Ray Gerow was elected as chair of the College of New Caledonia's board of governors Friday, becoming the first person of Aboriginal descent to lead the board in its 40-year history.
Gerow, a Wet'suwet'en from the Burns Lake Band who had been the interim chair since Bruce Sutherland retired from the board in January, was elected by acclamation during the board's annual general meeting.
Other than the occasional "tweaking," Gerow had no grand plans to pursue, saying CNC is already heading in the right direction.
"There's nothing major I'm going to be putting on the table, there's no need to," said Gerow, who is president and chief executive officer of the Prince George Aboriginal Business Development Association. "The college is doing very well, it's out there engaging the community, it's doing what the community wants and it's my job to make sure that continues."
High on CNC's agenda is an effort to get students ready for entry into the job market once the economy turns around. Recent developments to that end have included the launch this coming September of new programs in medical radiography technology and mining technology.
Linda Smerychynski was also acclaimed as vice-chair of the board for Prince George. Smerychynski was appointed to the board in July of 2008 and had been acting as interim vice-chair since January.
Bob Murray, a retired forestry worker living in Burns Lake, was also acclaimed as vice-chair of regions during the meeting. Murray has been with the board since 2008 and served last year in the same position.
