Good afternoon everyone – It’s good to see you back!

I hope you had a restful break and that you’re all in for another exciting semester.

I wish you a happy and healthy 2016 year filled with accomplishments you can dream of.

Sustainability at Dawson

2015 is now behind us, but it will certainly leave its mark in the history of our modern world.

On the positive side, we can rejoice in the worldwide agreement on the threat posed by climate change that we saw come together in December. This is something we should care about and fight for. The future of this planet is in our hands and time for sustainable solutions is starting to press on.
Raising awareness in our young generations on this daunting issue and creating conditions for the definition of a new approach to our lifestyle are certainly a big part of our responsibility as educators. This is what we at Dawson have committed ourselves to over the last few years and this is what we will keep doing through our vision to make Dawson a living campus.

On this very topic, I want to underline that 2016 will be an important year for Dawson on the sustainability front. This will be the first of several important announcements concerning our sustainability program and the development of a Living Campus initiative. On the heels of the Climate Change Summit in Paris just a few months ago, it was clear that countries and their societies need institutional leaders to step up and act.

I want you to know that the College has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by over 60% in recent years through waste reduction, energy conservation measures, and recycling, and we are committed to continue reducing our ecological footprint even further.

We will not only continue to document this, but we will also document every plane, taxi, train, bus or hotel room used by our staff and students as part of their work here and offset the emissions generated by each activity. The emissions will be offset by planting 5,000 trees on marginal land in Nicaragua and 8 full-time equivalent jobs will be created there.

Today, I am proud to announce that Dawson College will be carbon neutral from this point on. Thank you to the entire community, and particularly Plant & Facilities, for their on-going efforts.

On the less positive side, we have witnessed in 2015 deeply disturbing world events. The upsurge of deadly terrorist attacks in the world; the fierce wars going on in Middle East and Africa with catastrophic consequences on human beings; the complex issues arising from unprecedented migration of people, all these phenomena are calling upon us and our sense of responsibility like it never has before.

Here again, education seems to remain the best way to prepare a new generation of leaders who will develop the skills and attitudes that will help them address these issues in a creative and constructive manner.

No question that we have to keep working hard to provide our students with a relevant frame of thought and action that will make them citizens of the world in the full meaning of this expression.

I suspect this may sound idealistic to some. But I am deeply convinced that there is no education worth pursuing if we don’t adhere to such high ideals. Fear is not the answer. Fear is the antithesis of peace. As educators, we can’t give up the hope of preparing the new generation to build and live in a more peaceful world.

But enough of these philosophical considerations.

Negotiation Resolution

We are in a new year and we have to keep looking forward. We are starting the year with the relief to have seen the conclusion of the negotiation round and I believe it is a positive one. Overall, working conditions will be enhanced for all categories of employees. Teachers have gotten well-deserved recognition of their work by the improved ranking of their salary scale. The very nature of this settlement acknowledges the complexity of their task and their belonging to higher education. It is no secret that this comes with increased responsibilities. I trust that every faculty member will rise up to these new requirements and act accordingly.

Support staff and professionals will also see their conditions improve since the newly negotiated agreement will bring more flexibility to the working environment and their capacity to reconcile work requirements and personal matters.

So I guess that everyone will be happy to put that bargaining round behind them!

New Directions

I mentioned last August that the 2015-2016 year would be a challenging one for the College. The budget situation that we have to deal with has been affected by severe cutbacks and it forces us to revise our ways of doing things. To question our routines and redeploy ourselves in a more efficient manner are certainly a difficult task. Moreover, retirements and departures have had an impact on the delivery of services in many areas. But at the same time, it is providing opportunity for better reorganizing the systems we have put in place to provide support to our teaching activities and to enrich the student experience at Dawson.

Already, some strategic decisions have been made in that regard. The transformation of the Office of Instructional Development into the Office of Academic Development shows the willingness of the College to foster the pursuit of academic initiatives that will help to enhance our pedagogical practices and make them more relevant for our students. The appointment last Fall of Rob Cassidy as Coordinator of Academic Development has been made with this premise in mind.

