News

 

Chat with the Prez.

We’re good, but

not quite there
Annette Martin

Douglas College president, Susan
Witter, held an open house
February 10 attended by many
faculty, administration, college
staff and a few students—
although had they known that
free juice, ice water and cookies
were being seryed, more stu-
dents might have turned up for
the discussion.

Susan Witter presented her
views on how she sees Douglas
College’s unique role as a large,
urban college closely connected
with universities and university
colleges. She told the forum
participants that Douglas has
9,500 credit students and the
highest number in all BC col-
leges of students who transfer to
Simon Fraser University.

She believes that smaller
classes and the personalized
instruction students receive at
Douglas give them a good start
at university. “Location, cost
and class size are the three most
important factors for students,”
she said, and this college has
them all.

She was originally at-
tracted to Douglas College's
diversity and she is especially
proud of the programs that offer
education to under-educated
adults. She said, “Society has a
moral responsibility to provide
this type of education.”

Douglas is known for its
peer support programs and while
other institutions have cut such
aids, this college has maintained
specialized support systems.

This view was echoed by a
student services worker who said
that when dealing with access
‘issues for the most “demanding”
or underprivileged group, the
college is actually “building in
efficiencies that benefit every-
one on campus, like the push
buttons for the automatic
double doors.”

Gerry Sieben, vice chair of
the Douglas College Board, said,
“I can’t see us changing from
what we are, ‘a large community
college’ We have to keep telling
ourselves what we are and that
we do make an impact.”

However, Witter had no
answers to the need for in-
creased funding for post second-
ary education, which didn’t stop
with the BC government's
province-wide tuition freeze.
She said, “We are hurting in
many areas of the college for not
enough funding. And post
secondary dollars are spread
thinner over more institutions
so everyone gets less.”

Several instructors men-
tioned the need for more
technology in labs to replace 20-
year-old equipment, and to
replace non-computer equipment
before it broke.

Educational institutions
have less autonomy under the

tuition freeze and with no
ability to raise revenues or fees,
Witter said that an approach had
been made to the Douglas
College Student Union for a
proposed “technology fee” to be
levied on students to raise some
operating capital.

An instructor mentioned
high student debt saying that
he was “concerned with the
continued pressure to get more
money out of students.”

Witter's response was that
“The student union did it to
their own students, raising the
student levy fees by nine
percent.”

She continued, “The BC
government's right to impose a
funding freeze imposes the right
on them to make up the gap in
funding needs. The public
system needs adequate fund-
ing.”

As for the future, Witter
believes that change is constant,
learning is ongoing and that
Douglas is a highly respected
model for community colleges.

She believes that there will
be an increased demand for first
and second year transfer courses
in arts and science, and agree-
ments for degree completions.

There is a possibility of
three degree program proposals,

_and fifteen new technology

courses are under development,
with options for web-based
teaching.

Negotiations are ongoing
with the government to keep
the David Lam campus open over
the summer semester, but 250
Full Time Enrollments (FTEs) are
needed for this proposal to be
considered.

Joan Barnet from the
Learning Centre wanted to see
support for students who
register for courses that are not
suited to them. She would like
to see a system where they
could transfer into other courses
without paying a financial
penalty.

Bruce Hardy of CFCS said
that Douglas faces an influx of
part-time students, forced to
upgrade or wither in the
workforce. “Many of these
people can't get into the pro-
grams they want because they're
a low number on the registration
list,” he said. “These students
will go to where they can get in.
So what are we going to do to
accommodate a new breed of
learning?”

Witter replied that adult
re-training is the fastest growing
sector of education and Douglas
College is as flexible as any
other institution and will remain
accessible through a government
training accord.

As a way of reminding the
meeting what Douglas College
is—and will always be—Neal
Nicholson, board chair, shared a
story he’d been told by a
student.

“I came to Douglas not

continued on page 4

 

 

 

If youre
concerned .
about the

Year 2000

 
 
 

“Together, we can beat the Bug!”

No one has

all the answers.
But we can help.

Your computer
When the year 2000 rolls around, your

personal computer could get confused.

It could start to read the year 2000 as
the year 1900. Essentially, that’s the
Millennium Bug. Lots of other electronic
devices could catch it too, but your
computer is the most vulnerable.
Hardware, software, operating systems,
» data — all could be affected. So could
printers, modems, and scanners. We
can show you how to test your computer
for possible Year 2000 difficulties. And
we can help you to find out which
products and suppliers are Bug-free.

Your finances

Canada’s banks, other deposit-taking
institutions and related organizations
such as VISA, MasterCard, and the
Interac Association expect to have their
technology fully prepared. They are
developing back-up systems and contin-
gency plans to deal with any unforeseen
events. If you have questions, you
should contact your financial institution.

~ Your household appliances

You probably don’t have to worry about
your appliances. The Bug will hit only
those that depend on dates to work
properly. If you can unplug an appliance
and then turn it back on without
having to reset anything, it should be OK.

None of your equipment should
stop working altogether. But timing
devices could be a problem on some
VCRs, fax machines, security alarms,
digital thermostats, answering machines,
and video and digital cameras. We can
help you to get Year 2000 information
supplied by appliance retailers and
manufacturers.

Your car

Manufacturers say it is highly unlikely
that the Bug will cause car problems.
We can show you what several of the
major car manufacturers have to say

about the Bug and their products.

Don't wait until you have a problem
to begin finding out about the Year
2000 Bug. Start now! Watch for
the Millennium Bug Homecheck
guide in your mailbox. For more
information call:

1-800-270-8220
TTY: 1-800-465-7735

Or visit us at:
www.canada.gc.ca

ivi

Canada

 

the Other Press February 24 1999