Editor’s note: Due to Board of Governors protocols which forbid all participants from recording any portion of the public meetings, direct quotes from meeting participants could not be verified in line with the Charlatan’s accuracy standards to be included in the article.
Indigenous education initiatives were featured at a virtual meeting of Carleton’s Board of Governors on Sept. 30.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for the victims of residential schools.
Benny Michaud, director of Carleton’s Centre for Indigenous Initiatives (CII), updated the board on Carleton’s progress on Kinàmàgawin, a series of 41 calls to action for the university by Indigenous leaders. Michaud said over the past year, the CII created faculty positions for Indigenous people and launched the Indigenous Peer Mentorship program.
Michaud also said Carleton has created a smudging room in Stormont building. While not open yet, the new facility comes almost two years after Carleton announced they would build a smudging room for Indigenous students.
Kahente Horn-Miller, assistant vice president (Indigenous initiatives), said Carleton created a new Kinàmàgawin Indigenous Learning Certificate, a four-workshop course on anti-Indigenous racism. Carleton is also participating in the Rebuilding First Nations Governance Project, a research project focused on promoting Indigenous self-governance.
Horn-Miller added the University Centre, Robertson Hall and the Residence Commons are to be renamed to honour Black and Indigenous communities, but did not announce the new names.
Carleton has also established the Ānako Indigenous Research Institute, located in Dunton Tower, as a place to facilitate cross-departmental Indigenous research with Indigenous mentors.
FINANCE AND CONSTRUCTION
The board also discussed a new residence building to be built on the west side of Campus Avenue. Plans to build a 456-bed residence building were put on hold during the pandemic. Construction permits have been obtained and the board voted unanimously to move forward with construction. The building is set to cost $90 million.
Financial reports for the current school year were also presented. The university accumulated a budgetary surplus of approximately $39 million, about a million less than last year. The board cited strong investment returns as the main cause for the surplus.
LOOKING AHEAD
President and vice-chancellor Benoit-Antoine Bacon said he considers Carleton’s return to campus very successful compared to other universities. He attributed the success to vaccine mandates, the Thrive Health screening system and good classroom planning.
Bacon also stated the winter term will have a mixed course delivery similar to the fall term, with the possibility of more in-person labs and experiential learning. There will also be more online learning options this winter, according to the Carleton website. He added these plans could change at any time on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
