By Chris Doyle (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: April 11, 2012
We all know how banks work; we put money in the bank and it slowly gains interest and worth as we save up and wait. Coast Capital Savings (CCS) has decided to mix this up a bit. CCS has decided to invest in the students of UFV in the hope that this money will allow a growth in leadership and experience for the students.
CSS hopes these experiences will be valuable as UFV students graduate and join the world at large. The creation and support of the Coast Capital Savings Student Leadership Institute at UFV will fulfill these goals.
The leadership institute is a program designed to inspire, develop and support student leaders on campus. This program, run by Susan Francis and Sidrah Ahmad, is responsible for various leadership opportunities on campus. These include the Student Leadership Challenge, The Standout – leadership magazine, the increasingly popular Leadership Speaker Series, the Evening of Recognition event and also various conferences held both at UFV and across the country. Selected student leaders are sent to represent UFV at these conferences.
Coast Capital Savings donated $50,000 to UFV’s Student Life’s Leadership Institute on March 8 to further support both the program and the students involved. CCS has done this for the last three years and has donated a total of $150,000 in the past to support leadership programs at UFV. The donation ceremony was conducted at U-House honouring CCS representatives in attendance. The presentation included speeches from various UFV staff members and leaders that the leadership institute has already helped. Among these speakers was UFV president Dr. Mark Evered and Student Life manager Susan Francis, who spoke about how these programs have helped the University in the past and how they will continue to help in the future. Nathan Abraham and Jenia Pyzhyanova followed each speaking about how the Coast Capital Savings Student Leadership Institute has already benefited them personally.
The programs supported by the CCS donations have been growing in both quality and quantity throughout the last year as more and more students takes advantage of these resources. The growth in both student involvement and presence on campus is greatly due to the efforts of the Student Life leadership institute and all of the work they have done to raise awareness on campus.
The donations made to the Coast Capital Savings Student Leadership Institute have made a difference in atmosphere in the last three years and by donating once again to this program CCS has ensured that this influence will continue to be seen on campus. CCS has invested a total of $200,000 in leadership at UFV to date.