To that regard, I am happy to announce that we will soon, finally some will say, inaugurate the Project Room located in the 3F wing. This facility will be opened to all those who are looking for greater collaboration among peers, for building strong and active learning communities and for developing and implementing innovative pedagogical approaches in their teaching activities. I encourage everyone to be part of this exciting initiative.

Student Success and Graduate Satisfaction

We can see, following the most recent data we have gathered, that the students who have come to Dawson generally agreed that they have highly appreciated their college years. In a report dated November 2015 based on the Graduation Satisfaction Survey and produced by the staff of the Office of Institutional Research, thanks to them, we are told that the overall satisfaction indicator has reached a historical high for students in the career/technical programs while the overall satisfaction rate for pre-university programs regains its previous high. In the meantime, indicators related to student success are still running above the average in the network. I invite everyone to have a look at this report available on Sharepoint. It will certainly act as stimulation and encouragement to keep doing our best for the sake of our students.

Now, with additional resources becoming available, we will be in a better position to focus and intervene with students who are the most vulnerable, those who experience learning difficulties. At the same time, through the action initiated last year by some faculty, professionals and support employees, we will pay special attention to our First Nations students. We need, as a community, to keep rallying around these issues and make sure this segment of our student population gets the support they need to increase their chances to succeed.

Active Dossiers

In other sectors of the College, we will seek new directions to enhance Dawson’s proficiency. During the Fall semester, Administrative Services completed an excruciating process under a General Audit led by the Vérificateur general du Québec. The follow-up to this audit is providing opportunities to improve some of our administrative processes. In addition, recent departures in this sector are laying the ground for restructuring with the aim of reinforcing our capacity to respond to the many requirements we are dealing with.

In the same vein, we are beginning a revision of activities related to the delivery of community-oriented services. This will include Continuing Education activities and those related to the Center for Training and Development, the so-called non-credit division.

In that respect, the interim appointment of Maeve Muldowney in late December as manager of CTD has been made with the view of looking at ways of expanding our outreach capacity. In Continuing Education, new stipulations included in the forthcoming collective agreement for faculty will certainly contribute to this exercise.

In Student Services, the implementation of recommendations stemming from the evaluation processes conducted last year in the Academic Skills Centre and Counselling will help to redesign some services for the sake of the student population that requires such specialized services.

Winter 2016 should also see the finalization of the plan that will allow us to redress the space deficit we are dealing with. Let’s be clear: there will be no easy way by which we will achieve that dossier. Defining the right project, rallying the community around it and convincing the Ministry of Education to allocate the needed funds to realize this project are certainly delicate and complex tasks. I remain confident that the P&F Department will rise up to the challenge in the most efficient manner.

We all know the use of information technologies keeps expanding at a fast pace and we have become aware that the new generation in our classrooms is familiar with these technologies. No question that it brings additional pressure to our physical capacity to lead the parade!

By continuously looking at ways to improve our infrastructure, the Department of Information Systems and Technologies keeps working hard to make sure the College is kept in phase with the growing demand for the use of such technologies.

Dawson Foundation

As some of you might have noticed, we have recently gone through an important step for the establishment of a Dawson Foundation. By appointing Francis Lessard, whom I am happy to introduce to you, as the Executive Director of the Dawson Foundation, we are now giving ourselves the means to optimize our relationships with the Montreal community and to fundraise for the benefit of our students. As Executive Director and with the collaboration of various sectors of the College, Francis will have the responsibility to prepare the launch of a capital campaign. More to come!

New Strategic Plan

On a final note, the Winter term should also see the launch of a process regarding the updating of our Strategic Plan. I think it is fair to say that the 2010-2015 Strategic Plan had led the College to some important achievements through initiatives that have had a real impact on student success.

This semester, the Academic Dean will set up the process to revisit our Student Success Plan while I will conduct the way we will revise our overall strategic goals. One thing is for certain, the strategic directions we have followed over the last five years have planted the seeds of what is to come.
In my opinion, the task that lies ahead will be to bring more clarity to our strategic goals and to design a vision for our future that will be bold and generous. This is what our students deserve and for that I am counting on all of you.

Thanks for your attention and enjoy your semester.

Richard Filion
Director General
January 19, 2016

Download the Director General’s welcome back address as a PDF