College president to speak at SACPA

Last week it was the University of Lethbridge, this week it’s Lethbridge College.

At the regular Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs session, set for noon today at Country Kitchen Catering, LC president Paula Burns will present “Lethbridge College at 60: Past, Present and Future Challenges and Opportunities.”

Burns, the eighth president and CEO of Lethbridge College, began in February 2013. She’ll discuss how a growing population, the prosperity of post-war southern Alberta and the lack of postsecondary educational opportunities in the southern part of the province all factored into the formation of Lethbridge Junior College as it opened in 1957.

Those initial 38 students were enrolled for classes in space leased at LCI. In 1962, the first buildings opened on 80 acres of land south of the city.

Lethbridge Junior College changed its name to Lethbridge Community College in 1969 and to Lethbridge College in 2007 following its steady growth in both educational facilities, students and instructors. Numerous programs have been added over the years and students now number 6,500-plus.

Burns will try to will explain the many factors at play before decisions on adding programs are made. She will also speculate on what the future may hold for Lethbridge College in the fastchanging world of high tech, automation and robots.

SACPA runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Country Kitchen Catering.