MEMORANDUM To: From: w. w. , Dean of Academic Affairs son, Principal John L. Adams, Chairman Forestry Technology Date: 20 July 1972 SELKIRK COLLEGE Castlegar, B. C. ANNUAL REPORT - FORESTRY TECHNOLOGY 1971/72 The following summarizes activities in the Forestry Department for the 1971/72 Academic Year. 1. Students There were approximately 80 new applications for admission to Forestry in September 1971. Applications were received from across Canada and from the United States. Approximately 10% of these applications were from mature students who had been out of school for some time--many working for the B.C. Forest Service. Approximately half of the applications were from students residing outside the college region. Almost all applicants from B.C. were personally interviewed during the summer. Fifteen students not qualified to enter the forestry program were admitted to the preparatory program; 34 were admitted to first year forestry, including 8 who had completed the preparatory program the previous year and 2 who were repeating first year. Only two out-of-region students were admitted-the remaining 32 were from in the region or from the preparatory program. Twenty-four students returned to the College in September 1971 to begin the second year of the program. Twenty-four students remained in first year at the end of April 1972. Seventeen are eligible to go on to second year; three will have to repeat most of first year; four cannot be readmitted for academic reasons; one student drowned just before final exams. \ Twenty-two students remained in second year in April. Twelve of these students completed the requirements for graduation and were awarded their diplomas. The remaining 10 students have from one to several courses to complete before they will be eligible for their diploma. Six of these 10 have only one course to complete and special arrangements will be made to have these students complete the course over the next year. Four students will have to return to the College to complete failed second year courses. Employment prospects were excellent both for first year students looking for sununer work and for graduates looking for permanent jobs. There were more summer jobs in forestry than students available to fill them consequently all first year students were easily placed. Almost all second year students had obtained permanent jobs before the end of April. All 12 graduates were placed in permanent employment at salaries ranging from $600 per month to $720 per month. Among the graduates were one female and two Indian students. The 10 students who did not graduate were also placed in permanent or temporary forestry employment. The Forestry Club was active this year with Mr. Robertson acting as their sponsor. Outstanding among their accomplishments was the raising of $1200. for the widow and children of a first year forestry student who drowned in a boating accident shortly before the end of the winter term. • ••..••.•. 2 W. J. Keun W. F. Murison .. 2 20 July 1972 The Forest Technologists Association of B.C. held their Annual Meeting at the College in February. 2. Staff Mr. J. F. Munro resigned in May 1971 to join the Federal Department of Environment in Ottawa. He was replaced by Mr. Keith Robertson, Management Forester for Celgar Ltd. at Nakusp. Mr. D. Draper, a recent high school graduate was employed for the year as a laboratory technician. A. J. Adams - - - B. taught courses in Introductory Forestry, Wood Technology, Forest Fire Control, Forest Entomology and supervised the Summer Project Seminar revised all courses to incorporate a modified form of behavioural objectives was President of the Faculty Association attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Institute of Forestry in Victoria acting as Kootenay Section representative on the Board of Directors attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Forestry Association of B.C. (Southeastern Region) attending meetings in the Okanagan and helping with the establishment and construction of a Junior Forest Warden Camp in Peachland. Also served on Forest Protection and Education committees acted as national director of the Canadian Forestry Association spoke to several service clubs for Speaker's Bureau sat on "Selkirk Summer" committee and planned to do a course for "Selkirk Summer" instructed 25 girl guides for 10 evenings conducted outdoor classrooms for elementary school children worked with B.C. Forest Service on forest fires when called during the summer. D. Holden - - taught courses in Dendrology, Silviculture, Forest Pathology and Photogrammetry and Photointerpretation. The latter was for both Forestry students and Regional & Community Planning students revised all courses and prepared slid2-tape presentations for Dendrology and Forest Pathology was on the executive of the West Kootenay Branch of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. Represented the Branch at the CIIA annual meeting in Ottawa attended the annual meeting of the Association of British Columbia Professional Foresters in Vancouver contributed to "Selkirk Summer" committee and taught a course in the program attended Roadside Development Conference at UBC. A conference on forest land "aesthetics" management sponsored by B.C. Professional Foresters and Extension Department of UBC .......... 3 W. J. Keun W. F. Murison .. 3 taught a course in photogrammetry for the Ski-area Manager's programme in June - resigned to go to South America with C. D. Schultz. C. L K. Robertson - survived his first year of teaching - taught Forest Mensuration, Forest Management, and Forest Products and Utilization - sponsored the Forest Club and coached the Forestry hockey team to their victory over faculty in intramural athletics - spoke to a service club for Speaker's Bureau. D. W. Moore - taught logging and road location, and Forest Surveying and Mapping - prepared for and wrote B.C. Registered Forester examinations in May - taught Surveying as part of the Ski-Area Manager's course in June - assisted with leadership of Boy Scouts. E. D. Draper - laboratory technician - worked long and hard hours to keep the Forestry Laboratory running and assisted in instruction whenever possible - resigned in May to go on for a degree in Forestry at the University of Toronto. 3. Curriculum There were no major revisions to the curriculum apart from the normal annual updating of the courses to keep them in tune with government and industrial practice. More emphasis is being placed on multiple use aspects of forestry in response to suggestions from the B.C. Forest Service in particular. More field work and field trips were made possible by the acquisition of two small buses. We are now· in a better position to get in more practical field work since our transportation problems have been partially alleviated. All second year students attended "Skogdag"--a three-day show of the latest in industrial equipment and forestry techniques--in Cranbrook during the Fall. The spring term field trip this year was to the UBC Research Forest and involved observation and discussion of research projects on the Forest, observation of coastal logging techniques, work observation and discussion of ecological types and some practice cruising exercises in Coastal forest types. 