INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / August 6, 1991

 

 

On June 20, the College signed an agreement with SCT Software and Resource Management Corporation to
purchase and implement the new Student Information System. Currently, staff from the Registrar’s Office and
Systems and Computing are involved in the initial training sessions. Implementation of the system will occur
over the next two years.

On June 21, Douglas College was the site of the Nisga’a Council’s (Vancouver Chapter) Graduation feast.
The feast honoured graduates from all lower mainland institutions who have a Nisga’a heritage. Gordon Gil-
gan gave an address to the assembly on the value of education. The feast was supported by the Student
Society and the Alumni Association.

From June 24 to 26, the Department of Psychiatric Nursing held a three-day curriculum workshop with
Olivia Bevis, an internationally-renowned nursing curriculum consultant. Representatives from clinical agen-
cies were invited, as well as representatives from the RPNABC, BCIT, the Department of Health Sciences, the
Department of Child, Family and Community Studies, and the Psychology discipline. The focus of the
workshop was on the “caring curriculum” concept which moves nursing away from the Tylerian, behavioural
approach to a student-centred approach emphasizing conceptual learning, critical thinking and egalitarian
teacher/student interactions. The department will now begin the task of identifying how these concepts can
be applied to the Douglas College curriculum.

On June 25, Jim Doerr and John McKendry facilitated a discussion of the new Canadian Labour Force
Development Strategy. As a follow-up, a small group of faculty and administrators will be developing a
Douglas College action plan.

On June 26, Gerry Della Mattia attended the Terry Fox Secondary School graduation to present Douglas Col-
lege Entrance Scholarships to two students — Karen Peck and Cynthia Jody Rea. Karen will be enrolling in a
University Transfer program while Cynthia will be taking General Studies. Additional Entrance Scholarships
will be awarded to students at other schools after results of the provincial examinations are made available.

On June 28, several members of the Board, the Administration, faculty and staff attended the closing
ceremonies for the Summer Language Institute, an intensive six-week language and cultural program for
French-Canadian and Japanese students.

On July 16, the Board Chairman, Jim Doerr, representatives from the Douglas College Student Society, and I,
met with Dave Mercier, the MLA from Burnaby-Edmonds, to discuss our advocacy issues — funding and ac-
cess, and new developments — the Thomas Haney Centre and the Coquitlam campus, as part of the ongoing
legislative advocacy plan. Other meetings like this, and similar to the one held with Anita Hagen, will occur
with all MLAs and MPs in the college region.

On July 17, I attended the Executive Meeting and the Annual General Meeting of the Douglas College Foun-
dation. The new executive officers of the Foundation are: Mr. Bill Gartside, Chairman, Mr. Bill Hughes,
Vice-Chairman, Mr. Al Atkinson, A/Secretary, Mr. Baj Puri, Treasurer, and Mr. Muni Evers, member-at large.
Mr. Peter Webster will also serve on the executive as the Past Chairman.

Internal Matters - General

On July 2, a meeting of the Senior Administration was held to prepare a response to several issues raised by
the mid-management group — planning, communication, decision-making and computing. An action plan
has been prepared to address their concerns.

On July 9, a meeting was held to address concerns regarding the use of the college timetabling matrix and
how it impacts on space availability. Another meeting is planned for the Fall.