WARUCC

Winter 2007

A Message fom the WARUCC President

As our days are filled with endless meetings, students to see and tasks to be done, it is easy to forget to say a simple “thanks” for a job well done—especially to those working on the front lines of our institutions.

They are the ones who answer the same questions day in, day out, and are supposed to have endless patience with an ever-demanding group of students. Some of you may be familiar with Richard Whiteley’s book The Customer Driven Company in which he emphasizes the importance of the front line worker by demonstrating concepts from what he coins “The Iceberg of Ignorance.” Through his model, Whiteley suggests that those in leadership positions only know about 4% of problems facing customers while those on the front line know most of them but do not feel in a position to affect change. As a result, they hide the problem or, at the least, do not uncover it (i.e. how a new policy or procedure truly plays out for students).

So, when you take time to walk around the office and talk to everyone, make sure to ask those who work directly with the students everyday what items could be changed to make a positive difference for the student—things that will likely make the job easier for your staff, too!

A great big thanks then, to all of you who keep our offices ticking every day!

I’d be remiss if I did not take the time to mention thanks to those in our association who have made a significant contribution, too!

AN UPDATE FROM THE WARUCC EXECUTIVE

The executive membership has changed a lot since we last met in Manitoba. Thanks to this fine slate of people for working to advance our association:

The executive has been working together to plan WARUCC 2007 in B.C. in June. More details within!

In addition, we have been looking for a non-institutional hosting service for www.warucc.ca and to change our electronic list-serve to this new hosting service. Although we greatly appreciate the efforts of every institution that has hosted our website, we recognize that as our association grows, we cannot ask for our colleagues to continue to find volunteers with the technical expertise to host and operationalize our website and list-serve.

Grant McMillan will also be taking the executive through a session when we have a face-to-face meeting in B.C. in February to review our current practice with regards to WARUCC assistantships.

Please feel free to direct your ideas on how to further assist our association to me at ivans@macewan.ca.

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ivan
President, WARUCC

Greetings from the Wet Coast
(an old joke but so true these days!)

As B.C. continues to gear up towards the 2010 Winter Olympics, so too does the building boom. And with this building boom comes a new government initiated web site promoting skilled trades.

B.C. currently has over 4,000 young people in apprenticeship programs, up from 861 in 2004. Building on initiatives started by Kwantlen University College and Thompson Rivers University, the Industry Training Authority is promoting additional educational opportunities after young people complete their trades training. These additional opportunities include, for example, a B.B.A. degree for horticultural technicians as offered at Kwantlen University College.

The provincial government has also undertaken a strategic visioning initiative called Campus 2020. According to the Minister of Advanced Education, Murray Coell, one of the goals of the Campus 2020 initiative is “to establish a learning landscape in British Columbia that responds not only to who we are today, but imagines the kind of educational system we will need over the next 10 to 20 years.”

Submitted by
Jody Gordon
Member-at-Large for B.C.

Specific Institutional Updates

Kwantlen University College

The Enrolment and Registrar Services office welcomed Julia Denker (from McMaster University) to the position of Associate Director, Registrar Services and Tim Ascroft (from UBC) to the position of Manager, Enrolment Services. With these additions, Joshua Mitchell was promoted to Associate Director, Enrolment Services and assumes responsibility for both Financial Awards and Educational Advising in addition to the front counter services.

Kwantlen launched its 16th Bachelor’s degree this Fall–Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resource Management. Several new minors–Political Science and Economics–were also added to our Bachelor of Arts offerings this Fall.

In fine Halloween spirit, the Enrolment and Registrar Services office dressed up as bees, three blind mice with the farmer’s wife and many more. A photo below:

Kwantlen was named to Canada’s Top 100 Employers this year. This ranking also placed us in the top 30 employers for British Columbia. Great timing as we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary this year! In addition to that significant milestone, Kwantlen has now opened its new $42 million trades and technology campus in the Cloverdale area and will be welcoming a new student service wing to our Surrey campus later in 2007.

Submitted by
Jody Gordon
Director, Enrolment Services and Registrar

Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology

It has been another exciting year at SIAST, beginning with a reorganization of the Student Affairs Division. Heading the division is Alison Pickrell, AVP Student Affairs. The new SIAST Registrar is Kathy Larsen. Departments in the division span our four campus structures and include:  Enrolment Services (including Registration Services and Student Recruitment), Student Development (including counselling and career services, student employment services, Aboriginal Centres, Learning Centres, disability services, and equity programming), Institutional Research & Analysis, Recognition of Prior Learning, and Scholarships & Development.  A new position, Academic Director of Student Development, will be advertised in February 2007.

On December 6, 2006, SIAST announced a change in their admission policy. Changes to the policy were initiated in response to public concerns and perceptions about program access. Most SIAST programs will continue to admit students on a first-qualified/first-admitted basis. For high-demand programs, however, additional selection criteria have been developed. All potential students will now be required to apply annually.

There are a number of exciting projects underway. Getting Banner 7.3 up and running is one of them! SIAST has purchased ezRecruit and the project team hopes to implement this prospect management system before Fall 2007. Two other major projects in 2007 include implementation of an ODS/EDW product that will be used institution-wide, and the purchase of Infosilem to assist with timetabling and facility scheduling needs.

As a result of the Province's recent $52.6 million training announcement, Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) will be making some significant equipment upgrades and increasing training opportunities, for total improvements worth $6.9 million. SIAST Kelsey Campus in Saskatoon will invest $1.32 million to replace the boiler in the Power Engineering Lab and $1.05 million to upgrade equipment in the Industrial Mechanics programs. These upgrades ensure that SIAST students have the competitive advantage of being trained on the up-to-date equipment they will use when working in modern industry. SIAST Wascana in Regina will invest more than $1 million to develop an inter-professional health simulation lab. This will allow students to practice real life situations in a controlled environment.

