean of Lakehead – Orillia. “We are not an island. We are very sensitive to the community’s needs and, as much as possible, have involved the community in our plans. People here are engaged and that is a wonderful thing.”
He said the campus has evolved quickly over its first six years.
“We started with rental accommodations and now we have a site, an academic building, a 271-bed residence, a cafeteria, bookstores… we’ve been very successful,” van den Berg says. “We’re not stopping to catch our breath. This is an exciting time of continued growth. We’re expecting significant enrolment growth and also to be expanding our program offerings.”
While the breadth of programs will balloon for students, offerings for the community will also expand with the development of the Leacock Centre for Arts, Culture and Community, says Lakehead’s founding dean, Kim Fedderson.
“I have been bowled over by the response of some of Canada’s most famous artists who heard what we are doing and, in many cases, sat with us at Apple Annie’s and said ‘How can we help?’” Fedderson explained. “We think this centre is a natural fit with Orillia and we’re excited to get things started. It might take 20 years to get to the status of the Banff Festival or the Shaw Festival, but if we play our cards right, that’s what can happen here.”
Fedderson pointed to the university’s longstanding partnership with the Mariposa Folk Foundation as the spark that ignited this idea.
“Over the past four years, we have partnered with the Mariposa Folk Foundation for our ArtsU program, a community arts school that accompanies the festival. The program has become more popular each year,” said Fedderson.
Now that the school has a residence, cafeteria and on-site amenities, Fedderson foresees that program – and others – growing.
“Last year, Mariposa Folk Festival artists stayed in our residence and we invited them to offer programs related to their music,” said Fedderson, noting the workshops proved popular with local residents and festival visitors.
“I can see that expanding so that people could come for a week before the festival for master classes in song-writing, sound… and I can see a very similar thing happening with the Leacock Literary Festival. The idea is to offer programming on the shoulders of these festivals. The promise is really considerable,” Fedderson said.
Of note, he said, the centre will be a virtual one – not one made of bricks and mortar.
“What a university does well is programming and that’s what this is about,” he said. “Too often, initiatives like this flounder and die because they get bogged down with infrastructure needs. We have the infrastructure: the Opera House in Orillia, the Orillia Museum of Art and History, the Leacock Home, the Midland Arts and Cultural Centre, the Penetanguishene Centennial Museum… these are great facilities that lack programming.”
The centre has been in the planning stages for some time. Last year, a feasibility study was conducted that confirmed the need and promise of such an initiative. More recently, Kathy Manners was hired to head up the initiative.
“Our plan is to launch this summer with an expanded ArtsU program,” Fedderson said. “Over the next few months, we’ll be putting together program offerings.”
He said the plan is to involve the community to shape the programs. “There is a lot of expertise and knowledge in the community,” Fedderson said. “We welcome their input.”
To take a look at the campus plan, visit orillia.lakeheadu.ca. You can submit comments via an online feedback form.
CUTLINE:
Lakehead University – Orillia’s acting dean, Herman van den Berg, above, is excited about ambitious plans for the Orillia campus over the next five years and invites community input into the blueprint that will help guide growth at the Orillia institution.
