By Katherine Gibson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: July 2, 2014
UFV is no stranger to funding cuts. Although recently these cuts have been seen in the removal of services like faculty reception and the Mission library, the tightening of funds has now moved to the school’s administrative staff.
Announcing the removal of the school’s vice president external position, UFV President Mark Evered notes that the choice to eliminate this position was made with reserve and caution, due to the relatively small size of administration at UFV.
“We’re already one of the most lightly administered [universities],” says Evered, “[but] just as we look at everything we do, we have to look at the administrative costs as well.”
As Evered explains, although formally acting as a liaison between the university and the community, the vice president external position had become a sort of “catch-all” for all sorts of tasks and projects.
While Evered sees value in the position, the choice to remove it was influenced in part by the university’s ability to logistically absorb the external vice president’s duties.
“You can’t give up the academic leadership position and neither can you give up the position of your chief financial officer,” Evered goes on, “but the vice president external … I’ve had a person in that role in an acting capacity because for some time I’ve been considering how we might restructure in a more efficient and effective way.”
Due to this position removal, Evered has both shuffled the roles and responsibilities of current administrative staff and combined various departments.
Director of Marketing and Communication Leslie Courchesne has taken over university relations, a new department that will encompass alumni relations, university advancement, and marketing and communications. Executive Director of Facilities and Campus Planning Craig Toews will take over the community liaison duties under the old position.
Although funding cuts played an undeniable role in the positions loss, Evered maintains that with the changes to administration and the combination of departments will ultimately benefit the university.
“I don’t want this to be seen solely in terms of cost cutting — I have been thinking about this for a while,” Evered says. “Our goal here is to break down the silos; [these departments] rely on each other for work … so this is an attempt to bring this work together.”
“[UFV’s] needs are changing dramatically,” concludes Evered. “The world has changed; UFV has changed; UFV’s needs have changed; the opportunities have changed and you want to make sure that you have the team that’s in the best position to respond.”