SIAST has “put wheels under its training.”  A $1.6 million Mobile Training Lab (MTL) has expanded provincial training capacity and increased access to trades training by taking shop facilities and instructors to remote areas of Saskatchewan. The lab includes a tractor trailer unit with pop-out sides that transform it into a 1,100 square-foot training facility. It can accommodate a range of programs including welding, industrial mechanics and electrical.  The MTL is currently located at Cigar Lake,  training future Electricians and Industrial Mechanics.

SIAST has partnered with the Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) to offer an Aboriginal Success in Trades and Technologies program. Piloted this year at SIAST Kelsey Campus, the program provides students with a range of tools and supports, including tutoring, life-skills training, child care and career planning. Plans to expand the program are underway.

Submitted by
Allison Pickrell
Associate Vice-President Student Affairs

Vancouver Community College

Personnel changes: Andi Martin is our new Associate Registrar, Broadway campus
1155 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC
V5T 4V5
Telephone: 604-871-7109
E-mail: amartin@vcc.ca

Degrees: 11 students graduated in June 2006 with the Bachelor of Hospitality Management degree, Vancouver Community College's first degree program.

The Bachelor of Applied Music, our second degree program, was approved earlier in 2006 and is underway.

Campus expansion: VCC's Broadway campus is expanding. The campus currently serves more than 4,200 students in a facility planned for 1,800. Construction began in October 2006 with the move-in date scheduled for September 2008.

Submitted by
Sueling Chang
Registrar

University of Calgary

Mike Sekulic, Associate Registrar (Planning and Systems), accepted the position of ARUCC Vice President at the June 2006 ARUCC biennial convention in Montreal. As a result, the West will host the 2010 ARUCC biennial conference.

The University of Calgary welcomed a new provost and vice president academic in July 2006. Dr. Alan Harrison most recently held the position of vice president academic at Carlton University in Ottawa, Ontario. Prior to that, he held academic and administrative positions at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Dr. Ron Bond, former provost and vice president academic is now leading the Campus Alberta Qusality Council.

The U of C is in the middle of the student system implementation of PeopleSoft. The Scheduling module went live on October 16th. Admissions will go live on November 15th, with the balance of the system going into production on February 6, 2007. The university has already implemented the HR and Finance modules of the system. Fred Rosmanitz is the Student Lead, and he and other former Registrar's Office team members are doing outstanding work on this project.

One-stop services: In September 2006, the U of C implemented one stop services at its 'Service Stop,' combining most student administrative services in one service location (in person and online). Students may now apply for admission, pay for tuition, order transcripts, register for Open Studies, have their provincial loan documents signed, learn about or apply for scholarships, etc, in one location. The service is in its infancy and is evolving as a result of the completion of comprehensive cross-training, the introduction of new technology and the completion of the renovation of new space.

Submitted by
Kathleen Massey
Assistant Vice President (Enrolment) & Registrar

St. Thomas More College

Dr. Carl Still, Appointed new Dean of St. Thomas More College. Dr. Still was appointed as Dean effective July 1, 2006 for a five year term. He follows Dr. Wilfrid Denis, who resigned from the office after serving 7 years in the position. Dr. Still, also a Professor of Philosophy at STM, has been with STM since 1995.

Dr. Tom Deutscher, former Dean of STM, will be acting President at STM from January 1, 2007 to June 30, 2007. Fr. George Smith, CSB, President of STM, has been granted a six month administrative leave during this period.

Submitted by
Claude Lang
Director of Student Services

OtheR Updates

Congratulations to Bill Block from SIAST and Robert Hann from Red Deer College on being awarded assistantships from WARUCC. We will look forward to a contribution from both of these members in future newsletters or conferences.

Susan Gottheil arrived in mid-August as Mount Royal's new Executive Director, Enrollment Management & Registrar. She has migrated west from Ottawa, where she was Associate Vice-President (Enrolment Management) at Carleton University. Mount Royal recently purchased Infosilem as its new scheduling software system. Project implementation will begin in the early new year.

Please welcome Darla Devnich to MacEwan as our first ever Transfer Articulation Consultant.  Many will remember Darla from her work as Registrar at Canadian Union College.

The University of Saskatchewan Census Day 2006 results are in! You can view them online in an article from On Campus News.

Also, details about the U of S Enrolment Plan can be found online.

Finally, be sure to check out what's new with the U of S Student & Enrolment Services Division (PDF).

WARUCC 2007 CONFERENCE!
From Sea to sky: Pathways to student success

June 24-27, 2007

The WARUCC 2007 Conference will be held at River Rock Casino and Resort in Richmond, B.C., just minutes away from the airport and downtown.  The Resort is situated along the Fraser River with views of the North Shore Mountains.

Visit the WARUCC website for up-to-date conference information including program registration and hotel bookings (coming soon).

About River Rock Casino and Resort

The luxurious suite rooms, ranging in size from 525 - 2,800 sq. ft., provide space, warm refinement and superior amenities fully outfitted for the business traveler. Each suite features a sofa bed in the living room, euro top cashmere king size beds, exclusively designed for River Rock, spacious bathrooms and elegant furnishings.

The resort features a plethora of amenities and services including a 950-seat show theatre, convention and meeting facilities, fitness centre, spa, swimming pool, water slide, 144-berth marina and nine restaurants and bars.  A sophisticated and welcoming urban oasis, the resort is conveniently located just 5 minutes from Vancouver's international airport and a short 20 minute drive from both downtown Vancouver and the US border.