Tag: Schubert Laforest

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A change in tactics

The executive of the Concordia Student Union will be recommending to council during the next regular meeting Wednesday that Nadine Atallah, current VP clubs and internal affairs, take over the position of president.

President Schubert Laforest officially gave notice on Feb. 7. In a public letter, Laforest stated a decline in health as his reason for departure, citing ongoing mononucleosis and strep throat.

Laforest explained in the letter that he endorsed Atallah as a candidate for his replacement.

“I hope Nadine Atallah, current VP clubs and internal affairs, will take over my position and all my responsibilities with council’s approval. The team and I are very confident in her abilities to lead the union and to carry on with the team of executives through the remainder of the year,” the letter read.

Atallah said that for about two to three days, the executive sat down to speak about the situation and what would be best to move forward. The executive decided together that the best option was that Laforest resign and Atallah to be recommended to the council to take over the position of president.

“The idea was that we would appoint one of us to take over the position and as a team, we felt as if the best person to finish out the mandate is me,” Atallah said.

Bylaw 7.4 states that a majority from council must appoint a new president from the remaining vice-presidents. However, if no vice-presidents will take on the role, a councillor may take the position of president provided a two-thirds majority vote from the council is given.

Atallah stated that there are two significant reasons why the executive felt she would be best to fill the position. One reason being that her job now, VP clubs and internal affairs, is more administrative. According to Atallah, it would be easier to teach someone else her position than any other on the executive.

The second reason is that she and Laforest worked closely together throughout the year. “I’m already in the loop, I know where we’re at and what needs to be done,” she said.

Atallah echoed Laforest’s sentiments expressed in a public letter stating it was a difficult personal decision.

“It’s a big deal, we get attached to the job, the union, the way things are run,” Atallah said. “Unless you do this job, you won’t understand how attached you get and for [Laforest] to resign, it’s an extremely big deal, it’s a sign of how much he cared for the union since he put our interests before his.”

Atallah explained that Laforest was an essential part to the team and although the transition won’t be easy without him, she knows that he will be there as much as he can and that his relationship with the union isn’t over.

Councillor Chad Walcott said although it is unfortunate that Laforest had to resign, he didn’t appreciate that the executive chose who they felt should take on the role of president without consulting council.

“I’m a little confused because Nadine refused to sit on both the Board of Governors and Senate,” said Walcott. “When do we get consulted on this?”

Looking to the future, Atallah says she doesn’t take the position of president lightly and realizes it’s a hard job to perform.

“We want this to be a turning point for us, we’re disappointed for [Laforest] leaving but we want to come out of this stronger than we were,” Atallah said. “But ultimately, it’s the council’s decision.”

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU president steps down

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

President Schubert Laforest officially resigned from the Concordia Student Union citing health reasons last Thursday night.

Laforest addressed the issue in a public letter stating that due to a case of mononucleosis and strep throat, he was unable to withstand long workdays and properly lead the executive for the remainder of his mandate.

“This is really the only option,” said Laforest. “It’s just irresponsible for me to put myself at risk and put the CSU at risk by staying in that position — I have to put the wellbeing of the CSU before that.”

The executive discussed other options but Laforest said it was ultimately his resignation that would be best for the union and stated that it was the “hardest decision of his life.”

“My doctor said that that the way it looks now is it might last another seven weeks to, worst scenario, six months,” said Laforest. “It could be indefinite.”

The resignation is effective as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. Laforest pushed the date past the weekend to have the opportunity to finish initiatives taken regarding ongoing problems with the information technology services issues and the search for a new general manager.

In an open letter to council and students, Laforest stated that he had tried to work through his illness but it was simply not manageable.

“Before receiving the latest results, I had hoped that if I was adamant enough I would be able to recover quickly or, at the very least, make myself work through it. However, I have come to realize that is neither feasible nor in the best interest of all the parties involved. It would not be fair for me to delegate my duties to my executives in the hopes that I recover rapidly, nor would it be fair for the Concordia student body to be represented in this manner,” the letter read.

Schubert Laforest. Photo by Madelayne Hajek

Shortly after the resignation came to light, the A Better Concordia slate issued a statement of its own, commending the now former-president’s “selflessness to put the executive and that of the Concordia Student Union above those of his own.”

“Obviously, we’re very grateful to Schubert for all he’s done this year, including all the long nights and rough days. Struggling with health issues recently, he’s still stayed strong in his conviction to serving the Concordia Student Union, leading us as a team and helping us individually with our mandates,” the letter read.

