Enhancing Innovation, Student Enrolment, Applied Research

Join us for lunch to learn about Selkirk College’s recent network boost and gateway to the BCNET Advanced Network, a high-speed private, dedicated research and education network and its potential impact for enhancing applied research and the teaching and learning experience.

Learn how our new high-speed connectivity is enhancing the delivery of services to support Selkirk’s strategic priorities of increasing student enrolment and retention, enhancing applied research, enabling state-of-the-art learning environments and delivering innovative services and programs.

Lunch is on BCNET! Please RSVP to Donna Drover via email by Friday, July 14 at noon.

Selkirk College Connects to Colleagues Across the Country and Around the World.

• Private, dedicated network for higher education and research
• Interconnects 3 main campus sites, 3 learning centres, and Applied Research and Innovation Centre
• Interconnects Selkirk College to 86 colleges, institutes, research universities, federal and provincial labs and research institution sites in B.C.
• Connects Selkirk College’s 9 sites to 13 provinces and territories through CANARIE’s national research and education network, which, in turn, links to over 80 global research and education networks

On June 17, the College was successful in rolling out vital new Advanced Network infrastructure at nine campus sites with up to 10 times the performance of their previous backbone. The project was made possible through the BCNET Integrated Network Project. Today, Selkirk College is well positioned for the future. 

“Making critical investments in technology infrastructure supports our five-year strategic plan and the mission of our institution,” claims Gary Leier, vice-president, College Services and chief financial officer at Selkirk College. “It brings us closer to our vision of making learning, inspiring, rewarding and relevant for students, the world and our community.”

"We have radically transformed our delivery model by working with BCNET, our partner the Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation, and community fibre providers in Nelson, Grand Forks and Kaslo." says Darrell Hicks, IT manager, Strategic Projects, IT Services Department at Selkirk College. "The increase in capacity of our infrastructure is virtually unheard of outside of urban areas. We now have an incredible 10-gigabit backbone between our six campus sites in Castlegar, Nelson and Trail and the capability to turn-up our three learning centres with a similar capacity in the near future. This connectivity is foundational to the delivery of all technology services at Selkirk College."  

The addition of Selkirk College as a new participant of the Advanced Network means that BCNET is one step closer to connecting every higher education institution in the province to the BCNET Network. Today, 64 per cent of the sector connects to the BCNET backbone. Their goal is to link every public, post-secondary institution in B.C. by December 2018.