OCAA opens nominations for annual Alumni Awards

Okanagan College Media Release

Nominations are now open, and easier than ever to complete, for the Okanagan College Alumni Association (OCAA) 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award and Young Alumni Award.

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni of Okanagan College and Okanagan University College for their contributions to their communities and demonstration of excellence in the areas of: leadership, the environment, business or industry, public or community service, the arts, and/or support for OUC or Okanagan College.

To qualify as distinguished or young alumni, nominees must have completed a certificate, diploma, degree, apprenticeship program or have completed a minimum of 30 academic credits at Okanagan College or OUC.

The Young Alumni Award will recognize the outstanding contributions of an alumna or alumnus who is under the age of 35.

The OCAA has adopted a new selection process with the aim of making the nomination process easier and more comparable across candidates.

"Over the past few years, the number of nominations for the Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni and Young Alumni Awards has been consistently increasing,” explained Kara Kazimer, President of the OCAA. “This diversity and larger number of nominations necessitated a revised selection process to more easily compare and contrast the nominees to allow for a more straight forward selection. We are confident that this year we will again receive a number of nominations that demonstrate the impact Okanagan College and OUC Alumni have in their organizations, industries and communities and we are excited to once again honour two very worthy alumni with our awards."

The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 29, 2011. Nominations may be made by completing an online form available at: www.okanagan.bc.ca/alumni.

Past Distinguished Alumni Award recipients include: Lee Claremont (‘89), award-winning B.C. artist; Launi Skinner (’85), CEO of First West Credit Union; Don Turri (’75), Managing Director of the Kelowna office of MacKay LLP Chartered Accountants; Nick Arkle (’81), Chief Forester with Gorman Bros Mill and local humanitarian; Robert Louie (’75), Chief of the Westbank First Nation; Dr. Jayne Brooks (’76), former Dean of the Okanagan School of Business; Alan Store (’80), an internationally recognized sculptor; Jim Cookson (’82), business manager and entrepreneur on the international stage.

Past Young Alumni Awards have been presented to Ryan Donn (’03), musician and educator; brothers Todd (’03) and Mark Regier (’04), owners of Prestige Collision; Chris Gibbons (’07), Finance Manager of Westhills Aggregates; Corinne Inman (’02), owner Morpheus Graphics; Michelle Boshard (’97), freshwater scientist and environmentalist.

The 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award and Young Alumni Award will be selected by the Alumni Association Board of Directors and presented at a reception later this year.