President’s Report

Faculty Visits

I have been continuing my informal
visits with the instructional faculties and
departments, including, in recent weeks,
Child, Family and Community Studies;
Language, Literature and Performing
Arts; and Humanities and Social
Sciences. These visits provide direct
communications regarding the faculties’
aspirations and frustrations, and some of
administration’s goals and challenges.

I plan to continue these visits, with
the hope that the openness in
communication will contribute to a
degree of trust and to collaboration in
achieving shared goals.

Strategic Planning

The Senior Management Team (SMT)
(Vice Presidents and President) and
Roberta Bend, Chair of Educational
Council, have formed a steering
committee for Strategic Planning, chaired
by Mia Gordon. The emphasis for the
process is on participation.

Budget Planning

The SMT has invited a working group
representing various college
constituencies to work with us to ensure
that College budget development is a

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first Tuesday of every month by the
Communications & Marketing Office and
the College Duplicating Centre. The next
issue will appear on February 4.

 

Deadline for submission for next issue is
noon Tuesday, January 15. Submissions on
floppy disk in WordPerfect or ASCII format
would be appreciated. Material may be
edited for brevity and clarity.

Tips, scoops and suggestions are always
welcome. Please contact the
Communications & Marketing Office, (604)
527-5325, FAX: (604) 527-5095, Room
4700 at the New West campus, 700 Royal
Avenue, New Westminster, B.C. V3L 5B2

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participative process, and that financial
reporting is clear and comprehensive.

We expect that Ministry grants for
1997-98 may approximate those of 1996-
97, that there will be no additional funds
for increased costs (increments, scale
increases, non-salaried inflation), and that
some increases in student FTE may be
expected. We have been informed that our
grants for 1996-97 are being reduced by
$63,852.

Computing Planning

The KPMG Report has been broadly
circulated in the College. (A working
summary of the report’s issues and
recommendations is available.) Although
there have been a number of concerns
expressed regarding the accuracy and
completeness of aspects of the report, it is
being used, along with other reports and
evaluations, by the working group which is
now preparing a draft plan of action for the
SMT.

Provincial Meetings
Since the last Board meeting I have
attended:

Provincial update and evaluation of the
implementation of the education/training
components of B.C. Benefits - November
22

AECBC Joint Council - December 3

Council of Chief Executive Officers -
December 4

School District Liaison

On November 25, Douglas College
signed an articulation agreement with
Richmond, Surrey, and Maple Ridge
School Boards which will allow students
to enrol in studies which provide access to
both secondary school and college credits.
The agreement is strategically linked to the
foundations of Tech Prep, and links the
School Districts and the College through
laddered curriculum, teacher/faculty
interchange, a focus on learning outcomes
achieved through multiple learning
environments, and comprehensive
coordinated career awareness through
experiential learning. Our faculty and staff
are to be commended for the excellent
work done in this collaborative effort.

On Monday, December 2, Mia cori
and I met with Tom Rothney,
Superintendent of Schools, and Russ
Pacey, Executive Director, Development
and Education Services, New
Westminster School District #40. A
number of areas of potential cooperation
were identified, and will be followed up
by our respective administrations.

On Monday, December 9, we met with
Tom Harris, Superintendent, Coquitlam
School District, and his administrators to
discuss areas of college-school district
cooperation.

BC Open University

On Thursday, December 12, I met
with the CEOs from OLA, Capilano and
Langara to discuss plans for the
development of a consortium
arrangement for the development of some
niche degrees in applied areas. Any
agreement reached is subject to approval
by the Ministry of Education, Skills and
Training.

Police Studies Degree Program 9
Following considerable discussion
with community advisers, Douglas
College and the Open Learning Agency
submitted a proposal for development of
a degree in police studies. The initial
proposal has not been accepted by the
Ministry. Follow up discussions with the
Justice Institute, Open University and
Ministry officials have been planned with
a view to reconsideration of the proposal.

BCIT Downtown Opening

We attended the official opening of
the BCIT downtown campus, 555
Seymour St.— “a $35 million high-
technology facility that is the first ‘smart’
building in Western Canada.” $11 million
was provided by the Ministry, and the
remaining $24 million will be provided
through revenue-producing activities.

We congratulate BCIT on this
courageous venture, and wish them well
in their application of state-of-the-art
technology and program design in
downtown Vancouver.

Lloyd Morin