At the upcoming meeting this Wednesday, council will appoint a new president. Furthermore, should the executive’s recommendation for VP internal and clubs Nadine Atallah as president be accepted by a simple majority of council, then a second appointment will be made to fulfill the vacated role of VP internal and clubs.

Left in the dark

Most councillors were unaware of the resignation of Laforest until they read about it in the student press Thursday night. For Councillor Chad Walcott, there was no indication of Laforest’s departure prior to articles detailing the resignation.

“As far as I know, no one knew,” said Walcott.

Walcott explained that the lack of notice reflected the year the executive was having in terms of communicating with council.

“It’s unfortunate that it got leaked but at the same time but we could have been given a preemptive heads up and that’s indicative of this year where things have been brought up at council,” said Walcott. “When do we get consulted on this?”

Councillor James Vaccaro said that he was informed that the email server used by the executive crashed and that the email forwarding the resignation letter didn’t make it to council as Laforest intended. However, Vaccaro told The Concordian that ceaseless infighting and “petty arguments” over the undelivered email was affecting the productivity of council.

“We should be acting towards the best interests of the union at a time that is clearly difficult instead of continuously infighting,” said Vaccaro. “It’s frustrating to see bright and passionate people fighting amongst each other instead of working together to bring great things to Concordia.”

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU president steps down

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

Story updated, click here to read more.

President Schubert Laforest officially stepped down from the Concordia Student Union citing health reasons Thursday night.

Laforest told The Concordian that due to a case of mononucleosis, he could no longer continue his duties as president of the CSU.

“This is really the only option,” said Laforest. “It’s just irresponsible for me to put myself at risk and put the CSU at risk by staying in that position — I have to put the wellbeing of the CSU before that.”

The executive discussed other options but Laforest said it was ultimately his resignation that would be best for the union and stated that it was the “hardest decision of his life.”

The resignation will be officially effective as of Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. so that Laforest can have the opportunity to tie up some loose ends of unfinished projects such as the ongoing information technology services issues and the search for a new general manager.

A new president will be appointed next Wednesday evening during the CSU’s regular council meeting. The executive agreed that VP internal and clubs Nadine Atallah would be best suited to fulfill the role of president issued in a letter by Laforest.

“I have already begun finalizing all the critical files I have been working on, after which, I hope Nadine Atallah, current VP Clubs and Internal Affairs, will take over my position and all my responsibilities with council’s approval. The team and I are very confident in her abilities to lead the union and to carry on with the team of executives through the remainder of the year,” the letter read.

Bylaw 7.4 states a simply majority from council must appoint a new president from the remaining vice-presidents and that should no vice-presidents take on the role, that a councillor may fulfill the position of president provided a two-thirds majority vote from council.

The executive issued a statement regarding Laforest’s resignation saying they were “saddened” he was leaving the team.

“Obviously, we’re very grateful to Schubert for all he’s done this year, including all the long nights and rough days. Struggling with health issues recently, he’s still stayed strong in his conviction to serving the Concordia Student Union, leading us as a team and helping us individually with our mandates,” the letter read.

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Presidential remarks

Photo by writer.
Photo by writer.

Thursday Nov. 8, The Concordian sat down with Concordia President Alan Shepard to discuss the recent developments with the part-time faculty association, the tuition repeal and complaints concerning international student recruitment.

Faced with a 95 per cent strike vote from Concordia University’s Part-Time Faculty Association, Shepard says he is hopeful that negotiations will come to a positive conclusion.

“It’s a complex dance on both sides and I’m optimistic that both sides want to find a settlement and that we will,” he said.

He went on to say that the university is “actively discussing” with CUPFA and that “it’s really important that both sides work together to find a new collective agreement.”

Shepard emphasized that part-time faculty play a key role at Concordia and that “in strikes, I think everybody would say that nobody wins.”

As far as the tuition repeal goes, it was reported last week that while Concordia refunded each student the cost of the tuition hike — about $8.75 per credit — McGill University did not. McGill issued a press release Nov. 4 stating that for the time being the university would only be refunding students who pay Quebec resident rates.

Shepard explained that Concordia’s reading of the official directives received from the provincial government was that “for now, all students would be refunded.”

He went on to say that the government “left open the possibility that in the future they may adjust the [fees] for international students and students who are not from Quebec but are Canadian residents.”

University spokesperson Chris Mota confirmed Monday that the exact wording of the letter indicated that all students be refunded.

“At this point we are just following the letter of the law,” said Shepard. Carole Graveline, director of media relations at McGill, was unable to give comment by press time.

