COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2018


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Ranching program grads ready for next field Some students continue to study, others plan to launch new businesses


by TOM WALKER


WILLIAMS LAKE – Students, staff, parents and members of the Cariboo farming and business communities gathered to celebrate the graduation of six full-time students from the Applied Sustainable Ranching (ASUR) program at Thompson Rivers University’s Williams Lake campus in late September. This year’s


ceremony marked a number of firsts. “While this is the


third year we have run our program, this is the first cohort of students to complete a full two-year diploma,” says program coordinator Gillian Watt. “Previously, students were only required to complete 18 months of studies.” The two-year diploma allows students who wish to complete a degree to transfer directly into the


“Bullpen” panel members, from left to right, rear, Darlene Campbell, Lincoln Smith, Mark Nairn, Rob Borsato, Linda Kaufman and Brian Garland stand behind TRU sustainable ranching students Freya Kellet, Natalie Ballan, Samantha Ballan and Cornelius Tytgat. Students pitched their business plan assignment to the panel as part of the graduation ceremony at TRU’s campus in Williams Lake in late September. TOM WALKER PHOTO


third-year of an Applied Agri-Business degree at Olds College in Alberta, or receive up to a year-and-half worth of credits towards bachelor’s degrees at Thompson Rivers University in either natural resources or administration.


“We have also reached an


agreement with the local school district to have high school students receive dual credit towards both high school graduation and our program, by taking our ASUR 1020 Sustainable


Business Enterprise course,” says Watt. “We have our first Grade 12 student enrolled this fall.” This year, the


graduation ceremony included a bullpen session where students presented their final project – a business and operations plan for a new enterprise – to a panel of local business community members. “It follows the


Dragon’s Den format,” explains Watt. “We hope to make it an annual event.”


Students gave a 10-minute pitch of their business plan to a panel that included a retired rancher and former president of the BC Cattlemen’s Association, a local businessman with a


variety of interests including a car dealership, two commercial vegetable growers, a senior agriculture account


See BUSINESS on next page o


HELPING FARMERS


MANAGE FINANCIAL STRESS THE FARM DEBT MEDIATION SERVICE


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   


   


Don’t wait. Early intervention will provide the best results.


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