MAD HATTER PAGE 4 ‘

 

 

inatory reductions of provincial grants
in aid of cormmity education are being
felt throughout the province, with spec-
ial force among those institutions who
see a major responsibility in the com
munity college in terms of commmnity
development and social education.

C. INTERNAL MATTERS - EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT

Intensive discussions have been occur-
ring regarding the "fine tuning” of
expenditures for furnishings and equip-
ment in the new building. Because we
received 40% of what the College per-
ceived to be the minimm adequate level
of capital funding for the equipping of
the new building, there has been very
severe pressure on the budget. A dis-
cretionary fund has been assembled, and
there has been agreement reached between
the Furnishings & Equipment Sub-Canmmit-
tee and the Management Cammittee of the
college that any expenditures from this
contingency fund should occur following
a review in early December. This dec-
ision has been taken in spite of the.
major pressures and argument for immed-
iate expenditure from the contingency
fund.

The Educational Policy & Planning Can
mittee participated with the Management
group in a workshop on the Entry Level
Training Procram proposal from the
Ministry of Education. This program
is intended to replace previous pre-
employment and pre-vocational orienta-
tion and preliminary training programs
offered throughout the province. Par-
ticipation in this new program could
provide the means by which the college
becomes involved in engineering-related
and/or trades-related training, or al-
ternatively it could be viewed as a
"blind alley" because of the lack of
higher level technical programs to
which students could move. The Educa-

 

tional Policy & Planning Committee has
provided for the use of the Management
Committee, a long list of concerns and
questions that would have to be answered
prior to the college entry in this field.
As a result of this, and other discus-
sions at the Education & Services Cam-
mittee of the Board, and at Management
Cammittee, I have accepted the advice
of the Management Cormittee, and have
indicated to the Ministry of Education
that we are interested in participating
in this program, but not until September,
1984, by which time appropriate meth-
odical planning could occur. If in the
meantime it becomes evident that such
actions are inappropriate, we can de-
cide notto participate. As and when

a properly conceived educational propo-
sal is developed, it will be recommended
to the Education & Services Committee,
and thence to the College Board. In
this regard, a motion has been passed
for the advice of the Board, which will
be presented separately, fram the Educa-
tional Policy & Planning Cormittee.

A process of review of the existing
Budget Decisions Unit listings is in
progress. Some appeals are being made
regarding the BDU rankings. The proce-
dure will be that Divisional Curriculum
& Planning Committees will review appeals,
and make recommendations to the Educa-
tional Policy & Planning Cammittee,
which in turn will provide comment to
the Board and Management Committee. I
expect that a number of such appeals
will have surfaced for the attention of
the Board and Management Committee by
the next regular meeting.

D. INTERNAL MATTERS - STUDENT AFFAIRS
AND LABOUR RELATIONS

On September 22, I was invited to make
a presentation to a general meeting
of the students regarding the role of
students in our governance system and