Operational Staff At College Asks Administrators to Take Salary Roll Back

Monday, March 10, 2008 03:59 AM

Prince George, B.C. - The operational and support staff of the College of New Caledonia have called on the College administration to follow the lead of companies like CANFOR and take a roll back in salaries to show some leadership while the rest of the college faces job cuts.

The PPWC local 29 calls on the College, along with government, to continue the Forestry Program. They say the college is sending the wrong message, and the program is desperately needed during this time when we need to rebuild or reinvigorate our forest industry.

Lilly Bachand, President of the PPWC Local 29 says her group was horrified to see the program cuts in adult special education that service the disabled and disadvantaged of Prince George and surrounding area.

The union says educating these people gives them an opportunity to leave the college with an opportunity to get employment allowing them to contribute to the community in a meaningful way.

The College will hold a media conference today at 10 am, at which time the President and the senior staff will address the media.

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Posted on Monday, March 10, 2008 03:59 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: owl on March 10 2008 5:42 AM

Forestry programs have been cut accross the province. I do not think this is a region such a program should be cut.

The program needs a good look at it to ensure the components are still relevant. After that, the college should do exactly the opposite of what they are planning to do. it needs to be built inot the best in the province.

I am wondering if there is anyone there who understands that notion and, in addition, knows how to go about doing that.

I suspect not.

Posted by: owl on March 10 2008 5:45 AM

BTW, that $600,000 or so used to recruit students is better spent on creating a few programs of excellence.

A couple of high quality programs at a community college or university do wonders in attracting students, even though they may be entering other programs than those which give the institute its good name.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on March 10 2008 8:04 AM

Would it help to get rid of the professional students that have no intention of moving into some career? I couldn't wait to get out of school and never went back, so I don't know why people like to hang out at school, but it seems lots do.

The tuition fees are just a small fraction of the cost to entertain those professional students. Time to cut costs?

Keep the forestry program, there must be some fluffy or native studies programs to cut.

I see the union this time has some good points about how the money is being wasted. Time to follow up on what the union has to say this time.

Posted by: seamutt on March 10 2008 9:28 AM

If the college administration is like my outfit,after they have done the cuts they will give themselves a raise. This is done under the excuse of having to do this to attract quality people.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on March 10 2008 9:38 AM

"This is done under the excuse of having to do this to attract quality people".
Exactly seamutt,and as we know,our politicians use the same rhetoric.
We have heard it many times from our Premier everytime they hand out a grossly inflated salary to someone in government.
Unfortunately,what we usually get in most cases is another no-mind with the spine of a jellyfish.
Looks like perhaps CNC has the same affliction!
Too much money has a tendancy to make people feel like they are more important than they really are,resulting in poor job performance and even more greed.

Posted by: billposer on March 10 2008 10:15 AM

"Keep the forestry program, there must be some fluffy or native studies programs to cut."

Some people just can't resist throwing in a little bigotry, eh? You could argue that native studies is "fluffy" and unnecessary. I wouldn't agree, but in any case the wording here makes it clear that that isn't the issue.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on March 10 2008 11:33 AM

I agree for the most part that not all these types of programs are fluffy or unnecessary billposer,however,I have seen first hand the need for some sort of monitoring in regards to courses provided at no cost to the student.
It is one thing for the college/government to pick up the tab, but what happens if the student drops out or fails to complete the course?
Money lost?
The same applies to funding for upgrading,re-training,etc.
If people have to pay for it themselves, they are more likely to complete the program and, if they cannot pay for it themselves,then there should be some sort of recovery for funds provided should they fail to complete the courses or training.
Particularly if they fail due to a lack of effort.
And if we are talking about native programs,many times the funding is provided by the bands and is often used a source of income with little effort made to succeed in the chosen program.
There does seem to be some need for some sort of control and accountability for the actual costs to the college.

Posted by: tinyapplecork on March 10 2008 12:08 PM

People who receive funding have to prove their case. (Took me a full year to wrap up my research and prove my case. It's not a walk into an office and walk out with a cheque). There are conditions and benchmarks!
It is how this Board is choosing to spend all that money that is the issue. Training our labour force is what contributes to the growth of our economy! The "fluff" programs are certainly not unnecessary nor are they a basket weaving type program. Those programs are essential in our economy. If there wasn't a market for the program, it wouldn't be offered in the first place.

Cutting the forestry program:
Pros: current program focus on direct entry and since the industry is currently in lull makes sense to cut

Cons: program not revamped to reflect current state of the industry

Pros: Diversification comes from Business Students so it's a doubling of programs
Cons: Business students not receiving specialization in forestry

Bottom line: The Forestry Program is no longer effective as it stands HOWEVER there needs to be training to keep the Forest industry alive.

Posted by: metalman on March 10 2008 6:38 PM

These types of organizations (Colleges, universities, health associations) are some what top heavy these days.
It is almost like they have lost their vision as to what they are supposed to be.
metalman.

Posted by: astro on March 10 2008 8:01 PM

$50 000 000 for art galleries in Vancouver, $O for forestry in the North (hinterlands.) Let's get our priorities straight and realize that Gordo and company knows what is best for us.