Sheridan College Council

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Trafalgar Campus, President’s Boardroom

RECORD OF MEETING

Present: JA. Coxhead (Chair), A. Williams (Vice-Chair), B. Eddy, T. Davison, J. Greer, A. Sookhoo, K. Zanatta-Buehler, L. Crowdis, S. Smeja, L. Brassington, D. Mistri, C. Berge, G. Golding, I. Uzoka, S. Main, F. Koch, K. Richards, K. Rana, T. Upson, M. Tkautz, M. Braithwaite, J. Travis.

Regrets: D. Campbell, , S. Narayan,

Absent:

Guests: J. Zabudsky

ITEM / DISCUSSION / ACTIONS
Opening Remarks / A. Coxhead opened the meeting at 3:03 p.m. with quorum.
Welcoming New Members
A. Coxhead welcomed new College Council members; Fred Koch, Tania Upson, Khalid Rana and Karen Richard.
Approval of February 18, 2010 Agenda
Under updates and Announcements item c. Davis Campus should read Davis- J Wing.
The Student Union representative present is M. Tkautz.
Approval of January 21, 2009 Record
S. Main was not included in those Present. / S. Smeja Moved. D. Mistri Second. Carried.
T. Davison Moved. A. Williams Second. Carried.
President’s Update / New Sheridan President Jeff Zabudsky was in attendance and gave a brief history on his professional career leading to this newest endeavour.
The establishment of the Mississauga Campus is the biggest job looking forward. It is a way to establish Sheridan as a part of a growing City. The construction of the new campus is under a time crunch, the project uses stimulus funds which must be used by March 2011. The question of creating a cohesive culture in three different communities has arisen with the implementation of a third campus. The Sheridan brand will be maintained while allowing each campus to reflect its individual communities.
President Zabudsky will split his time between both campus’, getting to know staff with an open door policies, clear schedules on Friday afternoon’s open to staff drop ins and lunches with the President. He enjoys seeing staff in their own environments and would like to encourage invitations to special events within the school. He is seeking to be as available as possible to both staff and students and is welcoming any invitations which would help him to get to know people.
When asked about the possibility of a ‘fourth virtual campus’, President Zabudsky responded saying that distance education and e-learning are providing more options to more learners in easier ways. There continue to be greater expectations for easier learning options. There is the possibility to take the solid Sheridan brand and build it globally with the use of technology. We need to recognize, however, the importance of interactions between instructors and students.
Updates and Announcements / a. Membership
In the last six weeks there have been five new members join council. A. Coxhead recognized the hard work A. Williams has put into increasing membership. Discussion was held about increasing the numbers of members allowed from the Facilities Department. The Board of Governor’s mandates the composition of all groups of council. B. Eddy will email the former Chair to inquire about the process of requesting changes in the composition and total numbers of members permitted.
b. Parking at Davis Campus
There has been no additional negative feedback regarding parking at the Davis campus since January's meeting. Staff are still parking in different areas until told otherwise. The security booth has been moved, however, the front entrance continues to be a problem. A. Williams mentioned that security has been told not to enforce the idling restrictions in this area. Students continue to park in staff lots because it is closest to campus buildings. There is mounting frustration among faculty as parking is not regulated with the same consistency as at the Trafalgar campus. The main concerns are; the increasing congestion in the drop off area, availability of staff parking and availability and lack of convenient access for prospective students visiting campus.
c. Davis Campus Security
J. Van Cedar was contacted regarding the card access to classrooms in the J Wing of the Davis Campus. He had no response. K. Rana will look into programming for that wing, currently it has not been completed to allow daily regulation of locked rooms. D. Mistri will contact J. Van Cedar again regarding this issue. / B. Eddy, A. Williams, A. Coxhead will speak to Paul Toms about forming a committee to look at membership composition.
A. Coxhead to discuss with K. Daljit prior to the next meeting.
New Business / Disability and Accessibility will be added to the next meeting agenda for discussion.
Dates for future meetings will be added to the Oracle calendar. Records and meeting dates are updated monthly by D. Mistri. All paperwork for new members is located on the site. Membership contact information needs to be updated for new and existing members.
Student Union / The possibility of a strike is the most current event being discussed at Student Union. Students are run down and the potential strikes makes them unmotivated to be diligent in their studies. Student Union is encouraging students to remain neutral.
The Student Union is continuing to build on the Sheridan brand.
Elections are approaching with this years goal being to increase voting by the student population to between 10-20 percent.
Planning for Student Union at the Mississauga campus is underway. Next year will see one President for both campus’ with one executive vice-president at both Trafalgar and Davis.
M. Tkautz was asked my F. Koch to speak to Student Union regarding the dates of their retreat stating that it often conflicts with the dates of make-up exams. K. Zanatta-Buehler inquired about the Way Finding initiative posters that were up around the Davis campus prior to Christmas. / M. Tkautz was asked to take the inquiry back to Student Union and A. Coxhead asked for a briefing on the subject at the next meeting.
Adjournment / A. Coxhead adjourned the meeting at 4:35pm / A. Willimas Moved. A. Sookhoo Second.
Carried.
Next Meeting / Thursday, March 18, 2010- Davis Campus, B216, from 3:00 pm – 5:00pm.