Ralph Hargreaves (L) and Ken Keilbart (R). Photo credit: Scott McAlpineFSA Honours BCIT FSA Distinguished Alumni Award Winner…and our longest serving member!
As president of the BCIT Faculty & Staff Association (FSA) I am thrilled that we have begun to participate in celebrating our members through a special FSA Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA) designed to honour our members who are also alumni of BCIT. In my role I am continually exposed to the strength and depth of our membership. This will come as no surprise to anyone who has spent any time as a student, an employee, or a partner of BCIT. The walls of our Institute house some of the most skilled, passionate, and interesting people in British Columbia. At the FSA, we strive to find new and different ways to shine the spotlight on our members and the work they do supporting students, advancing their professions, and contributing to the strength of BCIT and the community.
For a second year, we are partnering with BCIT and the BCIT Alumni Association for the Distinguished Alumni Awards (DAA) by honouring a BCIT alumnus who returned to the Institute as an FSA member. In January we put a call out to our members for nominations and received submissions from a number of departments. The FSA board deliberated over the nominees and we are thrilled to officially announce our selection.
I was surprised and pleased with the nomination to receive the 2015 FSA Distinguished Alumni Award. I am most appreciative of Ken Keilbart’s nomination of me for this award and the formal recognition of my experience at BCIT over many years. It’s been a rewarding experience working with the students in various programs. I would especially like to thank those, past and present, who have supported me during my career. Photo credit: Scott McAlpine
The second recipient of the award is Ralph Hargreaves from the School of Health Sciences. Ralph has been a part of the Institute since the day its doors opened. BCIT and the FSA are stronger for it. His nominator, Ken Keilbart, had this to say about Ralph:
Ralph Hargreaves began his career by enrolling in the inaugural class of Food Technology here at BCIT in 1964 and started his employment with BCIT four years later. With 47 years of service, Ralph has witnessed many changes within the institute.
I have known Ralph Hargreaves for over ten years and under his tutelage I began my journey as a part-time lab instructor and I consider Ralph to be a mentor. Ralph is a very well prepared, organized, and thorough individual which is particularly useful in a microbiology laboratory setting. He sets a high bar for the students and demonstrates those standards necessary for success. He delivers consistent quality instruction in laboratory basics which can often be overlooked or under appreciated.
Ralph is a very positive and upbeat individual and has been a pleasure to work with. As a testament to this, a favorite greeting I’ll always remember from Ralph is, “What’s good?” In addition, Ralph feels strongly that staff and students work in a safe environment, has been a member of the SOHS safety committee, and pushes for changes when necessary.
BCIT’s reputation for producing practical job ready graduates is due in large part to the quality of its employees. Ralph is one of those individuals. He embodies this spirit of a quality educator and a quality individual.
We are thrilled to honour Ralph for his years of service and for his active participation as an FSA member. Ralph has served as a Tech Rep, a Director, and an active member over his career. We look forward to presenting the award to Ralph in October at the gala event. We encourage members to watch for an opportunity to nominate their co-members next year for the 3rd annual BCIT FSA Distinguished Alumni Award.
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