2018 President’s Address: President’s Breakfast

Posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2018

The prepared remarks of President Cheryl Jensen.

Let me first say a word of thanks to everyone from our Perth and Pembroke Campuses and, in a few cases, from around the world, for joining us here at the breakfast and in real time, online.

This is a time when I want to welcome back those of you who have been away. I also want to say a special thanks to those of you who have been here through the summer months. It’s been a beautiful, hot summer. Many of us felt that heat inside at the Ottawa campus when we endured a few days of reduced power. I want to give special thanks to our Physical Resources staff, who worked around the clock to restore full power. Could the following employees please stand for a moment so that we can properly thank you for the long hours you gave to solve this problem: Ralph Gethings, Victor Buglar, Simon Legace, Rudy Huber, Mike Weiser, Jonathan Lowe, Sean MacDonald, Kevin McCaig, Brian Kavanagh, Justin West, Ryan Cureston, Aaron Lund and, of course, Todd Schonewille. Thank you, one and all.

I’d also like to offer my personal welcome and thanks to our special guests today: representatives from our Board of Governors, the Students’ Association, the Foundation Board, the Alumni Advisory Committee and, of course, our government representatives.

Of course, you have already heard from The Honourable Merrilee Fullerton, MP Anita Vandenbeld, Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts, and Mayor Jim Watson. We are also honoured to have with us today Pembroke Mayor Michael LeMay, and City Councillor Rick Chiarelli. Mayor Fenick of Perth had planned to be here but due to a last-minute scheduling change he us unable to be with us today and sends his best wishes.

For most of you, the President’s Breakfast is a familiar tradition, but I also want to take a moment to welcome those who are joining us for the first time. In fact, since the last breakfast, we have had 123 new full time employees join us — 50 academic, 54 support staff and 19 in administrative positions. We also have many more part-time staff who are new to the College. Could I please ask all our new employees — full and part time — to stand and be recognized with a warm Algonquin College welcome.

Now it’s time to share the stage. Because I share the leadership of the College with my partners, and I am very proud to work with these two individuals.

Let’s bring these leaders forward. I welcome Deijanelle Simon, our new President of the Algonquin College Students Association, and Christine Kelsey, our President of the Algonquin College Support Staff Union, to join me for a conversation.

As you all know, the past year was very special for our College because we were celebrating our 50th anniversary, and each of our campuses was a part of that. In Pembroke we received the Key to the City, — Thank you, Mayor — in Perth we raised a record amount of money for student bursaries through our 50th anniversary golf tournament, and here in Ottawa we capped off a year of events with the opening of the DARE District.

There was also a lot of discussion about the past, and how our College changed and grew over those 50 years. I think that kind of reflection is so important as we think about our collective history, and the people who came before us. It is on their shoulders that we stand today.

For this year’s breakfast, I want to focus more on the future and about how we can be the strong shoulders of future generations.

As I was collecting my thoughts about what I wanted to talk about, I was reminded of something that Ron McLester shared with me that I think applies well today.

In Anishinaabe culture, Ron explained that there is a special moment every morning, just as night becomes day — when past, present, and future collide and come together at the same time.

It’s daybreak, and it’s called Pìdàban. If I can borrow from that idea, I would say that our College has reached its own Pìdàban. We are at an important crossroads as we find ourselves bringing forward the best of our past as we work toward the future with the actions we take today.

I want, for a moment, to draw your attention to a wonderful new addition to the College that is now welcoming everyone to the DARE District — the beautiful three-storey mural — created by Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky — at Ron’s invitation.

It is truly a sight to behold. You should all visit it.

It is the perfect representation of Canada, and of our College — a mix of old and new, young and old. It was developed in consultation with Indigenous elders, created by a Brazilian and a Canadian with Chilean roots, and with the input of Algonquin College learners from Ottawa and around the world. It captures the voices of thousands and the echo of generations as it comes to life with colorful birds and animals and a giant turtle under the protection of a great pine tree.

