The five public post-secondary institutions providing education and training to British Columbia’s Southern Interior are joining forces to collaborate on new training opportunities and services.

Leaders from the College of the Rockies, Selkirk College, Okanagan College, University of British Columbia Okanagan and Thompson Rivers University recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding that links the institutions to create better integration of the learning opportunities and services for citizens of the Southern Interior.

“Each of our institutions serves the needs of our communities; together we can develop synergies that will ensure we are working to the best advantage to deliver a broad, well-supported range of programs and services to the entire Southern Interior Region,” says Roger Barnsley, TRU Interim President and Vice-Chancellor. “This agreement is a demonstration of the co-operation that will only enhance learning opportunities in all the communities we serve.”

The collaboration between the institutions could include: program planning, program delivery, brokerage arrangements, transfer arrangements, services and working with School Districts to support post secondary transition.

Together, the five institutions serve a population of more than 720,000 people in the interior, and collectively educated more than 73,000 students in 2008-09.