INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / OCTOBER 2, 1990 _

@ ACTING PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 

By: Al Atkinson

Mr. Day’s memorandum of
August 9, to all employees,
covers most of the ac-
tivities /events which occurred
over the summer. Thus, my
report will highlight only those
activities not referenced in his
memorandum.

External Matters - Municipal

On August 23, it was a
pleasure to attend the official
opening ceremonies of the new
Surrey campus of Kwantlen Col-
lege.

On August 28, the Steering
Committee for the Lower Main-
land Multiculturalism project met
at Douglas College to determine
the research methodology to be
used in gathering information
about the changing ethnic mix in
the lower mainland and to assess
the impact of this change on the
public and post-secondary educa-
tion systems.

The assistance and advice
provided by Bob Cowin, our
Manager of Institutional Research
and Development, was ap-
preciated by the Committee.

On September 7, Bill Bell, our
Public Information Officer, repre-
sented the College on a tour of
the harbour—New Westminster
to Steveston—an event hosted by
the New Westminster Harbour
Commission.

External Matters - Education
During the month of August,
work was completed on a draft
position paper on the matter of ac-
cess and degree-granting capacity
in the Fraser Valley. This paper,
part of your Board package, has
been prepared for presentation to
the Fraser Valley Access Consult-
ation Group. This commission is
solicting public input into alterna-
tives for providing increased ac-
cess to post-secondary education
for residents of the Valley. The
consultation group was an-

nounced by the Minister at the
time the report and recommenda-
tions of the Fraser Valley Access
Committee (the Presidents of
SFU, Kwantlen College, Douglas
College and Fraser Valley Col-
lege) were released.

On August 21, ] attended a
meeting at the Advanced Educa-
tion Council of B.C. offices to dis-
cuss the feasibility of developing
a federally-sponsored scholarship
program for technology /tech-
nician students. This meeting was
chaired by Bert Burtis, the former
President of Confederation Col-
lege, who is working under con-
tract to develop the proposal.
Representatives from BCIT and
several other colleges were in at-
tendance.

Internal Matters - Education

The Early Childhood Educa-
tion Program will undergo a com-
prehensive review this Fall. This
review will incorporate recom-
mendations stemming from the
Ministry’s review of Social Ser-
vice programs and the recommen-
dation of the College Deans/
Directors that Early Childhood
Education programs move to two-
year diploma status. The review
committee was named at the
beginning of September.

The first meeting of the new
College Education Council was
held on September 19. Member-
ship on the Council consists of
two faculty members from each
department, two staff members,
and two students. The President,
the Deans, and the Registrar are
ex-officio members.

Internal Matters - General

In August, the College’s 3-
Year Strategic Plan was dis-
tributed to all employees, to
MLA’s, Mayors, School Board
Chairs, Public Libraries, and
other educational and civic offi-
cials.

On August 9, Tad Hosoi, Mia
Gordon and I hosted a delegation

= (3

from Momoyama University, our
sister institution in Japan. Our
two visitors, Mr. Sato, Vice-presi-
dent, Administration and Mr.
Otani, the administrative head of
the Momoyama International
Centre, were able to meet with
the ESL faculty and observe and
participate in the activities
planned for the students from
Momoyama who were studying
here at the time.

On August 17, Dr. Hughes,
Mr. and Mrs. Banks, Gordon Gil-
gan, Tad Hosoi and | attended the
farewell barbecue and ceremonies
for the Momoyama students who
had just completed their four-
week intensive English program.
The students entertained us with
songs, skits, demonstrations of
origami and a slide presentation
of their time in Canada. (Tad
Hosoi's “secret barbec 1e sauce”
recipe can now be obtained from
Melanie Yip, one of our Language
and Cultural Assistants).

On August 20, 21, and 22, it
was a pleasure to welcome 600
new students to Douglas College
who participated in a college
orientation organized by Trish
Angus and the staff in the
Registrar’s Office.

On August 27, many mem-
bers of the administration, facul-
ty, staff and students attended the
memorial service for Jack Fer-
guson, a long-time and revered
member of our faculty.

On August 28, Rob Corbett
and | met with Pam Burry and
Dan McDonald of the DCFA to
discuss two Stage 3 grievances.

On August 29, Myrna
Popove, Peter Greenwood, Mar-
garet Murray and I welcomed our
three new Board members - Mr.
Hewitt, Mr. Mellalieu and Mr.
Taylor - to the College.

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