A bold vision for SAIT campus life

FOCUSING ON STUDENT SUCCESS

Visitors will indeed be welcome, but the new centre will ultimately be student-centric by design, with a focus on dedicated space for student social interaction and engagement.

It’s something Dr. Ross deems “an absolutely critical part of their education.”

And Hector Flores (NMPD ’17) — who started in the newly created Welcome Centre Manager role in early April — concurs.

“Education has been transformed through online learning, but the added value of post-secondary remains the experience of connecting with other people,” Flores says. “It’s those additional experiences you cannot get in a virtual classroom.”

Many of his fondest memories as a SAIT student involve the old Campus Centre. “I played ping pong in there; I went to a Trojans men’s hockey game; I used the gym,” Flores reflects. “Going to those spaces, building a network — all those things were invaluable and irreplaceable.”

With his experience as both a student and a SAIT employee — and drawing on his background working in theatre in his home country, Mexico — Flores is keen to create interactive spaces, enhance customer service, and support the human elements of the campus experience.

“While some SAIT programs focus more on the technical side of things, I see the new Welcome Centre as embodying the essence of an art gallery or theatre stage,” Flores explains. He describes the Welcome Centre as a collaborative hub offering a centralized access point for student services as well as self-serve kiosks, bookable study rooms, and spaces to gather, take a break, and gain a sense of belonging.

“I see it as a place where people will be eager to go because something will always be happening,” he says. “There could be a display of Indigenous art, or a rock band on stage, or a public piano anyone can play.”

INVESTING IN WHAT STUDENTS WANT

^{Photos courtesy of Trojans Athletics}

And let’s not forget the Trojan Athletics teams and sports clubs that called the old centre home. They’ve been successfully dispersed to other training and sports facilities during this multi-year redevelopment and will return in all their glory when the new building is complete.

“Students with recreational interests or competitive aspirations get to be part of a sport club or a varsity team and grow their social network,” says department Director, Wade Kolmel. “That goes a long way to being satisfied and engaged during their time here at SAIT.”

The level of engagement is truly inspirational.

“We are intentional with our program offerings and have worked quite diligently to make sure the future of SAIT Athletics and Recreation can deliver on the engagement opportunities that are in demand amongst a very diverse student population.”

The new facility will cater both to team sports and to individual fitness and recreational pursuits. Planned amenities include a triple gymnasium, an arena, a large open fitness area, an indoor walking track, a cricket batting tunnel, a golf simulator, and a new esports studio designed to showcase competitive video game play. And there will be a broadcast booth for students in SAIT’s Radio, Television and Broadcast News program to practise their sportscasting skills. The pool, squash courts and bowling lanes will not be coming back, a decision based primarily on a cost-benefit analysis. Pools in particular are a big-ticket, high-maintenance amenity and funding for non-academic initiatives is limited. As for bowling and squash, students haven’t been requesting those.

“You want to make as many students happy as possible,” says Kolmel. “So, you do that by investing in what they’re interested in.”

Obviously, interests change over time. Multi-use spaces that can flex to fit for purpose — that’s key to designing a facility that’s futureproof.

“You’ve got to keep an open mind to what the future will look like,” says Kolmel. “We’ve taken a very open, aspirational approach in how we’ve designed the building and we’re super excited for the opportunities that are just waiting to happen here.”

With its open design, extra high ceilings and impressive variety of amenities, the new centre will inherently expand SAIT’s capacity to host high-profile athletics competitions and events at the international level. “We’ll have the opportunity to become part of the sport tourism environment in the multi-sport games world,” says Kolmel.

“It’s a very student-focused facility that will have huge community impacts.”

#WEARETROJANS
With 150 staff and upwards of 400 student-athletes, SAIT sports the third largest Athletic and Recreation Department in Alberta, offering men’s and women’s basketball, hockey, volleyball, soccer, futsal, cross country, indoor track, golf, curling and badminton as well as clubs sports including fastball, esports, rugby and cricket.