Alan McMillan: Alan McMillan in 1988... Alan McMillan’s office looks like the archaeological sites he loves to excavate. It’s a jumble of boxes, papers and mementoes — artifacts of his 35-year teaching career. The Anthropology Department Chair smiles as he describes reaching the earliest stratum. “T found my offer of employment letter from 1970,” says McMillan, a Founding Faculty member who retired in June. McMillan was 24 when he was hired as one of the College's first instructors. He'd received his Masters Degree and was broke after a year of touring Europe. So this “new college opening in New Westminster” sounded like a great place to earn some cash before going back to get his doctorate. “Initially, I didn’t even pay into the pension plan because I wasn’t going to stay —I hadn't planned on getting old either,” laughs McMillan, 60. “Then a wife, two kids and a mortgage had its usual impact.” Over the years, McMillan’s seen an incredible amount of change. The first year, students had to take courses in high schools all over the Lower Mainland on evenings and weekends because the facilities werent ready. “We had three campuses, all of them miserable little trailers in New West, Surrey and Richmond. In the initial years of the College, I traveled all over the Lower Mainland. | frequently would have a morning class in Surrey, an afternoon class in Richmond and then a late-afternoon meeting in New Westminster,” says McMillan. ‘Technological changes have been equally dramatic. In the early years, McMillan hand- wrote everything, gave it to a typing pool and “begged for it to be typed,” then had to take it back to correct the inevitable typos. “That seems so antiquated now, but it was the norm at the time. Now I can send my typing mistakes around the world by e-mail,” he quips. Nor have anthropology and archaeology stayed still says McMillan, an expert on the Nu-chah- nulth First Nation on Vancouver Island: “In First Nations Studies, there’s been an incredible change in our perceptions as well as our knowledge in the time I’ve been here, particularly in terms of recent discoveries.” Things that don’t change — like the continuous How of students through his classrooms — are McMillan’s career highlights. “The highlights have been the constants: teaching the students, the pleasures of the classroom tempered only by the agony of the marking, but the give and take and chance for intellectual engagement with the students has been a constant — the basic pleasures of the job which have kept me here,” McMillan says. It was a retirement party to remember for » Myrna Popove, Executive Director of the -- Douglas College Foundation. Friends and family decorated the Douglas Room on June 14 to resemble her deck at Birch Bay, fj complete with birdhouse, roses and wicker furniture. Seated on the deck are (r-I) Bill Gartside, Foundation Board Chair (retired), Popove, daughters Leisa and Karen, and Gerry Gartside. CFCS Community partner recognized On June 1, President Susan Witter and Acting CFCS Dean Pat Brown presented Ellen Edwards with a Certificate of Appreciation for over a decade of leadership and exceptional dedication and service to the Douglas College Career Development Practitioner (CDP) Certificate Program. Edwards, Executive Coordinator of NETWERCC (Networking, Education and Training for Workers in Employment, Rehabilitation and Career Counselling) was one of the first members of the CDP advisory team. With guidance and input from Edwards, the courses have been enhanced to include skill competencies as defined by the National Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners. Edwards has been a tireless promoter of the Douglas College Career Development Practitioner Program. She attends every information session and takes the time to talk to potential and new students at every opportunity. Despite a full teaching load and adminis- trative work, McMillan continued his field work, wrote five books and numerous articles and earned his doctorate at SFU in 1996. He's not going to slow down just because he’s leaving Douglas College. “[T have no intention of retiring from work and archaeology,” he says. “I'll be working on my own projects. | have several writing projects, | have some consulting lined up, so | anticipate being active for a while.” McMillan reflects on what he'll miss and how, in a way, he'll never be able to escape the College. “Pve been blessed in Founding faculty member digs “retirement” ...and in 2005. my department with really good colleagues and people I’ve enjoyed working with over the years. [hey're the ones | have good memories of and regret leaving,” McMillan says. “But I can't go anywhere in the Lower Mainland without people coming up to me and saying: ‘I took a course from you in 1981’ or whatever. Everywhere I go, | run into my ex- students.” Douglas College-SIFT sign MBA deal with UBC Students in the joint Douglas College-Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade(SIFT) program can now get on a fast-track to an MBA. SIFT, UBC, and the College have signed an agreement giving students early admission into the UBC International MBA program. “The International MBA is identical to the part- time program delivered in Canada,” says UBC’s Dr. Grace Wong . UBC faculty deliver the part- time MBA curriculum in Shanghai and students have a two-week residency at UBC, The agreement is a win- g win. Former Douglas £ College-SIFT students can further their studies while keeping their jobs in Shanghai. UBC gains a steady stream of graduates who have received English-language instruction in a North American curriculum and have experience in the Chinese business environment. ‘The agreement is the result of hard work by the faculty members who designed and delivered the program. It will help demonstrate the College's ability to deliver curriculum at the third and fourth year level when the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration is pursuing a degree proposal. Briefly Kathy Potter has moved from Employee Relations Coordinator to Manager, Employee Relations Systems and Services; Danean Gray has replaced Kathy as Employee Relations Coordinator. Nancy Constable moves from Receptionist to Employee Relations Assistant. * At the May 19 College Board Meeting, Diana Miles was acclaimed as Board Chair and Ann Kitching as Vice-Chair for the coming year. * Cindy Hansen, geology lab tech, recently presented at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists conference (June 20-23) in Calgary. She presented a poster display outlining the findings of her MSc project, involving the determination of along- strike variations of an ancient deltaic system, and testing how well her observations fit with the recently proposed asymmetric delta model. Prior to the conference Cindy presented at two (drill) core workshops, one she led for EnCana (an oil and gas exploration company partly fu nding her research) and the other at an applied ichnology (trace fossils) workshop. Fall 2005 registration for College employees begins August 4. If you're in doubt as to the fee exemptions you qualify for asa College employee, please check with the Employee Relations office. For further information, call the Office of the Registrar at 604-527-5527 and identify yourself as a College employee planning to register for the Fall semester. INside Douglas College is published by the Communications & Marketing Office the first Tuesday of each month. Submissions and story ideas are welcome; deadline is 10 working days before publication. Send text-only files to INside editor, CMO, Room 4700, New Westminster Campus; e-mail to haukad @douglas.bc.ca; or call 604-527-5628. Printed by the Douglas College Printshop.