Elections to be held for board of govenors

BY ARRON L. POPE

The Algonquin College Board of Governors will be holding elections for the student chair and the faculty chair this month.

The Board of Governors is a body within the school whose mandate is to oversee all of the operations and governance of the college. They are in charge of executive hiring and have recently begun the search for a new president for Algonquin.

The call for nominations went out on March 26 and the last day for nominees to campaign for a seat is April 18. The election will be held from 9 a.m. on April 17 until 12 p.m. on April 18. Algonquin students are eligible to vote for the candidate they feel will be able to represent them on the board, and faculty members can vote for faculty representation.

Duane McNair, vice president of administration, has been appointed by President Gillett to chair the BOG elections this year. He stressed the importance of the elections saying the board is responsible for all the major financial and property decisions for the college.

“There hasn’t been a high participation rate especially with the students,” said McNair. “We make sure we time it so it’s after the Students Association elections, so it’s been a struggle to get the word out.”

The BOG will have a tough year ahead of them as a couple of significant events will make their job all the more important to the management of the college.

This year the provincial budget is going to have a significant effect on the school’s budget and the board will be responsible to oversee how the college deals with those reductions as next year the impacts of the financial restrictions will start to be felt, said McNair.

There will also be a new president next year and the board will have to be there and closely engaged with the new president.

The student nominees this year are Kristin Clark, Kyrylo Kasyanenko and Wadhah Al-monaifi. Each will be allowed to campaign from April 5 to April 18, which is election day.

Kristin Clark is a pre-health sciences student who is actively involved in the school as a health promoter and a class representative.

“I love being involved in my schooling and think that this would be a wonderful opportunity,” said Clark.

Kyrylo Kasyanenko is a first-year student in the bachelor or applied business program. He is an active member of Toastmasters International, a public speaking organization and has represented the student body as a director for Algonquin’s Students Association.

Wadhah Al-monaifi is a third-year student in the business administration program. He is currently a student leader with the SAO and a resident advisor at the college’s residence. He has been actively involved in the college and said he will work hard towards making sure the students always come first.

At the same time, the nominees for the faculty position on the BOG are Pauline Edmonds and Shawn McBride.

Pauline Edmonds has been a full-time member of Algonquin’s faculty for over 25 years. She is currently serving as the coordinator of general education at ACOV and teaches the computer systems technician, office administration executive and GAS.

Shawn McBride joined Algonquin College in 1998 and is currently a professor in the information and communications department. If elected, McBride says he will make sure his constituents are well represented on the BOG.

For more information on how and when to vote and for more information on the candidates, please visit http://www.algonquincollege.com/bog_elections/