4. Facilities a) Laboratory - Temporary electrical outlets were installed in G-17 to provide adequate lighting for phqtogrammetry and to provide plug- ..•....•.• 4 W. J. Keun W. F. Murison .. 4 20 July 1972 S:IJ\iH::>~'1 1'1NOI03ll )ill Di HS ins when micro~copes were being used. Extra tables were placed in the laboratory to provide seating for the larger number of students admitted in the Fall. The laboratory is now full and there is no room for additional tables or chairs. There are seats for 30 students in the Lab. Some additional storage space was created by partiti6ning off the hallway between G-17 and G-14. Additional storage space is still required and will become available when the darkroom is moved from its present location. ~ b) Fire Simulator - The Forest Fire Simulator was not completed during the year because of electronic problems and lack of time. The area in which the simulator is located was walled off to provide a completely dark area. c) Busses - Two 12-passenger Ford Econoline Clubwagons were purchased in the Fall. These two vehicles have simplified our field trip transportation problems considerably and, as mentioned in (3) above . have enhanced our program by making more field trips and field work feasible. The vehicles however have been far from satisfactory from a service point of view. There have been many mechanical problems which so far have been covered by warranty. There has also been some negligence or misuse on the part of drivers. d) Forest Reserve - Signs have been prepared for the Forest Reserve area on the Blueberry-Paulson Highway. They will be placed when permission is gained from the Department of Highways. Attempts have been made to have the B.C. Forest Service repair the road into the area but they have the same budget problems we have. The Department of Highways may be able to install the required culvert for us. e) Mathematics Department Calculators - The mechanical desk calculators are becoming worn out and are outdated. They need to be replaced as soon as possible with electronic calculators. f) Greenhouse - Additional lighting was installed in the greenhouse to make it useable. Apparently the plastic used in this type of greenhouse cuts out part of the light spectrums and many species of plants turn red. I, 5. Cooperation Excellent cooperation has been given to us by both industry and the B.C. Forest Service. Both have provided many guest speakers and field trips. Triangle Pacific Forest Products had our second year students formulate a logging plan for one of their cutting permits, then the forester spent the day at the College listening to the presentations, criticizing and commending when necessary. Celgar Ltd. donated approximately 2000 aerial photographs. The B.C. Forest Service again set up special lessons on log scaling for our students and held the scaler's examinations at the College. The Canadian Forestry Association waived registration fees for all our second year students at "Skogdag" in Cranbrook . • • • • • • • • . •5 W. J. Keun W. F. Murison .. 5 ' tl'1NOIO:Ul 20 July 1972 6. J S:IJ\.1H=>~"lf ~,}£~.}:lBS Advisory Committee The Forestry Advisory Committee did not meet formally during the year, however continuing informal contact was maintained with all members of the Committee throughout the year. 7. Problems The most serious (but pleasant) problem we have has to do with the number of applications received and our admissions policy and entrance requirements. We are missing many potentially good students from outside the region--particularly from the East Kootenays and Okanagan--because of our policy of admitting all in-region applicants first. This gives us a fairly high attrition rate; many of the local students we admit are not as highly motivated or as keen about forestry as some of the out-of-region students we deny admission to. Many B.C. Forest Service employees are being told to obtain a technical diploma to improve their chances of advancement. However only those residing in the West Kootenays can be admitted. Several B.C.F.S. employees have had themselves transferred to Nelson so that they will qualify as in-region applicants. Other problems are minor but at times troublesome. We have had many occasions where use of the College busses for forestry field trips conflicts with other uses--particularly athletics trips. These have usually resulted in rescheduling forestry trips or using private cars. These have been easily resolved when conflicts are known about ahead of time but quite often the vans have not been returned to the College when promised. .' \ Adequate space, both for classes and for storage, is not available. Any number of students in the laboratory over 30 makes it almost impossible to move around. The laboratory cannot be left open for students to work after hours because much of our equipment cannot be securely locked away. We have the largest enrolment of all th~ technologies but have the least space allotted for laboratory work and storage. The mechanical desk calculators are no longer adequate for our program. They should be replaced as soon as possible with electronic models. Funds for professional travel should be increased. We are not being represented at many meetings and technical conferences where we should have someone. The purpose of being represented at such affairs is to both keep faculty up with the latest developments in equipment and techniques and ideas, and to carry out a certain amount of public relations and advertising. 8. Ahead a) Expansion of the Program The number of applicants for Forestry Technology indicates that we could probably double the program and fill it quite easily. However I see no evidence that we can place more graduates than we are now capable of producing, i.e. 20-25. We take in 30 students per year - out of these we should be able to graduate 20-25. However we are only graduating 1215 per year. I think one of the reasons for this high attrition rate is •.••.••••• 6 ~·.:.P''' W. J. Keun W. F. Murison .. 6 20 July 1972 SE\l.K!RK RECHONAl our admissions policy mentioned previously. I think rather than expand the program in forestry we should reconsider the policy on inregion vs out-of-region students and try to cut our attrition rate. Any expansion of the forestry program will require (a) fairly large outlays of capital for equipment and lab space and operating funds for additional faculty, and (b) province-wide studies (hopefully by Technical-Vocational Consultative Committees) to determine the demand for forestry graduates. I feel we could double the number of graduates from our program, with our present facilities, if we could admit students on the basis of academic record and interest or experience rather than on the basis of where they live. We will be keeping a close watch on developments in the province in the parks and recreation field. I believe this may be the next area which should be developed at the College. The provincial government appears to be considering their parks program much more seriously and with the next couple of years a demand may be created for parks technicians. Mr. Dunsford and Mr. Port of the Sociology Department will be keeping an eye on developments in this field both having already made contacts with the provincial government personnel concerned. JOHN L. ADAMS Chairman Forestry Technology d