Carleton recently appointed a new vice-president (finance and administration) to replace Duncan Watt, who held the position for 20 years.
Michel Piché, who was previously the chief financial officer at the National Research Council, took over Watt’s position on July 18. He said he hopes to help Carleton move into the “next stage.”
Piché said he is excited to be at Carleton and plans on speaking with various groups at the university, including the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA).
“I have to say that I am impressed with the level of professionalism and commitment from employees,” Piché said. “I get the sense that Carleton is different, not afraid to try innovative approaches to achieving its goals.”
Carleton president Roseann Runte said there is a specific process the Board of Governors follows to appoint a new vice-president. Piché was selected from a very large pool of candidates, she said.
“[Piché] had considerable experience in a variety of different public and private enterprises, large and small, so that would help him understand many of the things that he would have to do at Carleton,” Runte said.
GSA president Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah said she has not met with Piché yet, but she looks forward to the opportunity to do so. She said with the rising price of tuition, especially for international students, one of her concerns will be establishing mutual cooperation between the GSA and Piché.
She added she wants to know where students’ tuition dollars are going.
“It would be advised to actually be able to see the breakdown of where money goes to in our university, especially our spending off campus,” Owusu said.
CUSA president Fahd Alhattab said he is excited to meet with Piché and start working with him, and added he looks forward to working on stage two of CUSA’s planned new student union building.
“I think [Piché] will bring a nice fresh wave of innovation to a lot of the stuff we do. I’m confident that he will be very engaged in what we’re doing,” Alhattab said.
The student unions and university administration have had a strained relationship in the past. Piché’s predecessor was subject to criticism for increasing tuition fees by the maximum allowable amount by the province.
Alhattab said that despite being on opposite sides of some issues, both student unions and the administration want what’s best for students.
“We all have similar goals in creating a strong university and a strong student environment, and really building a community here in Ottawa,” he said.
Piché said he is excited to meet with the student unions, and said ongoing dialogue will be key to having a productive relationship with them.
“Providing quality services to key stakeholders such as CUSA and the GSA means understanding their requirements and concerns,” Piché said.
