Olds College Students Have Been Busy

By Jason Pick

Campus news this week from Olds College provides an update on enrollment, our internships and field schools,and the Turf Science Certificate.

For our January intake this year, numbers have once again reached capacity with a healthy waiting list into first year.  We’ll expect thirty new first years to join us in the new year and with minimal attrition, we will receive another twenty-eight second year students back on campus.  Degree students, also topping eighteen this year, will  begin their online classes in November before face to face classes start in January, beginning with Project Management and Research Methods.  All together, we’ll have 70+ new and returning turfies back on campus!

LINK - Turf Science Certificate 
LINK - Turfgrass Management Diploma
LINK - Golf Course Management Applied Degree

The PTRC greens have been sprayed, tarped, and effectively put to bed. With it looking like winter for us in central Alberta , the research plots are expecting snowfall early November.  With an array of vent tubes, C02 metering, bubble wrap, cocomat, and Greenjacket zones, the PTRC team continues to find better ways to protect your greens.

Our students have been busy all summer in their respective field school and internship studies, where each complete 3 courses or 9 credits over the summer.  With bi-weekly assignments, each student will have completed twelve learning goals over the 24 week growing season. Among the summer internship topics,:Reclamation, Weed ecology, Watershed protection, Outreach and Education, and more - where superintendent mentors on-site helped shape student learning, providing the resources and supervision to complete their goals.  With great flexibility to find goals best suited to their position and experience, students have had some truly diverse and rewarding experiences this summer. 

Image: Jordan Bodiquel, taking his learning goal to the PGA - volunteering at the US open this summer at Erin Hills.

Special thanks to all our certificate, diploma, and degree mentors who have taken so much of their summer to help our students.  Your help will continue to produce the finest graduates for our turf industry. 

The next offering of the 100% online Turf Science Certificate, began again on October 9th. The first of 3 levels of education offering a specialization in Golf, Parks and Sportsturf, our intake this year has tripled since its first offering with twenty students enrolled, and approaching capacity.  If you are working full time,  this accessible training program has been designed to meet your busy schedule.  To learn more, check the Program Overview LINK.    

For more information about our Turfgrass diploma, and degree programs at Olds College, check out our website http://www.oldscollege.ca/programs/horticulture/turfgrass/