Town Hall Meeting April 17, 2019
Agenda 1:45 p.m. Guests begin to arrive . Diane McCutcheon will be at the Pembroke Campus Tracy McDougall will be at the Perth Campus Welcome and Greeting 2:00 p.m. Ron McLester 2:05 p.m. Introduction and Town Hall Format Cheryl Jensen 2:05 p.m. Community Discussion ACET Members and College Community 3:50 p.m. Community Closing Ron McLester 2
Community Discussion 3
Community Discussion What is the status of cell phone connectivity in the Student Central? 4
Community Discussion The new video screens situated throughout campus are impressive and more important, capture attention. When can we expect to see such innovative touch-screen versions brought into our classrooms for instructional purposes? 5
Community Discussion Are you concerned about the mental health of your Support Staff? With the launch of WorkDay, staff are trying to learn how to operate the system while keeping up with deadlines of the rest of our duties. Will there ever be proper training for WorkDay? The amount of extra work it has created is very hard to keep on top of our jobs. 6
Community Discussion It is my understanding that the admissions process for international students begins before that for domestic students. What steps are being done to ensure that domestic students have equal access to seats in programs, especially those that are generally wait listed? Is there a prioritization process that allows Ontario students fair access to these seats? 7
Community Discussion Regarding parking at the A building - why is it not validated for someone getting services at the salon/spa, the same way it is when you eat at Restaurant International? Also, weekend rates for A building should be reduced - $4/hour is steep. 8
Community Discussion How can my program use the DARE District. Private interests appear to be booking the space there quicker than we can? 9
Community Discussion 1)The risk of pinning the college's financial health on international enrollments. 2) The potential impact of international enrollments on academic quality given, in many cases, weak English language skills. 3) The apparent mismatch between international student growth and the investment in support to help them succeed 10
Community Discussion I feel like a lot of people would agree that there are many stresses going on at the college: • Departments are still recovering from the work stoppage. • There have been employees who have passed away. Many employees have retired (which is good, but a loss is there). • There was a phishing incident & cyber security breach, and now stresses with Workday for time keepers. • Our college President is now resigning, so a sense of security and familiarity is being lost by some. It has been overwhelming. What is something the college can do (not departmental) that can support current employees morale, mental health, etc. 11
Community Discussion What process is being developed to allow budget officers to monitor the expenses going through when there are multiple purchasers. With Workday, all expense claims and invoices go directly to the Manager. How is the budget officer to monitor these when they don't see it? 12
Community Discussion Why are there so many new Administration positions while Support Staff positions are being cut. The top tiers are becoming heavy.... 13
Community Discussion What are the plans for dealing with the 250 parking spaces that will be lost from Lot 8 due to the new ARC building? 14
Community Discussion (What is) The future of the Algonquin College Language Institute and the Canadian (Domestic) Language students? 15
Community Discussion Why are we constructing yet another building (two in a row now!) without any dedicated classroom or office space? Space is a HUGE issue at this campus, and our current lack of space has had a major impact on the availability and scheduling of courses this year. Yet the College continues to approve construction projects that do not address the need for more classroom or office space. It is a shame to see that classrooms have become a secondary concern at the College - a place of learning. 16
Community Discussion The topic I would like addressed is classroom/teaching space. We are so pressed for space and most of the teaching space we have on campus is outdated and set up for lecture style instruction. Is there a plan to update and renovate existing classrooms? What is being done to provide alternative teaching space for large (100+) classes. The three current rooms on campus are insufficient (i.e. C144 and C346). 17
Community Discussion What sort of ratio of full-time to part-time professors does the college aim to have? Would not a sensible ratio be 70:30 for the sake of stability, continuity, professional development, and morale? 18
Community Discussion Partial load staff are denied any work other than their teaching load. For example, being denied a course development for which they are the subject matter expert and will be teaching the course in the upcoming term. How can you deny the best outcome for the student? The best outcome for the student is an experienced professor, who is the subject matter expert, who will be teaching the course, to create the new course........ but this has been denied!! Instead Algonquin has hired external people, with no college experience, to develop theses courses. Please explain how this best meets student needs. 19
Community Discussion Chairs tell us there is no money in their budget to purchase a small gift for guest speakers? To offer a small gift, professors are constantly using their own money (some of us from 5-7 times a semester). Having guest speakers is essential to forming those connections to industry and our communities. Can a budget line for guest speakers please be added to programs in need? Perhaps $10 a guest speaker, 2 per course. 20
Community Discussion We are now a smoke-free campus, however, from what I can see the only thing that has happened is the ashtrays and shelters have been removed and now smokers are just dropping butts on the ground. There is no strong signage outside either. Is the College going to make attempts to enforce this ban by increase signage and speaking to violators? 21
Community Discussion Many organizations are recognizing April as #BeADonor month by posting on Social Media – it would be great to see Algonquin do so as well with a picture of our executives at the town hall holding the BeADonor flag and promoting our institutional campaign which is the leading College campaign in Ontario - total clicks to register at over 1500 https://beadonor.ca/campaign/thebestgiftever 22
Community Discussion We have seen College employees with their animals on campus. What is the protocol for bringing an animal on campus? 23
Questions or Comments?
Community Closing 25
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