Learning and Education Planning Initiative
In the fall of 2012, Whistler council appointed a Learning and Education Task Force to investigate economic development opportunities for Whistler within the field of learning and education.
Open House
A Community Open House took place on April 4, 2013 and provided community members with opportunities to receive updates about the development of a Learning and Education Strategy for Whistler and to provide input to the task force.
- Download the Open House display materials.
- A questionnaire was provided at the Open House. It can also be completed online until April 14.
Purpose
The purpose of the Learning and Education Initiative is to identify and evaluate a full range of economic development opportunities for Whistler within the field of learning and education, while supporting existing planning policies and community values, and moving the community closer to its vision.
Learning and Education Task Force
The Learning and Education Initiative is being led by a council-appointed Task Force, which includes:
- Two council representatives (Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden and Councillor Andree Janyk);
- Six members at-large with a wide range of expertise in economic and community development; learning and education; business, tourism and resort planning; and campus development planning; and
- Staff representatives (Chief Administrative Officer Mike Furey, General Manager of Resort Experience Jan Jansen, and Director of Planning Mike Kirkegaard).
Task Force Mandate
The manadate of the task force is:
To develop recommendations for a strategic framework for RMOW to advance and evaluate education opportunities for the benefit of the resort community.
Deliverables
The deliverables to fulfill the task force’s mandate include:
- Providing contextual information on post-secondary education
- Providing criteria for evaluating post-secondary educational opportunities in Whistler
- Identifying RMOW interests
- Engaging the community and reporting back to council
- Providing a final report on findings and recommendations to Whistler council
Timeline
The task force was convened in the fall and has met regularly since then. The task force anticipates presenting a draft report to council in June 2013.
Task Force Bios
Bevin Heath Ansley
Bevin Heath Ansley brings over 30 years of managing training, education, and human resources in major corporations and post-secondary education, including work for the past 12 years with Kwantlen Polytechnic University in the positions of Director, Center for Co-operative Education and Careers Services; Associate Dean, Learner Resources; and Co-op Development Coordinator. In addition, her expertise includes work as a human resources consultant to small businesses, primarily involved in supervisory training and establishing performance management systems with training contracts for organizations such as Peach Arch Hospital, the City of White Rock, Peace Arch Community Services, and Koch Johnston Insurance Ltd.
Heath Ansley has extensive volunteer experience, including work as a team lead at the Whistler Sliding Centre during the 2010 Winter Games. She has a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications from Simon Fraser University. She resides in Whistler and White Rock, BC.
Shannon Byrne Susko
Shannon Byrne Susko serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of DST Subserveo, Inc., and has over 20 years of experience building technology platforms and technology companies for the financial services industry. She co-founded Paradata Systems Inc. and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Paradata, she worked with her own software consulting firm.
Susko serves as Chairman of the Board at AceTech. She was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 for the year 2000, and was awarded the Sarah Kirke Award for Canada’s leading Women Entrepreneurs in 2006.
She has a Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Science from Saint Mary’s University, and a Master of Computer Science from the Technical University of Nova Scotia. Susko resides in Whistler.
Terry Deutscher
Terry Deutscher worked for most of his career as a Professor of Business Administration at the Richard Ivey School of Business, from which he retired in 2010. During his time at the Ivey School of Business, he served as Director of Research and as Associate Dean - Human Resources. He was also the founding Director of the School’s innovative venture into teaching its Executive MBA Program via videoconferencing.
Previously he served on marketing faculties at Ohio State University and Cornell, and while at Ivey, he held visiting appointments at IMD, an international management development institute in Lausanne Switzerland, and at the University of British Columbia.
Deutscher has a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta, and MBA and PhD. degrees in Business from Stanford University.
Deutscher is a volunteer at the Whistler Public Library and serves on its Board of Trustees. He has owned property in Whistler since 1993 and has been a full-time resident since 2009.
David Dale-Johnson
David Dale-Johnson is Executive Professor and the Stan Melton Chair in Real Estate at the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta. An expert in urban development and real estate economics and finance, he has also worked as an international consultant and as an executive in the real estate business. While Director of the Real Estate Program at the University of Southern California he held appointments in the Marshall School of Business and the Sol Price School of Public Policy. He has also taught at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley and Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, where he assisted in the development of real estate institutions in an emerging economy.
Professor Dale‐Johnson completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Science in Business Administration at the University of British Columbia and a PhD at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.
Johnson has skied in Whistler since 1968 and owned property in Whistler since 1990.
Allen Puckett
Allen Puckett has co-founded and held senior management positions including CEO in a number of privately held health care services and information technology businesses since 1993. He previously held senior executive positions with a number of public companies and provided top-level consulting services to companies around the world as an associate and partner with McKinsey & Company.
Mr. Puckett has served on the Washington Dental Service Board of Directors since 2002. In addition to participating on other committees, he currently serves as chair of the Investment Committee. He has previously served on boards of a number of for-profit companies as well as the board of Family Services of King County.
Puckett received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he received a national Nathan Burkan Prize for his thesis on legal protection for computer software. He purchased a home in Whistler in 1986 and moved to Whistler permanently in 2008.
George Suart
George Suart has a background in education. His professional career included 20 years of service as Vice President, Administration and Finance at Simon Fraser University, as well as two terms as a School Trustee in West Vancouver, and one term as Chairman. Prior to arrival in Vancouver and SFU, Suart worked as the Eastern Region Director of Finance for the Steel Company of Canada. He also spent several years as General Manager of the Printing Division of the Montreal Gazette.
He has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. As a volunteer, Suart spent ten years on the Board of the United Way of Greater Vancouver.
Suart first came to Whistler in 1984 and was a long-time second-home owner. He moved permanently to Whistler in 2005
Project manager
Working under the direction of senior staff, the Learning and Education Initiative is being led by project manager, Gwyn Symmons, who will execute the preparation of a Learning and Education Strategy for Whistler.
Gwyn Symmons is a principal with CitySpaces Consulting, a community planning and development consulting company, which has been operating for more than more than 25 years across Western Canada. Symmons has been centrally involved in project planning and the preparation of business cases for post-secondary education institutions. He was the development manager for Pacific Institute of Sport Excellence at Camosun College and is currently overseeing construction of the new Trades Learning Centre for Excellence also at Camosun College.
Resources
Planning and Community Engagement for Education Opportunities – Report to council - June 19, 2012 (See page 71). Includes preliminary scoping of the process anddesired outcomes
News
Whistler's Learning and Education Task Force to host open house April 4 - March 20, 2013.