Upon the back of the turtle grows a thriving community of life: alive and strong and moving forward with an unshakeable foundation and the wisdom of the ages.

It is our Turtle Island.

Many people have asked if the mural is a recent creation. In fact, it came together over a seven-month period. And if you haven’t seen the incredible time-lapse video of its creation, be sure to take a look at that on our social media.

It took time.

But the end result, I think you’ll agree, was worth the wait. Through conversation, hard work and, of course, a little bit of patience, we and our talented artists were able to create something that will stand the test of time, and that is what I want to talk about today:

How can we, as a College, stand the test of time?

Last year at this time, I made you many promises about what you could expect to see in the year ahead:

• mandate letters for all of the Executive Team members
• a full 360 review of the Executive Team members
• a People Plan that spelled out the College’s commitment to you, our employees
• a decision about a new Learning Management System
• and, of course, the opening of our new DARE District, which this time last year was only starting to take shape and had not even been named.

And I’m happy to report that all those things have been accomplished.

You can read the mandate letters online.

The 360 review is in progress with the Executive team – thanks to those who gave your feedback over the past weeks. Every Executive member will meet with the third party we engaged for this work and then with me. We will then roll this out to the Leadership Team.

We published our People Plan — in hard copy and online — for everyone to see.

And on May 3 we all came together to mark the opening of what I believe will become the heart of Algonquin College — the DARE District.

We listened to our learners and faculty and delivered on these demands, and nowhere was this more critical than in the search for a new Learning Management System, which was announced this spring.

With Brightspace, I think we can safely say: Mission Accomplished.

We took the time to hear your concerns, and we took the time to get it right.

Brightspace has developed an international reputation for delivering an efficient and personalized learning experience. Its ease of use means faculty and students can spend more time teaching and learning, and less time managing their courses.

Instructors can add audio and video content, easily spark discussions, and run online and blended programs. Brightspace makes it simple for learners to receive their course materials, schedules and marks, and to collaborate with their peers, no matter where they are.

Importantly, it also helps faculty identify at-risk students struggling to master their courses early enough to give them the additional assistance they need to be successful.

Some things we discussed last year are not quite where we had hoped they would be. We had some setbacks with Workday, as you know, but we took the necessary action to get back on track. We have a new implementation partner and Workday will ring in the new year on January 7, the new go live date for the entire College.

It is difficult to predict the future, and I want to acknowledge that we are not always going to get our predictions right. The details sometimes change before our eyes and often we are confronted by the unexpected — like when the power goes out on a Friday afternoon in July and you can’t say when, exactly, it will come back.

But in between all the unexpected challenges, there are some things we can do to be the architects of our future, rather than just wait for it to unfold.

I use the word architect on purpose. As a community college just entering our sixth decade, we have a proud history in the trades. We are known for building great things. Just like the community of nature built upon the back of the turtle, now it is time to build our community. That, for me, is what this year will be about. It will be about building Algonquin, and a foundation for the Algonquin of tomorrow. It will be about holding firm on the solid shoulders of our past, while creating even stronger shoulders for the next generation.

The first way we can build our future is to be resourceful.

This year, in particular, we are going to need to be resourceful and responsive to the changes brought about by the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act. We have adapted in new ways, and made some difficult decisions. I am proud that we have been able to make these decisions together — with numerous Town Halls, a dedicated website for employees to submit ideas, employee brainstorming sessions and, as you know, my door is always open.

Our teams have been working to calculate equal pay for our part-time employees, and we are continuing to make progress. I want you to know that we are doing everything we can to expedite the process, including bringing in a team of extra people to help us move this forward. But we cannot speed things up at the expense of accuracy — and we are committed to getting this right.

I want you have the most up-to-date information possible, and a sense of timing. I’ll run through those now.

For part-time support staff we have completed the work on identifying full-time comparators and those adjustments will be made in September.

All part-time employees will be receiving job descriptions by the end of October.

