The RCC Institute of Technology (previously known as RCC College of Technology) is a private technical college located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1928, and has recently become a division of Yorkville University. The college provides training in electronics, computing and engineering. RCC is the first and the only private educational institute in Ontario to be approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to grant Bachelor degrees.[1]
Contents |
History
It was founded as the Radio College of Canada (hence RCC) in 1928 by J. C. Wilson, an entrepreneurial individual who had previously amassed considerable radio experience in England and the United States. At the same time, he also established RCC Publications, which continues to supply a technical data to service technicians throughout the country. In 1930, as reported by Toronto Globe, two pioneering organizations, Rogers-Majestic Corporation and Radio College of Canada, established a plan for registering radio service men of the entire Dominion. Examining and qualifying those who wished to become registered became RCC's role. In 1937 the College was acquired by R. Christopher Dobson, M.A. Oxon and M.C.C. Chisholm. Shortly thereafter, additional and more advanced training programs were added, including courses in commercial radio operation. During this same period the demand for radio operators increased sharply with the growth in both public and private aviation, and consequently, large classes of radio operators were trained for the Federal Department of Transport. In the 1940s, Canada's contribution to the World War II effort required immediate and large scale planning to ensure an adequate and continuing supply of well-trained technicians and operators. Training was performed not only for Canada's essential services such as government departments, Merchant Marines, and, of course, the important manufacturing industry, but also for other allied governments. Radio College realized this undertaking by establishing additional facilities and developing specialized training programs. Among the many programs developed during this period was the training of several classes of women radio operators for the air stations established across the country by the Commonwealth Air Training Scheme. The students who came from all parts of Canada were selected by aptitude tests developed by the College. In addition to the training, Radio College also furnished room, board, nursing and general supervision. Following the war, the College did extensive rehabilitation training for Canadian and United States veterans and later for civilians under government auspices. Many Merchant Marine graduates of RCC have returned to the college to obtain from records proof of their graduation and marine placement, thereby entitling them to the federal pension that has only just been granted to World War II Merchant Marines. When television made its appearance in the 1950s, the College trained factory and service personnel. Another significant development was the inauguration at the College of an altogether new concept in electronics education, called electronic engineering technology. This was a high-level program designed to train "technologists" who would be equipped to assist professional engineers in matters of applied technology, thereby releasing the engineer for the more theoretical aspects of his or her work. This course concept has been eminently successful and exists today in most post-secondary technical institutes. In 1957, the Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Ontario (APEO), now called Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), decided the time had arrived to recognize the importance of the technician and technologist on the engineering team. Therefore, it appointed a Certification Board - a group of professional engineers - which included Robert Poulter, P.Eng., then President of Radio College. These "founders" established standards for the certificates of qualified technologists and technicians, and also for the accreditation of schools offering advanced courses at the engineering technologist level. Radio College of Canada and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (today Ryerson Polytechnic University) were the first schools to be awarded full accreditation. The certification and accreditation programs continue to be carried out under the authority of the Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists (CCTT) and the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT) by the Canadian Technology Accreditation Board. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the advent of digital electronics, RCC developed the curriculum to service the new digital, computer and microprocessor-based occupations in data communications, facsimile, mobile phone, and computer technology. In the early 1990s Hartley Nichol, President since 1985, assumed full responsibility for the college and RCC moved to its present facility - a campus located on the northern outskirts of Toronto in the City of Vaughan. On its 70th anniversary in 1998 the Radio College of Canada officially changed its name to RCC Institute of Technology. On June 24, 2004, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities in Ontario, allowed RCC to grant bachelor's degrees as a result of a successful audit by the Post-Secondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB).
References
- ^ "Profile of RCC College of Technology", Canadian Universities.net
