Northwest Community College Connections

NWCC determines layoff numbers

TERRACE – Northwest Community College (NWCC) will have to reduce a total of 31.49 positions from management, faculty and staff across the College region to balance its budget as mandated by the College and Institute Act. NWCC has a total of 673 employees which account for 276.28 Full-time equivalent (FTE). Over the next two weeks, Consultation Committees comprised of union leadership and administration will meet to consider alternatives to individual layoffs and explore possible options.

For more information about NWCC's financial situation, please visit our Budget Update website at http://budget.nwcc.bc.ca.

NWCC President addresses budget concerns

TERRACE – President Denise Henning has been meeting with employees at NWCC campuses this week to receive input from the College community about possible collaborative solutions to address NWCC’s deficit.

President Henning states, “We are going around to the campuses and having these town hall- type meetings with employees. The reason we are doing this is because we are very committed to people and we are very committed to processes that are transparent.”

NWCC’s deficit is estimated to be between $1.6M and $2M. At the end of October 2011, employees were told NWCC was facing a deficit of approximately $1.3M. Further review of the college financials completed in early January 2012 indicates the deficit will be higher than first projected because revenue will not meet expectations.

Henning continued, “I took this job knowing NWCC had a deficit of over a million dollars. Instead of coming in and presenting a balanced budget last year, which would have meant major cuts without any strategic direction looking toward the future, I asked the government for a year’s grace so we could do the important work of Priority Planning – that is, receiving input about what’s important for our community members, business and industry, our students and our employees. We needed to do this so we could make informed decisions not only to address our deficit, but more importantly, to transform NWCC into a vibrant, sustainable community college.”

NWCC’s administration, along with union leadership, is asking employees and the public for collaborative solutions to address the deficit while at the same time, minimizing impact to students and staff. Meetings with employees will continue at all NWCC campuses giving everyone the opportunity to voice their suggestions and concerns. A website is being developed that will contain budget updates and people can submit their money-saving suggestions to [email protected]
An announcement will be made once the website is available.

“This is an extremely difficult time for all of us and some hard decisions will need to be made,” Henning said. “These decisions will be made collaboratively and inclusively using NWCC’s mission, values and principles as a framework. We will all work together on solutions that will support our students, communities and employees.”

An open letter from NWCC President, Dr. Denise Henning

January 12, 2012

Dear students and community members,

NWCC is currently operating in a deficit situation which at this time is estimated to be $1.7 million dollars. We were allowed to run a deficit last year so that we could carry out the important work of Priority Planning, but our grace period is up. According to the College and Institute Act, we must eliminate this deficit and turn in a balanced budget for the coming fiscal year. Our Board of Governors understands and recognizes the need to balance our budget, and both management and union leadership are collaboratively working together through every step of the process to minimize the impact to our students and employees.

These are challenging times for all of us and NWCC’s administration and union leadership will have to make some difficult decisions over the next 8-10 weeks. We will do our best to be open, transparent and supportive during this process, and keep you informed as much as possible over the coming months.

To that end, we will be launching a website at budget.nwcc.bc.ca that will serve as a central repository for updates to our students, employees and communities. In addition, we will be creating an email account at [email protected] so people can make inquiries, voice their concerns and make suggestions on how NWCC can save money. I will be holding town hall meetings and will share those dates as soon as they have been confirmed.

Despite our current economic challenges, we will continue to provide our students with high-quality educational experiences.  We are proud of everything we have accomplished for our students, alumni and communities and will continue to demonstrate NWCC’s importance to Northwest BC.

 

Thank you,

 

Dr. Denise K. Henning
NWCC CEO and President

Seth Downs hired to oversee events at NWCC

TERRACE – Northwest Community College (NWCC) has hired Seth Downs to oversee its events and conference planning and to ensure it aligns with the overall strategic goals and directions of the College.
 
Downs, who has been with NWCC since 2010 and served most recently as a Marketing Communications Officer, began his new role as Manager of Events & Conference Planning on Oct. 17. Downs has also taught, coordinated and developed a variety of BCGEU Instructional programs and courses and developed the curriculum for a Sustainable Tourism program.
 
Downs will be responsible for the management, planning, coordination, execution and evaluation of College-wide and campus-specific events. His attention will immediately focus on planning for next year’s Challenging the Paradigm Gathering, NWCC’s yearly conference that focuses on integrating inclusive practices in post-secondary education.
 
“This position was created not only to increase revenue for the College but to support the economic development of existing hospitality and infrastructure in the region,” said Dave O’Leary, NWCC’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “Seth has proven he can take on a number of different challenges at the College and we’re confident his experience and enthusiasm will meet the needs of this position.”