In May we moved quickly to ensure that all part-time academic staff were on the partial-load pay grid. We are also implementing for all part-time employees — academic and support — 6-per-cent vacation pay regardless of years of service, retroactive to January 1st.

By the end of December, Algonquin College will have met all of its obligations under the Employment Standards Act, and in the case of vacation pay, we have gone beyond our obligations.

As you know, we have estimated the cost of the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act to be 25 million dollars here at Algonquin. I am pleased to tell you that number is going down. We don’t have exact figures yet, but I can tell you that, thanks to a provincial rule change this summer, the cost of statutory holiday pay is lower than expected. This, along with other refinements, will lower the overall cost significantly.

By talking through this challenge together, and finding new efficiencies through our Lean Continuous Improvement strategies — we’re calling it the AC Way — we have already done much to reorganize our structure. We have reduced administration, and suspended program intakes with low enrolment.

This summer, we started discussions with the Town of Perth to work towards what it will take to sustain our campus there to build a bright future for our students and the community. That, too, is part of the AC Way.

I want to pause here and tell about just one AC Way success story from Bryan Eburne in the Registrar’s office. Bryan tells me that by automating U-pass refunds, his team has saved 300 hours of work each year, freeing up resources to serve our learners better.

That is great work!

We are going to continue to look to the AC Way and more Continuous Improvement strategies to continue streamlining our College so that you, our employees, can focus on your primary tasks without the distractions and frustrations that come with duplication, repetition and wasted time, space, and energy.

Last year I asked you all to give Lean a chance. (Hmmm. Sounds like a John Lennon song there but I will refrain). Many of you did and I am hearing your success stories. Invite me to a huddle – I will come, listen, and tweet out your story.

These changes are not only going to result in a more efficient framework for our College, but will also help our bottom line.

We will, as we always do, work closely with Ontario’s new government to ensure that our priorities align.

Building the future also means that sometimes we will have to refocus so that we can adapt our plans to be more responsive to the communities we serve. One example of this is our Healthy Living Education initiative, which has been refocused in three ways to meet the priorities of our new Government:

1) We are placing new emphasis on the training and education of Personal Support Workers, who are playing an increasingly critical role in the healthcare system of the future

2) We are seeking out efficiencies in partnerships, and I will talk more about that in a few minutes, and

3) We will place new emphasis on mental health.

Mental health touches on every aspect of our College’s values:

It’s about caring for each other, especially when we are at our most vulnerable

It’s about taking the time to learn about something that affects all our employees and learners, either personally or through a family member or friend

It’s about integrity, and standing up for the rights of the one in five Canadians who will personally experience a mental health problem or illness. Mental illness does not discriminate between young and old, rich and poor, or across cultures. Neither should our College.

And it’s most certainly about respect, and the respect and understanding that people dealing with mental illness have a right to expect when they come forward.

The third way we can build the strong shoulders of our future is by taking bold steps to create the College we want to work and study in — today and years from now.

To do that we need to surround ourselves, both on our campuses and out in our communities, with the right people. We can do that by building on the successful partnerships we have already made — I’m thinking about our collaborations with the Ottawa Hospital and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, with the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre, and with business giants such as Siemens and Shopify.

Those partnerships have helped us build some of our most important learning spaces, such as the Garbarino-Girard Centre for Innovation in Seniors Care and our brand new Mobile Health Lab.

Just recently we created another partnership with the W. Garfield Weston Foundation to support 165 Algonquin College students over the next four years. It is going to provide more than $600,000 for our learners in the skilled trades in the form of financial support, mentorship and co-curricular activities.

This is an incredible opportunity, and another example of how, as we continue building our future, we must also seek out new and innovative partnerships to create more opportunities for the 21st-century learner. If we do that, we can be sure they are equipped to join the workforce that will power our city, and country, for generations to come.

It is important to remember that building the future also means being willing to break down walls — literally, as you can see all around us right now. Some parts of the Ottawa campus aren’t quite ready yet. Our beautiful courtyard, our Employee Learning Exchange and Student Central are in the final stages of completion.

