Lethbridge College is pleased to announce the recent addition of two experienced post-secondary educators to help lead the institution’s academic efforts.
Dr. Janet Welch, who has more than 25 years of higher education experience both in Alberta and internationally, joins the college as Associate Vice President Academic, and Dr. Jagvir Singh, who has over a decade of involvement in post-secondary research collaborations, is the college’s new director of Applied Research.
“We are very fortunate to be able to add two individuals with the experience, abilities and enthusiasm of Janet and Jagvir,” says Dennis Sheppard, interim Vice President Academic. “We undertook in-depth searches to fill both of these very important roles and believe that their shared backgrounds in Alberta’s post-secondary education system and expertise in their fields will allow them to lead and develop exciting opportunities that will benefit our employees, our students and the institution as a whole.”
Welch joined the college late in 2016 from the University of Alberta where she was an assistant Dean in the Faculty of Education and director for the area of Technologies in Education – Support and Solutions. She also brings experience from Red Deer College, where she was an academic chair and taught in Business Administration and Commerce, and Dubai Women’s College, where she supervised Business/Educational Technology. She has been involved in project work internationally at Aga Khan University in Pakistan and East Africa; Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Institute for Applied Technology in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and, the Canadian Bureau of International Education in Doha, Qatar.
Her role at Lethbridge College includes overseeing the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation, strategic enrollment management and implementation of the college’s Academic Plan. Her focus is on supporting the academic functions of the college, including creating pathways for faculty to perform their jobs effectively for the benefit of students, including sharing best teaching practices among faculty.
“I am a college person – I value employability and I want students to get jobs when they leave,” says Dr. Welch. “I wanted to work in an environment where teaching and learning is the number one focus. One of the cornerstones for me is taking people who are doing really interesting and innovative work and supporting them to continue their efforts, while also bringing along others who have questions or need support.”
Singh started at Lethbridge College in March and had previously worked at the University of Alberta, where he was responsible for agreements, partnerships and institutional projects. He has more than 12 years of experience with research collaborations and has strong working relationships with provincial and federal funding agencies. Singh has also played a key role in the success of several funding proposals with the Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, Alberta Innovates Technology Futures and the Alberta-Ontario Innovation program. He was also an instructor at NAIT in Productivity Enhancement Services and Nanotechnology Systems.
Increasing the research capacities for faculty and students and promoting innovation as the core of teaching are areas of focus for Singh. He views the college as an ideal environment for faculty and students to participate in research serving the communities and industry along with providing students real-world learning opportunities and intends to apply his scientific and management background to his new role.
“I am thrilled with the opportunity to work with the faculty, staff and students at Lethbridge College,” says Dr. Singh. “I will work towards raising the awareness of research among the campus community and establish industry partnerships for research collaborations in the region.”