English-language CEGEPS play waiting game with MELS

Quebec's English-language CEGEPS are hopeful the provincial Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sports (MELS) will hear them out on proposed reforms to legislation that would put tighter screws on accountability, but they will not hear anything until the end of October.

"The law project is still under study and we have to wait until the end of our consultation process in October before pronouncing ourselves on the opportunity to make changes or not based on the different groups' demands," said MELS spokesperson Pierre Noël.

Representatives from all four of the province's English-language CEGEPS, including Ste. Anne de Bellevue's John Abbott College, met with the Parliamentary Commission on Education at the beginning of September in order to voice their concerns over what they deemed to be rushed decisions to implement accountability reforms to CEGEPS across Quebec.

The colleges' biggest beef with Bill 44 in its current shape is that it would call for the elimination of the academic dean from the board of administrators.

"Their justification, I think, is that they want only one person, that being the director-general, to be accountable for the whole college," said John Abbott College director-general Ginette Sheehy.

"(The academic dean) is accountable for a whole lot and should be at the board, to be able to talk about all the issues that we're discussing," she said.

Sheehy said another concern to the college network is an apparent overload of responsibility that would be shouldered by administrative board members, who already contribute a great amount of time voluntarily.

"Basically, what (Linda August, the Board Chairperson) at Dawson College was saying was that 'hey, I already have a job in management, I don't want to have another one, once I'm done with my work in the day. I just don't want to be a manager, I want to be a member of the board, I want to look at governance, but not management."

Sheehy did not delve into details on what would be considered an overload of work, but the text of the draft law lays out several terms.

One major responsibility Bill 44 would give the board would be the creation of a multi-year strategic plan for its institution. "This strategic plan," the draft law explains, "integrates a plan that aims for an improvement of the students' success rate."

The law also calls out for a review of the multi-annual plan and all financial concerns of the CEGEP by another advisory committee which would be named by the administration board.

Article 16.10 of the law lays out a total of 18 responsibilities for the administrative board, including the approval of an ethics code for its own members, ensuring the "efficient and efficacious management of human, material, financial and informational resources at the college's disposal," and "regularly follow the financial situation of the CEGEP and ensure that the appropriate controls are in place to preserve its financial health in the short, medium and long term."

The CEGEPs also have a beef with the fact that the ministry would name eight members of the administrative board themselves. "There are always delays when you have to wait for the government to make nominations," she charged.

And though she placed great faith in current Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, she also said giving government the power to nominate so many members could become too political in the future.

That was a fear that Jacques Cartier riding's Liberal MNA Geoff Kelley tried to assuage. Kelley, who was once a teacher at John Abbott College and whose wife Judy Kelley is its board chairperson, is familiar with the institution. "We do name certain members of the board already at John Abbott," Kelley said.

"The government checks with the local MNAS to make sure that the names going forward are appropriate," he said.

After speaking to Sheehy, Kelley said some of the CEGEPs' concerns about placing too much strain on volunteer members is warranted. "And that's not just because I want to see my wife more often," he added with a laugh.

"It's a lot of volunteer time required for people to keep serving on the board," he said.

Kelley remained adamant that the ministry would not simply ignore the concerns made by CEGEPs and other groups consulted over the pending legislation.

The Chronicle sent a series of questions to the ministry about these concerns, but spokesperson Pierre Noël's response only stated all consulted parties would be taken into account.

The Fédération des CEGEPS, an umbrella group that incorporates all CEGEPS in Quebec, also called for changes in Bill 44, but Sheehy stated the English-language colleges felt it necessary to voice their own concerns on top of this.