News from the June 8 Board of Governors meeting

News from June 8 Board meeting

On June 8, the Board of Governors of Dawson College met for the last time before the summer break.

Sustainability Report

The meeting began with a presentation of the Sustainability Office’s Annual Report for the 2018-2019 year by Chris Adam.  Chris pointed out some of the achievements of that year: using the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals as a filter for our activities, the fruits of the Sustainable Campuses Initiative coordinated by Gisela Frias (including publication of a 200-page e-book), our pledge to be Carbon Neutral Forever, the training of five employees as facilitators in Sustainable Happiness and attaining a level of excellence according to Cégep Vert.

“At this time, 15.3% of courses at Dawson touch on sustainability,” said Chris. “Our goal is to get to 20% and we are within striking distance. We are working with faculty from several programs to create more sustainability-related content for courses.”

He also reported that there are approximately 100 activities related to sustainability every year that reach thousands of students. Dawson’s work is being shared with millions of people in Canada through a surge in media interest in these projects.

Chair Michael Goldwax congratulated the Sustainability Office team: “Dawson continues to be a leader in Quebec and Canada and we are very proud.”

Hiring of new Director General
The Chair provided an update on the hiring process for a new Director General. The search, which was postponed because of the pandemic, will begin in September and a recommendation to hire the selected candidate is slated for the end of October. The new incumbent would start in January 2021.

Reports
The Director General and the Academic Dean presented brief reports. Richard Filion reported that he expects to receive a plan in the next few weeks for the reintegration of students this fall. He also mentioned the news that Dawson’s new building was included in the government’s omnibus Bill 61. “We may have a shorter time frame with the project,” he said. “We will know more by the end of this week.”

Diane Gauvin commended the work of everyone to complete the Winter Semester. “Everyone worked so hard and the resilience was incredible,” she said.

The demand for summer school was greater than expected and up from last year. “We added some course sections,” she said.

Summer school begins June 15 and the Winter Semester is concluding June 18 with some limited on-campus learning activities.

Diane recognized the work of the Faculty Hub and the Office for Academic Development that provided support for online teaching.

The Academic Dean is confident that the number of students for the Fall will hold. The Academic Calendar was revised and students are being given the week of Thanksgiving as a study break. “Students will be able to get help and teachers can follow up,” she said.

Budget news
Finance Director Glenys Ronnie presented the 2019-20 projected results and the operating budget for 2020-2021. She said that the Finance department is tracking COVID-19 expenses separately from regular operating expenses. The network of colleges has been and will continue to advocate for these additional expenses to be reimbursed by the Ministry.

The College anticipates receiving the annual allocation from the Ministry in early June but is being conservative because of the uncertainty and its impact on students.

A provisional operating budget was approved for revenues of $96,332,000 and expenses of $97,447,000 for a budgeted deficit of $1,115,000 and associated staffing plans. The deficit will be covered by the accumulated surplus appropriated for the implementation of the 2017-21 Strategic Plan and the accumulated surplus appropriated for Phase II of the Artificial Intelligence project in 2019-22. The balance will be absorbed by an unappropriated accumulated operating surplus, which is expected to be at $7.7 million at the end of the 2019-20 academic year.

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The enrolment projection for Fall 2020 is 8,194 students.

Board elections
The Board had elections for the Executive Committee, the Audit Committee and the Ombudservices Advisory Committee. Michael Goldwax will continue to serve as Chair and Anna Villalta will continue to serve as Vice-Chair. The complete updated board list can be seen here.

Calendar of BOG meetings
The calendar of meetings for the Board of Governors was adopted. The next year of meetings will be Sept. 23, Oct. 28, Nov. 25 in 2020 and in 2021: Feb. 23, April 14, June 8.

Objectives of the Academic Dean and Director General

The Director General and the Academic Dean gave their objectives for the coming year.

The Academic Dean’s objectives are:

• Overseeing the on-line delivery of teaching and learning
• Leading the strategic planning process for the academic needs in the new pavilion
• Welcoming and orienting the new Director General

The Director General’s objective, limited to the remainder of 2020, is to:

“Ensure proper leadership to address the various challenges arising from the exceptional situation created by COVID-19 in the unfolding of the Fall Semester by implementing conditions that will offer our students a meaningful college experience that will foster their success while ensuring financial stability of the College.”