The Other Press Presidential hopefuls compete for DC title Final four candidates present college community with a plan for first 5 years of office by Paul Andrew Significant progress in the search for a president for Douglas College was made the last week in April when the final four candidates presented the col- lege community with a plan outlining a five year agenda in the event they are indeed chosen to hopefuls, four people, Brenda Cooke, John Waters, Dr. Susan Hunter-Harvey ‘and Andrew Merlin were selected by the Presidential Seach Committee to speak to the community about what they would do if appointed president of Douglas College. be the future presi- dent of Douglas. The public forum,_ or ‘colloquium ses- sions,’ took place Friday evening "this process is a good way to find out how the perspective candidates would react under pressure," says Bob Buzza. Brenda Cooke, who is currently the president of Assiniboine Community Col- lege in Brandon Manitoba, was the and Saturday morning in a lecture theatre at the New Westminster Douglas College campus, and was the fourth step in a rigorous five step process which involved the College Board and the Presidential Search Committeee. The Committee consists of personnel from various lev- el’s within the college. Although the appointment of a president is not unusual, the process Douglas is using is very demanding, involving a series of steps designed to acknowledge the best candidates for the position. Bob Buzza, chairman of the search committee; feels this process is a good way to find out how the perspective candidates would react under pressure. “The people who have survived all of this [selection process], and are now down to a final few, will have to make a presentation to the audience, and an- swer questions and just demonstrate that he or she can in effect stand the heat...and can handle themselves effec- tively,” Buzza explained. The final four candidates had a hectic weekend as they were expected to meet with the College Board as well as give a presentation to the college community on the same day. The college received over 100 in- quiries for the presidential post, and after reviewing a number of applications and interviewing several presidential first candidate of the final four who was given a chance to impress the audience with her ideal atmosphere surrounding the post-sec- ondary environment. The first thing Cooke commented on was “the friendly way she was recieved by everybody” when she first entered the DC campus. Cooke focused on shared respon- sibility at the senior management level, and suggested Douglas should have a “global approach” when considering the future of education. During the ques- tion period, Cooke was thoughtful and did not side-step the issues. The next candidate, John Waters, may already be known to some mem- bers of the college community in Brit- Candidate Hunter does not want to see “teacher burn- out,” caused by budget cuts in post-secondary education. ish Columbia. Waters is currently the Dean of Academic Studies at Capilano College in North Vancouver, and has also worked at Douglas in the past. Waters suggested “if a good presi- dent does his job well, he would not even be noticed on campus,” and that would leave time for a president to as- sume a teaching role within the college. Funky Funk Night 2 for 1 Cover - Thursdays Only Valid until 11:00pm 6669 Kingsway, Burnaby Although Waters values the “rec- ognition and acceptance of change,” he does not feel Douglas should change to a university college capable of grant- ing university degrees. Waters cited the fact that local universities can already do that, and Douglas College should remain the “respected community col- lege it has striven to become.” Saturday morning at 10:00 the lec- ture theatre was once again full to hear the presentation from Dr. Susan Hunter- Harvey, the next presidential candidate. Hunter has an impressive list of creden- tials from universities across Canada, although she received her Ph.D. in Po- litical Science from the University of Hawaii. When Hunter was asked how she would handle a major provincial budget cut, she answered by saying she would “confront the ministry responsible in Victoria first, rather than being pas- sive,” and simply accepting the cuts by dealing with them at the local level. Hunter mentioned she has dealt with the government in the past, and she does not want to see “teacher burn-out,” caused by budget cuts in post-second- ary education. Andrew Merlin, the last speaker of the final four presidential candidates, presented the audience with an imagi- nary evaluation as if he had already been president of the college for five years. Mr.Merlin asked tough questions regarding structural developments in the college, acknowledging the fact Douglas has been going through a com- prehensive restructuring process in- volving all levels of administration. He answered this challeng by saying he would be “ready to look at any area’s of concern to the staff,” concerning structural changes. Merlin also mentioned he would “like to listen to what the students say,” regarding administrative structural changes at Douglas. All four candidates seemed to genuinely care about the present state A Current college President Bill Day will retire at the end of August genuinely care about the present state of post-secondary education, and were eager for the chance to begin imple- menting individual strategies at the The last step in this process w have the College Board and the Pre dential Search Committeee compari notes on the final four candidates. / presidential level. terward, t Afterward, ‘yen when we do come _ search commit Bob Buzza, chair- down to the final will meet by the man of the Presi- candidate, the negotiations aateny to come dential Search with a final reco : may not go well, and we , Committeee, added ait ts t mendation for | a somber remark to whe oases nah = Board by the m put things in per- the next in line,” says dle of May. spective. Buzza. Bill Day, t “Even when we do come down to the final candi- date, the negotiations may not go well, and we would have to move on to the next in line,” he said. current presid of Douglas College, is expected to si on until the end of August, when he v retire. New classrooms for September College leases office space for overflow students by Kevin Sallows Douglas College has struck a deal with Imperial Deluxe Apartments to lease vacant office space to facilitate the overflow of new students until the com- pletion of the new Pinetree campus in Maple Ridge. The Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour approved a proposal for a two-year lease effective from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 1996 at 737 Carnarvon, the space opposite the south side of Douglas’ main campus. Director of facilities, Terry Leonard, stated, “What we were look- ing at, including taxes, was about $140 000 a year.” Tenant Improvements (T.I.) to the space are being paid for by the owner and will probably be finished sometime next month. “The T.I. is $175 000, that’s the projected amount. I think we’ll be well under that,” Leonard continued. The $175 000 pro- jection is included in the approximately $280 000 two-year lease and will be paid back to the col- lege. “It’s a very good lease hold im- provement for the College,” Leonard said. In the approximately 10 000 square feet, including hallways, bath- rooms etc., there will be four large class- rooms and three small classrooms. “What is actually being booked in here, at this time I couldn’ t tell you. The only one that I know of that’s been a designated area...is the dispensing/op- The new space, directly across fromthe parking garages. tician. [It] starts in September.” “Operational hours on this ¢ here, from what I understand...will more like...8-4 [p.m.],” said Leona The new facility has yet to named but will be open for the Septe ber 1995 semester.