There is an expression that good things come to those who wait. I want to reassure you that the wait is almost over, and that some very good things, like the ones I just mentioned, are going to be unveiled in just a few more weeks.

But I also want us to break down other kinds of walls — the kind that you cannot see, but that create an obstacle nonetheless. I am particularly concerned with breaking down these kinds of walls when they are getting in the way of our learners and what they tell us they need.

For example, the days when postsecondary institutions operated as walled cities are over. Each college and university has its own strengths and today’s learners want to be able to take advantage of all the options. If we are truly going to be learner driven, then we have to listen to that demand, and we are with our new focus on Education City.

Algonquin College, Carleton University, La Cité, and the University of Ottawa have joined forces to create “Education City with a Capital Advantage.” This is an exciting pilot project that will develop a unique learner-driven partnership focused on flexible, personalized education delivery and career pathways that will help learners develop the skills that are in demand today, and that keep our community and economy strong tomorrow.

One exciting new program that has come out of this alliance is the David C. Onley Initiative for Employment & Enterprise Development. Named after Ontario’s former lieutenant-governor, this is a $5 million, two-year project that will be anchored at Carleton University and will help enhance career readiness for students with disabilities at all Ottawa post-secondary institutions, including Algonquin College. This is going to offer our learners a variety of employment support, including job connections and networking, one-on-one coaching, and mentorship for entrepreneurial development.

The creation of Education City helps us focus on our local community, but we are also looking far beyond Ottawa, Pembroke and Perth so that we can help break down barriers to education across our province.

The first example of that is found in our Strategic Mandate Agreement, which sets us on a bold — some might say daring — course to chart a new future for colleges with what is known as the hub-and-spoke model. We invited a number of Northern Colleges to cooperate with us as spokes that are part of a central hub — that’s us. Two Colleges in the North have accepted our invitation.

The Strategic Mandate Agreement also charts our path forward with the Learner-Driven Plan, which is going to break down even more walls by making sure we provide a personalized experience for each and every one of our learners. Two of our champions in this effort, Carolyn Côté and Valerie Hill, are going to spend the fall term consulting faculty members to make sure we get your feedback. Carolyn and Valerie, thank you for all your work on this file — could you please stand for a moment so that we can acknowledge your efforts?

When we partner and collaborate regionally, we will be able to maximize efficiencies and lower overall costs. But we will be able to do that in a way that will enhance the experiences and opportunities for our learners without compromising the quality of education they have come to expect from the Ontario college system.

It’s a system I believe in, and it’s also a system that we can contribute to in new ways that will help build a strong future for what we all know is a leader in that system: Algonquin College.

We have just come through a year that has presented a number of challenges. But today is the start of a new term, filled with new possibilities.

Whatever the challenges, now is the time between night and the dawn of a new day — a time to resolve that we will all become the shoulders that are worthy of those who follow the path we embark on this morning.

The past, as they say, cannot be changed. But the future is yet in our power.

Each time I walk past the mural in the DARE District, I see something different. I know that each of you sees something different when you look at our College. For all of you, I would ask that you see it in yourselves to build up the shoulders of our future: be resourceful, be willing to refocus, be bold (or, Daring, as I like to say) and break down the walls you can see, and the ones you can’t.

And there is one more thing I’d ask of you. The mural is intended to tell the creation story of many Indigenous peoples. But at its heart, as one of the artists has said, it “celebrates the human imagination.”

I can’t think of a better way for us to build our future than to celebrate that spirit of imagination that lives here at our College. It is at the heart of our mission to transform hopes and dreams into lifelong success. It lives in our learners, and it lives in you, our employees. As you go forward in this new academic year, I urge you to foster that spirit —and to use it as your most important tool in helping us build the future we have been talking about this morning. With it, the possibilities of what I will address at next year’s breakfast are absolutely limitless.

Thank you. Merci. Miigwetch.

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