Letter from the Board Chair - Annual Report 08/09
It has been an honour to succeed Christian Schadendorf as Board Chair. Christian served the college with extraordinary commitment and dedication - for six years as a Board member, and for three years as Board Chair. He has recently been appointed an Honorary Life Member of the Selkirk College Board of Governors, and will officially receive this exceptional service award in October.
It is said that in the meeting of challenges, an organization truly grows. The past year has presented Selkirk College with no shortage of challenges; particularly with respect to operating and investment funding. What has become clear is the degree to which our communities and our region continually step forward in support of our college.
This is true of individual donors who, during these difficult economic times when our Foundation Endowment has experienced negative investment rates, have not only maintained their level of donations in support of student awards, but have given more. And not all gifts have been monetary – for example, local artists Pat Field and Denis Kleine donated a magnificent conversation bench made from BC wood and from river rocks from all over the world to the college’s Mir Centre for Peace. This beautiful and meaningful piece of art was dedicated in June by His Honour Lieutenant Governor Steven Point.
It is also true of organizations such as the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust team which has committed almost $200,000 per year to Selkirk College student awards for a period of three years. Another extraordinary example of community support emerged with respect to one of our significant challenges; affordable housing for students. When Selkirk College put out the call for support for the renovation of the closed Nelson Tenth Street Campus residences, organizations ranging from the City of Nelson to FortisBC, Terasen, Columbia Basin Trust and the Cascadia Region Green Building Council immediately came forward with offers of funding, property and technical support. Yes, Selkirk exists to support the communities in which it lives but, these same communities continually demonstrate their strong support of their public community college.
In addition to individual and community support, during the past year, both the provincial and federal governments have demonstrated their commitment to strengthening post-secondary education (PSE). The Province, with the advocacy help of our BC Colleges group, provided a slight increase in funding to PSE in the tight February 2009 budget. This enabled our staff, who had already worked together to provide for cost savings and increased revenue, to bring forward a balance operating budget for 2009-2010 and to clear a three-year deficit off the books in one year.
In Fall 2008, the federal government, with the advocacy of our Association of Canadian Community Colleges, announced the $2 billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP) for PSE as a major piece of their economic stimulus package. Selkirk received $1.9M ($950,000 from the federal KIP and $950,000 matching from the Province. We look forward to similar matching funds for the $7M student residence renovation. These various funding allocations demonstrate both governments’ beliefs that a necessary element of economic recovery is a skilled workforce and that colleges can play a vital role in the education and training required. When combined with the dedicated support of our communities and individual volunteers and donors, we have a winning combination which will ensure Selkirk a vibrant and sustainable future.
On behalf of the Selkirk College Board of Governors, thanks so much to all of you.
Stefan Lehmann, Board Chair
