The College of New Caledonia's senior administration has come under fire from faculty and community leaders at its regional campuses.
In September the faculty association passed a motion of non-confidence in the college administrators - a move made public Wednesday - and local politicians came forward to describe college senior administration as caustic and disrespectful.
On Friday the Ministry of Advanced Education appointed three members to the board, including a current and former deputy minister, "to provide support, guidance and advice." It is the only college to have this oversight, but the ministry noted Friday the move was not unprecedented as the B.C. Justice Institute has also had appointees.
Members of the North Central Local Government Association spoke out Wednesday against the manner in which CNC dealt with its changes and cuts at satellite campuses last fall and the overall approach of CNC to restructure its programs.
"The meetings, bar none, from Burns Lake to Fort St. James to Vanderhoof and Quesnel have been very rough. And I think the communities have been treated poorly," said NCLGA president Brian Frenkel, who has also served as a Vanderhoof councillor for 14 years.
"It was caustic," said Frenkel, who said that poor treatment came from "senior administration, from the president on down."
In its administration organizational chart, the CNC website lists 52 positions, that include Henry Reiser at the top as president, acting VP community and student services Barb Old, VP administration and finance Sue McAllister, VP academic Jay Notay and three regional principals.
"CNC will not be commenting on the community members complaints," said Annette Stevens, CNC communications manager, in an email Thursday afternoon. "CNC respects these community representatives right to share their concerns. CNC feels it responded sufficiently to these points last fall."
She said board chair Vince Prince was out of town and not available for comment until Friday.
Frenkel hadn't made any formal complaints to the ministry, but both the Burns Lake mayor and the Faculty Association of CNC said they reached out to the government.
In response to several questions, the ministry reiterated its Friday response to The Citizen.
"CNC has faced a number of challenges," said an email Wednesday, after The Citizen asked what was missing on the CNC board, why the ministry felt the representatives were needed and if the ministry had received complaints about the board, its administrators or president.
Burns Lake Mayor Luke Strimbold said the village had met with the ministry on multiple occasions to reiterate the current college model is not working.
Since January last year, the college started a restructuring process led by Reiser.
It has since undergone "rigorous editing and revision" after the name of its "One College Plan" ruffled some feathers, a CNC newsletter noted.
"I think what we've witnessed in our community is a complete lack of respect and, now, lack of trust and willingness to work with the College of New Caledonia based on their previous actions in the way they respond and treat our community," Strimbold said.
"It's extremely awkward because you have members of our community in tears because of the way they're being treated and I don't think that's appropriate and there's just not a level of respect... with the senior executive in Prince George."
The community has secured almost $200,000 from several donors - industry, First Nations groups, Northern Development Initiative Trust and the regional district - to develop a business plan for a rural post-secondary education model. It asked the college before Christmas if it wanted to be involved but hasn't heard back.
NCLGA executive director Oliver Ray said CNC has harmed its reputation in the north.
"The concern isn't about the message itself, it's the delivery. People are obviously upset about program cutbacks and layoffs; but more than that, communities are reporting a high disregard for their concerns at the top level and an unwillingness from president Reiser to maintain healthy regional relationships," Ray said by email.
"In small communities where relationships are paramount and CNC is a significant stakeholder, people don't just care about their jobs or getting diplomas, they care about the health of the institution itself."
Quesnel councillor Laurey-Anne Roodenburg said her community has had success with CNC as an economic driver and employer.
"Most of us are not college administrators, so it is hard to criticize inner workings of a post-secondary school," said Roodenburg in an email.
"But I can say this, any leader of any large organization in this region HAS to have a team approach. A college president, just like any mayor or board chair in this region, has to have an expanded, regional approach to the way they do business. They have to be collaborative in their interactions."
Roodenburg echoed her Burns Lake and Vanderhoof counterparts that the meetings felt less like consultation and more like being told how it was.
"That certainly (was) not a great way to get buy-in or further the school's reputation," she said.
Strimbold and Reiser have butted heads before about changing the Burns Lake campus offerings to refocus on educational programming and away from what Reiser called social programming.
"We are transitioning that responsibility back to the agencies whose core businesses it is," Reiser said in January. At that time he also objected to Burns Lake's characterizations of the impact of its cuts.
"What we've been told from the president is that there's a philosophical misalignment between the way our community and our First Nation partners see education," said Strimbold, which leaves no room for working together.
Deborah Collette, Faculty Association of CNC president, said it never received a response from the ministry about their letter.
"We had no idea that this was going to happen," she said about the appointees.
"My sense is that sort of thing had been in the works given all the hoopla and the bad press CNC has been getting."
Collette said faculty has not received an explanation from the college about the purpose the appointees serve.
"I'm guessing they're acting as some sort of oversight and I'm completely uncertain as to what they're going to contribute."
She said the association held back on making the non-confidence vote public but when board chair Vince Prince spoke to it, they released a statement.
"There's been issues with senior administration at CNC for a long time," she said, adding the association believes there are too many in administration compared to staff.
"This college has seen an unprecedented number of cuts to programs and loss of full-time faculty. We're watching campuses be decimated in the region."
