Next week, July 10-15, Olds College will be hosting the Post-Secondary International Network's (PIN) 2016 Executive Leadership Conference.
PIN is an alliance of post-secondary institutions dedicated to improving international education and understanding by sharing members' experiences. Institutions belonging to the alliance come from Canada, the U.S., Australia, Bahrain, New Zealand and South Korea.
Olds College director of guest experience Kerry Moynihan expects about 25 college presidents from all over the world will attend the conference, much of which will be held at Olds College. The remainder of it will take place in Calgary and the Kananaskis area.
Moynihan is excited about the conference.
“To have 20 to 25 college presidents from all over the world will help sell us as a leader in post-secondary education,” he says. “We hope that the delegates will share their innovative best practices for all to benefit (from).”
Moynihan notes the schedule includes tours of Olds College and associated entities like the Pomeroy Inn & Suites, the Community Learning Campus (CLC) and the Ralph Klein Centre; as well as the Calgary Stampede, Kananaskis and area, and the badlands near Drumheller.
“With the various tours planned it will help to spread the message of Alberta as a travel destination,” he says.
The theme for this year's conference is “all in.” As a result, themes for the various speakers include INspire, INvigorate, INvolve, INdulge, INfluence and INvest.
The program begins Sunday, July 11 with conference check-in and registration, a PIN executive committee meeting, and rolling roundtable discussions that will take place at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites from 3 to 5 p.m.
On Monday, July 11, all events take place at the Fine Arts and Multi Media Centre. The day kicks off with a presidential panel at from 9 to 10 a.m., followed by breakout sessions on current issues from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.
A tour of the campus, with a focus on the Pomeroy, housing and the CLC will take place from 1 to 4 p.m.
On Tuesday, July 12, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Ruben Puentedura will speak on technological integration into higher education (INtegration) at the Fine Arts and Multi Media Centre.
Puentedura is the founder and president of Hippasus, a consulting practice based in Western Massachusetts. It focuses on transformative applications of information technologies to education.
From 1:15 until 2:30 p.m., Jon Landis of Apple will speak about technological trends in higher education (INtegration) at the Fine Arts and Multi Media Centre.
Landis is a national development executive with Apple Inc. for the Northeast United States.
On Wednesday, July 13 from 9 to 10:15 a.m., Ken Steele will speak about innovative trends in higher education at the Fine Arts and Multi Media Centre.
Then, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, also at the Fine Arts and Multi Media Centre, he will provide an interactive presentation on fostering innovation in educational institutions.
Among many other accomplishments, Steele co-founded as well as helped design and interpret some of the world's largest ongoing surveys of post-secondary consumers. He also conceived the Top Ten daily email newsletter and edited it for the first decade.
Steele has published dozens of white papers and reports on post-secondary students and branding. He also co-authored Canada's first book on strategic enrolment management. Currently, Steele produces a weekly video podcast, Ten with Ken, which explores emerging trends and bright ideas.
On Wednesday afternoon, participants travel to Calgary where they'll hear a presentation from well-known Canadian entrepreneur and Olds College supporter Arlene Dickinson.
Dickinson was the keynote speaker during the annual Olds College Growing the Legacy Gala at the Ralph Klein Centre this past April.
Dickinson is perhaps best known to Canadians as one of the venture capitalists on the award-winning CBC TV show Dragons' Den. She is also CEO of Venture Communications and the CEO of YouInc.com, a company dedicated to serving and investing in entrepreneurs.
On Thursday, July 15, PIN participants will take in the Calgary Stampede, then travel to the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis.
On Friday, July 15, they'll hear from Dr. James Honan of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Honan's list of accomplishments and affiliations is too long to mention but here are a couple: he has worked with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)/Harvard Leadership Institute, and Crisis Leadership in Higher Education.
"To have 20 to 25 college presidents from all over the world will help sell us as a leader in post-secondary education,"KERRY MOYNIHAN DIRECTOR OF GUEST EXPERIENCE OLDS COLLEGE
