Message from Dr. Chris McGrath, Vice President, Students:
I am writing to provide an update on the interim structure within the vice president, students portfolio, prompted by the departure of Sarah Pennisi, former Senior Director of Student Services & Wellness.
Student Services & Wellness (SSW) provides a wide range of supports to students through:
- Health, Wellness & Accessibility Services (HWAS), led by Dr. Karen Csoli at the Welland Campus and Jay Burdon at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake;
- Indigenous Education (IE), led by Leah Hogan; and
- Student Rights & Responsibilities (SRRO)
I have been working closely with the SSW leadership team to better understand our wide range of services and supports and the significant role SSW plays in advancing the NC student experience, widening social inclusion, and achieving organizational excellence.
To better position these deeply committed teams for success, we will undertake several key actions in the months ahead, including:
- Engage service department leaders, college partners, and community collaborators in a self-study of our health and wellbeing services to ensure capacity to support students at the intersection of physical and mental health, and potential to scale innovative approaches to HWAS service delivery at both Welland and NOTL campuses;
- Partner across the college to undertake a review of the policies and procedures that relate to student behaviour, student complaint resolution, human rights, and sexual violence to ensure that we are appropriately positioned to respond to immediate and complex concerns and ensure timely and fair process;
- Engage our Indigenous Education Management Circle and other partners to map, prioritize and resource emerging opportunities for Indigenous Education – including student engagement and support, and IE team partnership capacity to respond to our shared commitments to Indigenization;
- Connect various college partners to identify new inclusive approaches to learning, service and program engagement, and the physical and digital environments. This will help to position Accessibility Services as part of a continuum of services to widen access and inclusion for students with disabilities.
As we undertake these initiatives, I will serve as the Interim Senior Director, Student Services & Wellness. Each of the respective department leaders will report directly to me. For Health, Wellness and Accessibility Services, Jay Burdon will oversee and monitor departmental budgets for services at both campuses, while Karen Csoli will provide department-level leadership in undertaking our internal self-study.
As we undertake this important work, I want to thank the dedicated team in SSW for their exceptional commitment to our students.
Chris