On the subject of issues coming to light regarding Concordia’s Chinese international students, Shepard told the The Concordian that “to have even a single student having trouble, that’s one too many.”

The concerns raised about the Concordia China Student Recruitment Partnership Program have become widespread since The Link first reported on the issue in September.

Students have begun to come forward with reports of being poorly treated in homestay programs, which are technically independent from the university, and having negative experiences with Peter Low, the director of the CCSRPP.

“We have had a relationship with this particular recruiter for a while, it had never come to our attention that there were any serious problems,” said Shepard.

The university has taken a number of actions regarding this issue including having pertinent documents translated into Mandarin and assembling a ‘working group’ composed of student and administrative representatives to address the topic further.

“I feel satisfied that we’ve gotten a very clear picture of what’s going on and if I didn’t think that, I’d be asking more questions.”

Concordia Student Union President Schubert Laforest says that the student-led ‘task force’ working parallel to the ‘working group’ has been “meeting around the clock” regarding the international students’ concerns.

Laforest says he feels that the university may be “under certain assumptions” and “what needs to be cleared up is that this is beyond miscommunication and [that] students were misled.”

While Shepard says that Concordia “[does] not have a system-wide problem,” and that he hasn’t heard anything alarming, Laforest disagrees.

He told The Concordian Monday that he had seen documents in which Low had misrepresented the homestay program to a student. Laforest confirmed that “in one case homestay was presented as the only option” by Low, when in reality it is completely optional.

Laforest said that he knew of about 10 – 15 students so far, predominantly Chinese, who had come forward to various groups with similar stories. Laforest says he is currently focused on the task force, whose goal is to come up with solutions and hopefully see them “directly implemented” by the university in the future.

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Concordia Student Union News

A CSU in turmoil

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

Concordia Student Union VP academic and advocacy Lucia Gallardo released a statement Monday, Sept. 24 in response to a motion put forth by the CSU council asking for her resignation.

At the first regular CSU meeting of the year held Wednesday, it became clear that Gallardo was not in fact a registered student and was therefore unable to maintain her position as a member of the executive. Gallardo was not present at the meeting but CSU President Schubert Laforest explained that, because of “circumstances beyond her control,” she was unable to register in time for the fall semester.

In her statement, Gallardo explained that she is “an international student in financial need,” which makes her student status complicated. This is not the first time Gallardo experienced issues with her international status, for when she first submitted her candidacy for the CSU last year, she and Laforest were both rejected as ineligible due to registration.

“This has affected many aspects of my life and my academic career,” explained Gallardo. She went on to say that due to financial issues as well as challenges in her personal life, it was not possible for her to sort out her status.

“I have spent this summer trying to put together the money to afford to continue at Concordia, and the [Did Not Enter] deadline came too soon for me to succeed.”

At council, members made the decision not to allow Gallardo a 15-day period to try and resolve her student status. In the letter, however, she stated that she “may still be able to resolve the issue,” and she will continue to work toward a solution throughout this week.

“I wholeheartedly ask Concordia students to grant me the opportunity to work on this solution for the week, before giving up the portfolio I feel so passionate about,” she wrote.

A special council meeting will take place this Wednesday, which will cover appointments to various CSU bodies, as well as Gallardo’s resignation. She told The Concordian that she would be in attendance at that meeting and hopes to sway council with her statement on the particulars of her registration issues.

“If it cannot be resolved by Friday, of course I will step down,” she said. “I would be more than happy to help train my replacement if it comes to that.”

At the meeting on Wednesday which began at 6:30 p.m. and ended at 1:30 a.m, some councillors expressed concern over the information coming to light and the manner in which it was done.

Chad Walcott, CSU councillor and former VP external for the CSU, stated that he was “extremely disappointed with the events that [had] transpired.”

Following the decision regarding VP Gallardo, President Laforest made a statement in closed session addressing his own status issues and explaining privately to council why he is unable to sit on Concordia’s two major administrative bodies: Senate and the Board of Governors.

Laforest then explained that his issue was not of status but of an academic nature, and that VP loyola Stefan Faina would replace him on Senate. Councillors initially raised concerns when it became apparent that Faina had never attended a Senate meeting before. It was decided that VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon, who already sits on Senate, would help to prepare Faina for the position.

As for the BoG, Laforest proposed that Lauzon be appointed to take his place on an interim basis until his eligibility can be dealt with. According to university by-laws, the reasons why a student would not be allowed to sit on the Board of Governors are that either they are not in good academic standing, or that they have violated the Academic Code of Conduct or the Code of Rights and Responsibilities within the last three years.

Walcott was quick to criticize the plan, saying that he was “not confident at all that [Lauzon] will be able to do any of his external work, while sitting on almost seven committees.”

Ultimately, council decided that alternate governor and former CSU president, Lex Gill, would be appointed primary governor until Laforest is able to reclaim his seat.

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Concordia University withdraws charges against striking students

Concordia University officially dropped the formal complaints launched against striking students under the Code of Rights and Responsibilities following a meeting between President Alan Shepard and the Concordia Student Union today.

President Shepard addressed the issue in an open letter, emphasizing it was time for a clean slate and that the student protests were an unprecedented situation for the university. Shepard explained that he felt the administration acted appropriately but charges are officially withdrawn.

“As president of the university, I also believe it is time for our community to turn the page and focus on the future together. I acknowledge that some members of the community will not agree with this approach, and I respect their point of view on the matter,” the letter read.

Kris Szabo, an undergraduate student who faced seven formal complaints from Concordia, is relieved to know it’s over.

“I’m incredibly relieved, I thought this may happen,” Szabo told The Concordian. “This would have been a disaster for administration.”

Szabo spoke to Shepard personally and said the president understood his concerns. Since June, Szabo attended several meetings with other charged students to strategize and organize a plan to have the charges dropped.

“The Advocacy Centre and the Concordia Student Union gave us a lot of peace of mind,” Szabo said. “They really helped us.”

“I think this happened because we were resilient.”

“It’s good to see how all of our collaborative work is becoming fruitful,” said CSU President Schubert Laforest.

“I was surprised, I had a little ray of sunshine when Shepard said he would think about it,” said Laforest. “I had never heard that before.”

“I have to tip my hat to Dr. Shepard for taking this decision,” added Laforest. “I felt that dropping the charges is the act of goodwill to prove that Concordia is changing direction for a brighter future.”

Several students received formal charges from Concordia for allegedly violating Code 29G for obstructing or blocking classrooms during March 26 2012. The striking students, 23 undergraduate students and three graduate students, opposed the proposed tuition fee increase by the provincial government.

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Hello Mr. President

 Being president of a university as large and as diverse as Concordia is no easy task. Despite the challenges which lay ahead for new Vice-Chancellor Alan Shepard, he said he views Concordia as a progressive university despite a troubled history.

“It’s Concordia’s time,” said the former provost of Ryerson University. “We have a very bright future.”

On Aug. 1, Shepard replaced interim president Frederick Lowy and began his five-year mandate. Though he insists that he has no grand plan and no ultimate overhaul in terms of changes for Concordia, the new president plans to focus on what the university community wants to change. Revisions and adjustments, he said, will be based on what administration, faculty and students demand.

“Concordia has a lot of strengths,” Shepard explained. “You try to find ways to engage the university community to see where it wants to go.”

Concordia Student Union President Schubert Laforest said several challenges await Shepard in the years ahead.
“There’s the ever present issue of the management of the university, how funds are allocated, the university being under scrutiny from all sides of the media and from students,” said Laforest. “There is bridging the gap between students and administration.”

According to Laforest, Shepard is also faced with the task of governing a university that’s often questioned for its controversial administration salaries, severance packages and spending.

In December 2010, Judith Woodsworth abruptly left her position as university president with a severance package of approximately $700,000. Her predecessor, Claude Lajeunesse, completed only two years of a five-year contract and left Concordia with more than $1-million as a parting gift.

In March 2012, Concordia was slapped with a $2-million fine from previous Education Minister Line Beauchamp due to the mismanagement of funds. Beauchamp reprimanded the institution for “a lack of control” at the administrative level and her concern for the number of people leaving senior positions.

“Something has to give, we have opposing views of what’s going on,” reiterated Laforest. “We need to have an honest discussion about the matter.”

President Shepard stated that “the university’s reputation is important, it matters deeply…but we’re very well-managed, we’re well-managed fiscally.”

Last summer, the External Governance Review Committee released a report stating differently. The report provides recommendations to strengthen governance and internal relations at Concordia while scrutinizing the current climate at the university. The committee criticized Concordia for “a culture of contempt” and “spectacularly unsuccessful appointments of the last two presidents.”

As the election draws nearer, Shepard awaits changes that have the potential to set the tone for the entire semester. Shepard said he believes the results of the upcoming election will ultimately decide which direction the student movement will take. That said, he welcomes students who are so politically involved.

“Keeping a cool head matters,” Shepard said. “But so is allowing people to express themselves.”

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