For many people the season of summer is meant to be one of freedom, sunshine, and fun. For universities, however, summer is the time when they can get a lot of work done without pesky students getting in the way – and this past summer was no exception. Since we know you weren’t paying attention to the politics of it all while you were soaking up your vitamin D, here’s our summer news round-up, just for you.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL BUDGET
The Capilano University Board of Governors started off the summer months with a bang, voting to accept a budget that made significant cuts to Adult Basic Education programs, along with cuts to other sections of the Faculty of Student Services and Developmental Studies.
As a result, the Capilano University Faculty Association officially opposed the budget, releasing a report that made suggestions for alternative financial decisions that would place “education ahead of business”. More than forty members of the faculty attended the meeting where the budget was discussed, lining the hallway outside the meeting room with placards requesting the Board of Governors to reconsider.
“Capilano University has a mandate to help students succeed,” said John Wilson, President of the CUFA, “[and] these cuts contradict that mandate.” Wilson suggested that the University look for additional funding from the province for the operating costs of the film building, as Capilano is allegedly shouldering much of the cost for a product that will “support the development of talents and skills in B.C.’s billion-dollar-plus film industry.”
Although several amendments to the budget were proposed, the budget was still accepted as originally presented, with two student representatives and two faculty representatives opposing. This is the second consecutive year where cutshave been made to this faculty.
UNIVERSITY ELECTION SEES A RE-VOTE WITH NO DISQUALIFICATION
Right as the Spring semester was coming to an end, the results of the Board of Governor and Senate student representative elections were being announced. However, soon after the results were announced, an election complaint was submitted and a re-vote was called by University Registrar, Karen McCredie.
Under the University’s election rules, candidates in the election are not permitted to campaign during the voting period. The complaint was submitted against David Clarkson and Justin Lew, and it suggested that they had violated this election rule by campaigning on Facebook during the voting period.
Despite the complaint, none of the candidates were disqualified from the re-vote, and McCredie oversaw the second vote in mid-April. The successfully elected candidates as a result of this election are as follows: Parker Busswood, David Clarkson, Kelsey Didlick and Brandon Hofmarks for student representatives to the Senate; and David Clarkson and Jordon Liden for student representatives on the Board of Governors. Some of the candidates elected in the original vote were not elected in the re-vote, including Azam Ansary, who was originally elected to Senate in the first vote, but was replaced by Parker Busswood in the second.
The first time around, voter turnout was 289 students voting in the Senate election and 365 voting in the Board of Governors election. In the re-vote, however, the voter turnout dropped to 195 for the Senate election and 225 for the Board of Governors.
UVSS TO LEAVE CFS
The University of Victoria Students’ Union held a referendum on continued membership in the Canadian Federation of Students earlier this year, and at the CFS’ Annual General Meeting in May their referendum results, to cease membership in the CFS, were accepted by the delegates at the meeting. Although Dave Molenhuis, former national chairperson of the CFS said he was “surprised, saddened, but respectful” of the students’ decision in the referendum.
The condition to the acceptance of their results, however, is that all outstanding fees owed to the CFS are paid off before the UVSS can officially leave the CFS. Previously, the CFS has claimed that the UVSS owed them fees dating back to the 1990s; however, this has been disputed by the UVSS. The UVSS is yet to be told the exact amount of money that they have in outstanding fees to the CFS, although the UVSS’ understanding is that “outstanding fees” refers to the membership fees
they owe for the 2010-11 academic year.
“The fees will be remitted as soon as we have them from the university, which will complete our departure from the CFS,” Tara Patterson, chairperson of the UVSS, told the Canadian University Press.
NORTH SHORE CREDIT UNION DONATES BIG BUCKS
Capilano University announced at the end of June that the North Shore Credit Union would be providing a $1 million sponsorship for performing arts at the school. The sponsorship will be divided up over fifteen years, and will result in the performing arts theatre being officially renamed the North Shore Credit Union Centre for the Performing Arts.
“Their valued contribution will enable us to continue to offer quality programs and services that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of the local communities we serve,” said Dr. Kris Bulcroft, Capilano University’s President, about the sponsorship.
The renaming of the theatre is the first time a building on campus has been named after a business; however, these re-christenings of buildings are not uncommon at post-secondary institutions. SFU, for example, has the Alcan Aquatic Research Centre and the controversial Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University has the Coast Capital Savings Library.
GOVERNOR GENERAL UNVEILS NEW COAT OF ARMS
His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada, made an important visit to Capilano in May so that he could help the institution unveil their new coat of arms.
“Speaking as someone who has spent over four decades working in the academic world, it is fitting that my first presentation ceremony of corporate arms is to a university,” said the Governor General in a press release. Interestingly, he used to be a history instructor at Capilano in the 1960s.
The coat of arms is blue, with two winged bears staring at each other while they hold a shield decorated with a salmon in a West Coast First Nations style. The University’s slogan cascades across the bottom of the image, reading, “Through Learning to a Greater Good”.
The unveiling of the coat of arms is another step in Capilano’s transformation into a university.
// Samantha Thompson
Editor-in-Chief
