Student Housing

HomeStay Helps International Students Feel at Home

Jennifer AustinSince 2004, Jennifer Austin and her family have hosted out of town college and high school students in their home. Now, she has become a champion for Algonquin College’s efforts to attract more international students to its Pembroke Waterfront Campus. Austin has signed on to host an international student for the Fall 2020 term because she says “Homestay is a meaningful experience that empowers students to succeed, and it helps you learn a new culture and meet a new friend for life.”

The College has partnered with Canadian Accommodation Services to establish a Homestay program in Pembroke that encourages families to open up their homes to international students. For Austin, it was an easy decision to participate in the program. Her family has hosted high school students from across Canada including the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and from as far away as New Zealand, normally for six months to full year stays. In all, the Austin family has provided a home for 15 students over the years.

“The most rewarding part of being a host family is the bonds that are formed. Each student creates a different bond with our family. It could be something special like inside family jokes or cherished memories of time spent together,” says Austin.

International studentsIn recent years, the Pembroke Campus has been gradually attracting more international students. These students have come to the campus from several countries including India, China, the United States, Morocco, Ukraine, and Africa. The students study in many programs and have come to Canada because of our country’s excellent reputation for providing high-quality post-secondary training and also its openness to welcoming people from around the world.

“Diversity enriches everyday life. These students have traveled around the world on an adventure, and we get to be part of it,” says Austin who is now collaborating with the College to find other families who are interested in taking part in the Homestay program. As a supporter of the work the College is doing to promote cultural diversity, International Student Orientation, Algonquin College, PembrokeAustin speaks passionately about why she has stepped up to help the Pembroke Campus and has offered some simple advice to other families who are considering hosting an international student.

“Host with open arms and an open heart. Show your student a new perspective, a new culture and be ready to learn something new yourself,” says Austin who is excited to recruit more families. More information on the Homestay program is available on the campus website, including the application form.

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs

 

Waterfront Campus Enrolments Top 1,000 Students for First Time

On Friday, September 1 at 11:44 a.m. Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus made history. When second-year Practical Nursing student, Laura Edmonds, walked into the admissions office to enroll for her fall classes, she became the 1,000th student to register for the fall intake of students.

Student #1000It was the first time in the fifty year history of the campus that the enrolment in full-time programs exceeded four digits. Edmonds was greeted by clapping and congratulations by the admissions staff who were on the watch for student number 1,000, knowing the historical significance for a campus that started with 16-full-time students when it opened its doors in 1968.

The record enrolment is continuing a trend that started several years ago when the campus began introducing several unique programs that have helped it attract students from outside of Renfrew County. Programs like Outdoor Adventure, Urban Forestry-Arboriculture, Applied Nuclear Science and Radiation Safety continue to pull out of town students, and have been the primary reason why developers have built three privately owned and operated student residences to house visiting students.

PembrokeThere are now more than 170 students living in residence and many more who are renting or boarding in other apartments and homes in the Pembroke area. The out-of-town student population has grown to be about 50 percent of the students enrolled in the campus.

The campus now offers 21 full-time programs leading to certificates, diplomas, and degrees. As Algonquin College’s largest regional campus, it is blossoming as it celebrates its fifth year of operation at its Waterfront Campus which has become an anchor for Pembroke’s downtown, igniting a renaissance of the city’s inner core. The best example is the new residences, but the energy that has been created has resulted in new stores, façade and building improvements and increased investment in infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks and bridges.

Rome was not built in a day, and it has taken a lot of work by the dedicated administration, faculty and support staff at the campus to bring about record enrolments. The college employees who worked so hard at the old campus to create an exceptional learning environment for students, while making do with inadequate facilities, paved the way for creating a caring culture on campus.

The new campus has taken that commitment to student success, excellent teaching and customer service to a new level. With a beautiful facility built along the picturesque shores of the Ottawa River, it has become a destination campus for both local and out of town students like Laura Edmonds of Cobden.

Not many people have the opportunity to make history. Edmonds did, by being in the right place at the right time. She is student number 1,000 at a campus that looks forward to four-digit enrolments being the norm, not the exception, as its plans for the next fifty years.

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus

 

 

 

New Student Housing-An Economic Spinoff of the Waterfront Campus

When Algonquin College started seriously talking about building a new campus in Pembroke in 2006, the project vision became known as Renaissance Square. The project envisioned a new beginning for the College and for Pembroke’s historic downtown, which had struggled for many years as the retail sector pushed away from the city’s inner core.

Now, four years after the Waterfront Campus opened, Pembroke is really starting to experience a renaissance. The most obvious example is the opening of two privately owned and operated student residences, and the recent start of construction on a third purposefully built apartment building for students.

AMNA Residencestudent residence loungeAMNA Student Living was the first residence to open in the fall of 2014. The former Lakeside Medical Clinic had been vacant for a few years before it was purchased by a developer who took advantage of its close proximity to the new campus. The building was gutted and renovated to include spaces for 49 students. Most of the units are singles, and the residence includes a common kitchen and lounge area for students to socialize.

Algonquin HouseAlgonquin House kitchenThe second residence, Algonquin House, opened in the fall of 2015 in the former Algonquin College Pembroke Campus. After the College sold the building, the new owners made extensive renovations to allow the front of the building to be used for doctor offices and a pharmacy, while the larger portion of the building was converted to a student residence for more than 70 occupants.

Construction on the third residence started a few weeks ago. This residence doesn’t have a name yet, but the developer plans to have it ready for the summer of 2017. The four-storey building will accommodate approximately 50 students in three-bedroom apartments.

Residence construction-Streek Building

The Campus has been gradually growing its enrolments and now attracts almost 50 percent of its close to 1,000 full-time students from outside of Renfrew County. The growing out-of-town student population has built a strong business case for private investment in student housing, generating new tax revenue for the city of Pembroke and creating more options for out-of-town students who are looking for accommodations while studying at the Waterfront Campus.
downtown PembrokeAnd it’s not only the student housing market that is benefiting from the Waterfront Campus. The entire downtown has a much more positive vibe. Storefronts that were once vacant are filling up, shop owners are improving their facades, developers are buying up properties and investing in them, and merchants are welcoming Algonquin’s students to their businesses.

The building of the Waterfront Campus is the best thing to happen to Pembroke’s downtown in decades and it may be just the tip of the ice berg. The renaissance is well underway.

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs