presidential candidate – The Concordian

Presidential candidate Dr. Alan Shepard got a second chance at speaking to the Concordia community during a live-streamed conference call on Friday.

The meeting lasted just over an hour and, while directed specifically to Concordia’s Board of Governors and Senate, had 705 people listening in via webcast according to university spokesperson Chris Mota.

Students, staff and faculty were encouraged to submit questions in advance, and those posed to Shepard ranged from university projects to structure to the ongoing tuition hike debate.

Shepard stated during the presentation that he is a proponent of open communication, referring to a number of ‘town hall’ meetings hosted at Ryerson, but said he could not speak to Concordia’s administration’s handling of the student strike thus far.

“We should not imagine the public debate about fees is isolated to Quebec,” he said.

The call was arranged after student protesters shut down Shepard’s in-person Q&A session at Concordia on April 24.

Shepard spoke from Ryerson University in Toronto where he currently acts as provost and VP academic, but said he plans on moving his family to Montreal should he be hired as Concordia’s next president.

“Improving my French is a priority upon living here, like many new Québécois,” he said.

Following the deadline for written feedback to be submitted May 1, the decision on whether or not to hire Shepard will be brought to the board for consideration.

Alan Shepard currently works at Ryerson University. Photo by Colin McNeil, The Ryersonian

Concordia’s presidential search committee announced Dr. Alan Shepard as its candidate recommendation for the position of university president.

A joint meeting between the Board of Governors and Senate to introduce presidential candidate Shepard will be held in the D.B. Clarke auditorium on April 24 at 12 p.m. The meeting will be open to the Concordia students, faculty and staff.

The Presidential Search Committee unanimously recommended Shepard, the current provost at Ryerson University, for the position. Shepard would replace interim President Frederick Lowy, who took the position in January 2011 following the abrupt departure of former president Judith Woodsworth.

Committee member and Concordia Student Union President, Lex Gill, believes Shepard’s academic background and his “fresh and young perspective on governance and university affairs” will be beneficial to the university.

“I feel positively about Dr. Shepard,” Gill said. “He’s very dialogue-focused and building relationships which I feel is what Concordia University needs right now.”

Concordia also announced the appointment of Norman Hébert Jr. as the new chair of the Board of Governors .

Norman Hébert Jr. was appointed as chair of the Board of Governors upon the recommendation of the university’s governance and ethics committee. His three-year term will begin on July 1 2012. For six years Hébert served as a member of the advisory board of the John Molson School of Business and is currently vice-chair of Concordia’s board.

Hébert will be replacing current chair Peter Kruyt, whose resignation has been called for on several occasions by the Senate and student groups in 2011.

In March, The Concordian reported that Hébert was absent from two of the three board meetings held last fall.

In addition, Provost David Graham announced the appointment of Steve Harvey as the new dean of the JMSB. His five-year term will take effect on July 1, 2012.