College overcomes challenges this semester, says president

By James Bowler

Despite many challenges faced this semester, Loyalist College president Maureen Piercy feels it was a great year overall.

This semester started out with a big headache for students, staff and members of the public trying to get onto the campus due to the support staff strike. But Piercy said while this was a challenging start, it was still a positive experience and outcome.

The strike began at the beginning of September and was due to contract issues between college management and the workers union, OPSEU. It was later resolved after an agreement was made between the union and college administration at the end of September.

“I was very proud of all of our staff,” said Piercy “in the way we all worked together to minimize the impact on our students.”

Piercy also spoke about the Sustainable Skills, Technology and Life Sciences Centre, which came in on time and on budget, despite many downfalls during the construction process.

The project started in the summer of 2010 and ended up costing $16.6 million and was plagued by issues involving missing equipment during the construction phase. The building officially was opened June 21^st of 2011.

More tragically, the death of media professor Kevin Sansom and business faculty member Ruth Henderson had a large impact on the college. Piercy said she was extremely proud of the respect students and faculty showed to these well remembered staff members.

Sansom died suddenly in hospital from natural causes at the age of 41, and a memorial ceremony was held and run by students of the Television and New Media program.

“We have had a sad fall with respect to losing two valued members of our community,” said Piercy.

More successes were the student development projects spearheaded by the student council, such as the Hydration Stations and the link lounge.

The Hydration Stations were installed in Loyalist in 2010 to eliminate the need to constantly buy plastic bottles. The stations offered the ability to fill water bottles with filtered cold water.

Piercy also touched down on how happy she was with Loyalist’s athletes, specifically Men’s Rugby and how well they did this year.

The men’s rugby team came out on top this year when they won their third straight Division Two championship.

As for what we can look forward to next year, Piercy showed great excitement towards a new program involving 3D technologies in Picton.

The program in conjunction with Whistle Stop Productions, of Picton, would offer graduate students a chance to work with the newest of 3D technologies and stay ahead in the industry where 3D is now leading the way.

With new programs, and new prospects on the way for Loyalist in 2012 there may be a lot on the plate of faculty members and student council but Piercy said she isn’t too concerned.

“We’ve got an awful lot to look forward to, and I look at the Loyalist staff and student team and I know we’ve got all the talent we need to make these things happen.”