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CNC faculty pass motions of non-confidence in college administrators

“The board was not willing to listen to the alternatives put forward by stakeholders.”

The Faculty Association of the College of New Caledonia (FACNC) has passed motions of non-confidence in senior administrators after repeated efforts to engage them over concerns with the erosion of programs.

Although the votes of non-confidence were passed in April and September of 2015, they were only made public last week, after the CNC board disclosed the votes to the media.

“Faculty have listened to the concerns raised by groups and individual students across the region, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that neither the senior administration nor the board were willing to listen to the alternatives put forward by stakeholders,” explained Deborah Collette, FACNC President.

The college executive has been dealing with a budget deficit of $2.8 million and has cut several programs.

According to FACNC, much of the programming that filled in gaps for disciplines not offered at the University of Northern British Columbia has been cut. The college has also chosen to eliminate all but one of its industry-based technological programs.

In addition, FACNC says CNC has cancelled student intake in the dental hygiene program despite widespread community protest.  Having taken the concerns of the faculty, including the vote of non-confidence, to the CNC board without any meaningful response, Collette said FACNC was faced with no alternative but to seek solutions by approaching the Ministry of Advanced Education.

“The faculty have been clear that they believe they have an obligation to advocate on behalf of their current and future students,” she said.

North Central Local Government Association president Brian Frenkel, who has served as a Vanderhoof councillor for 14 years, has also expressed his disappointment with the current CNC executive. Frenkel said community consultations held across the region by CNC did not feel like consultations.

“We hear that communities are being engaged, and that’s not true,” said Frenkel. “There was no true engagement; to me, the homework wasn’t done.”

Frenkel said the previous CNC administration was much more concerned with engaging communities and hearing what community members and local governments had to say.

The North Central Local Government Association invited Reiser to a meeting in January to try to find solutions for the current challenges faced by CNC and strengthen the partnership between the college and local governments. However, Reiser did not attend the meeting.

Frenkel said it’s extremely hard for mayors to stand against big organizations such as CNC.

Burns Lake Mayor Luke Strimbold has been speaking out against the college administration since the board made the decision to transfer all family programs offered at the Lakes District campus to other agencies.

In a recent press release, CNC said the college executive has taken a number of steps over the last year to ensure the long-term sustainability of the college.

The college says that thanks to steps taken by the board, the college will be in a better financial position for the next fiscal year.

“The college’s senior administration is projecting a surplus, which will be finalized after the fiscal year ends on March 31, 2016,” says a CNC press release. “It is premature to finalize the amount with one more fiscal quarter to go.”