January 26, 2004
Access Funds help Medicine Hat College provide online courses
Medicine Hat... Medicine Hat College has received more than $190,000 in Access Funding from the Alberta government to provide online access to the Educational Transliterator and Vision Assistant programs.
"Additional funding for online program delivery will enhance students' ability to access Medicine Hat College's excellent resources," said Rob Renner, MLA for Medicine Hat. "This new program is a milestone in providing better access to courses, not only in Medicine Hat, but throughout Alberta and beyond."
The funding is part of $5.7 million in one-time funding that will be shared among Alberta institutions to increase long-term access to post-secondary programs. Medicine Hat College is receiving the funding to prepare both online delivery and print delivery of distance-learning programs for the Educational Transliterator and Vision Assistant programs.
"Medicine Hat College is grateful for the financial support provided by the Alberta government," said Dr. Ralph Weeks, Medicine Hat College President. "The funding announced today will make it possible for the College to increase access to our Deaf and Blind Support Specialist - Vision Assistant certificate through online learning. The greatest benefit will be to the students who will gain the opportunity to complete a unique program without the need to leave their home communities."
Altogether, the Alberta government has allocated $40 million in new access funding for 2003-04 to address demand in priority areas such as medical educational programs and broad clinical enhancement initiatives for health education and training programs. Of that, $25 million is from Alberta Learning and $15 million is from Alberta Health and Wellness. Prior allocations from the $25 million in Alberta Learning funding have gone to areas such as enrolment capacity increases and apprenticeship.
"We've already opened up more immediate spaces in priority areas," said Learning Minister Dr. Lyle Oberg. "These dollars will focus on addressing long-term access to post-secondary education in this province."
In the past four years, the Alberta government has provided approximately $200 million through the Access Fund to create more than 24,000 post-secondary spaces.
