Brandon post-secondary institutions team up again to help welcome students with a ‘Big Hello’

The friendly welcome of a “Big Hello” will greet students in Brandon as they return to campus for the fall semester at both Assiniboine Community College and Brandon University. And this year, everyone is eligible to win a prize pack just for participating.

Through boulevard signs, window cards, and a social media and advertising campaign, Brandon’s two post-secondary institutions are together highlighting and celebrating the importance of students to the community.

This year’s campaign, themed as “The Big Hello,” continues to be a showcase for the ongoing partnership between the two institutions as well as the benefits that they — and especially their students — bring to the city of Brandon and wider Westman.

“Post-secondary education is a valuable investment to make in yourself, and it is also an investment that pays dividends for our entire community,” said BU Interim President Steve Robinson. “Students come to Brandon and share with us their perspectives, their ambition and their energy. As they graduate and move full-time into the workforce and into civic life, the skills and insight they develop through education provide significant economic, cultural and social benefits to us all.”

“Having two post-secondary institutions in a community the size of ours brings many enormous advantages — for students who appreciate the quality and options we can offer, for all levels of government who can invest through us in economic and labour-market growth, and for the business and community organizations who benefit from the passion, creativity and industry of our students, faculty and staff,” said Assiniboine President Mark Frison. “Showing that they have the support of an entire community behind them makes a meaningful impact on students, and can even help improve student retention and graduation rates.”

The “Big Hello” campaign is being boosted by people, community organizations and businesses who have volunteered to host the distinctive signage in their offices or storefront, or who have placed signs in their yards or windows.

A mailout with window cards included has been sent to many local businesses and community groups, but any organizations that want to participate can request a window sign or boulevard sign be delivered to them simply by emailing either institution at communications@assiniboine.net or Communications@BrandonU.ca. Residents can also email a request to come pick up a yard sign, or watch for full-page ads in the Brandon Sun on Saturday and Wednesday next week that are suitable for posting.

Anyone or any business that puts up one of the signs, takes a photo and shares it to social media while tagging Assiniboine or Brandon University will be entered to sink their claws into a free Paw Prize Pack.

This year’s “The Big Hello” theme follows the “Great Chemistry” and “Welcome Students” themes from previous years while hearkening back to a previous Assiniboine campaign. The joint campaigns continue to demonstrate the ongoing tradition of collaboration between Assiniboine and BU that include formal memorandum of understandings as well as informal and collegial cooperation on many matters.

With ongoing partnerships that include a new joint program in Public History, shared residence space for students, and comprehensive credit transfers through 2+2 programs, Assiniboine and BU continue to make Brandon a city where students can find the options, flexibility and amenities that they are looking for when pursuing their post-secondary education.

Many of the opportunities and resources that are developed for students are also community resources as well. Supported by large student populations, BU and Assiniboine are able to offer facilities and events for everyone — from the annual events held at the Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts at Assiniboine’s North Hill Campus to BU’s performing arts spaces, research laboratories and the Healthy Living Centre.

Assiniboine Community College has been providing exceptional learning experiences for more than 55 years. For staff and students alike, Assiniboine offers unparalleled learning environments, following the philosophy of ‘learn by doing’, which combines theory with hands-on learning inside classrooms, labs, kitchens, shops, fields and the college’s Sustainable Greenhouse.

Brandon University combines proud tradition with shared ambition at our growing, progressive campus, where we welcome a diverse and inclusive community. Through our excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship, we educate students to make a meaningful difference as engaged citizens and leaders. Our roots date to our foundation in 1899 as Brandon College, and through 2017–18 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our charter as a university. Join us at BrandonU.ca

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