Assiniboine hires dean for rejigged agriculture school

Assiniboine Community College is separating its business and agriculture & environment school into two entities.

Thursday’s announcement was made as part of the college’s refreshed strategic plan and will help them continue to expand moving forward, vice-president academic Deanna Rexe said.

"An important area for growth identified was the sector of ag and environment, and given our academic plans for program growth for developing increased activity and applied research and services, we felt it’s time to dedicate energy and attention to a new school of ag and environment."

Before the shift, the business and the agriculture & environment faculties were joined under a single school for almost 12 years.

Tim Hore has been hired as dean, agriculture & environment for the new school, and will start his position in January.

Before coming to Assiniboine, Hore worked for the Manitoba Department of Agriculture. He was CEO of the Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie, after which he managed the department’s applied production research branch, a news release from Assiniboine states.

Hore said he was looking forward to his move to Brandon.

"It’s interesting to see and to hear about Assiniboine’s strategic direction and really putting agriculture at the forefront in terms of the expansion that’s going to be ongoing at ACC," he said. "Certainly, being a part of that is really exciting, and working with academia, the students, you know the ag industry in terms of new programming, ensuring that graduates coming out of the programs are ready to hit the ground and run when they join the labour force."

Hore lives on a small farm just outside Wawanesa, a background he said will be useful in his new position.

"It’s certainly nice for ACC to have a local dean that understands the region, understands the area and is certainly plugged into the ag community," he said.

The college enrols approximately 260 students a year in their agriculture and environment programs, with 850 more registered in agriculture extension courses, the news release said.

"The future goal is to create increased program opportunities, increased capacity and increased opportunities for exceptional learning experiences," Rexe said.

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