A Family with Generations of Assiniboine Alumni

For many staff, students and graduates, Assiniboine is a big, friendly family. What’s even more special, however, is when members of your everyday family are also members of your Assiniboine family.

It all began with Gord and Gail Hyde, who each graduated from Assiniboine’s Business Administration several years ago. Gord and Gail’s two sons, Dave and Shaun, graduated from the Information Technology program, while Dave’s wife, Cyndi, also graduated from the Business Administration program alongside her sister, Meagan Warken. Cyndi and Meagan’s sister, Jaime Wainwright, did not attend the college as a student, but worked for the Students’ Association.

After graduating from Assiniboine, Gord and Gail were the owner-operators of Hyde Transport for a number of years. Gord operated the business, while Gail took care of the books. With more than a dozen trucks, the business provided transportation services throughout North America.

After graduating with an IT diploma, Dave joined the City of Brandon’s IT department. He is now working as the Chief Information Officer for Fusion Credit Union. His brother, Shaun, now serves as an IT security manager with Manitoba Hydro.

After working for a number of organizations following her graduation from Assiniboine, including Koch Fertilizer, the City of Brandon and Genesis Hospitality, Cyndi now works as a Staffing Advisor in Human Resources at Assiniboine, with responsibility for recruiting and onboarding faculty.

“When I interviewed for this position, I felt very ‘full circle,’” she says. “My husband and I talked about it a lot, and Assiniboine was always an employer in my mind, of somewhere I would love to end up, and I’m just extremely happy that I did get here. . .Assiniboine, as a whole with the staff and the students, it is like a community here.”

Cyndi’s sister, Meagan Warken, is now working in an administrative position for the City of Brandon with the Brandon Police Service.

Looking to the future, a seventh member of the family – a third generation – may be entering the college in the next few years.

“My son is going to be 16 right away,” says Cyndi. “The things that we’ve talked about the most with him are the fact it’s a hands-on learning experience. It’s not sitting in a lecture theatre, listening to somebody lecture. It’s actually getting experience from people who have worked in the industry.”

“I tell him that the students get the firsthand experience of not only what the course content says, but this is what the instructors actually said about their actual real-world experience. So, the phrase ‘learn by doing’ is the real deal.”

Cyndi also has a message for those who are part of the Assiniboine alumni community, as well as those who will graduate from the college in the future – “We don’t want our students to leave Assiniboine, thinking that Assiniboine was just their place of education,” she says. “We also are an employer. Think of us when you’re getting your work experience and keep us in mind as an employer of choice, not just the place where you got your education from.”

That’s the great thing about a big family like the Assiniboine family: you are always welcome, and there is always room for more. Just ask the Hyde family.