Lakeland College has earned a platinum Impact Award from the International Association of Facilitators for a transformation project tied to its Student-Managed Farm.
The award is the highest honour the association gives. It recognizes organizations that use facilitation to create measurable, positive change.
The school is one of seven organizations worldwide to receive the platinum award in 2026. Other recipients are based in Belgium, Singapore, Finland and Tanzania.
The project focused on the Student-Managed Farm, known as SMF Powered By New Holland. Trina McCarroll of McCarroll Consulting facilitated the work.
McCarroll led a series of workshops with staff and faculty in Lakeland’s School of Agricultural Sciences. The sessions aimed to clarify roles, strengthen a sense of belonging and connect daily farm work to the program’s long-term vision.
“Agriculture is constantly evolving, and it’s growing exponentially at Lakeland,” said Todd Sumner, vice-president academic and research at Lakeland College.
Sumner said the college has doubled its landmass and tripled student enrolment in its programs since 2010. It has also added a commercial bison herd.
“To stay ahead of that growth and plan for the future, we needed to evaluate our SMF delivery model and ensure our staff had a sense of ownership of the project,” said Sumner.
Staff completed surveys before and after the facilitation process. Sumner said the results exceeded the college’s improvement goals.
“Through the process of facilitation, we achieved measurable, meaningful results that will have a positive impact on our SMF,” said Sumner.
The Student-Managed Farm is also undergoing a separate facilities and infrastructure revitalization. The school says the upgrades will support continued growth in enrolment and public interest in the program.
More information on the Student-Managed Farm and Lakeland’s agricultural programming is available at lakelandcollege.ca.
Read more: Lakeland College Free Tax Clinic
