Board ratifies agreement-in-principle with CUSSU
At its meeting on December 11, Concordia’s Board of Governors ratified the agreement-in-principle reached with the Concordia University Support Staff Union (CUSSU), which represents approximately 450 staff members at the university.
The agreement will be posted on Concordia’s website in English and French once signed by all parties.
Discussion on Quebec’s proposed Charter of Secular Values
On the agenda for the December 11 meeting was a request for the Board’s input on how the university should respond to the Government of Quebec’s proposed Bill 60, Quebec's Charter of Secular Values.
On November 8, President Alan Shepard requested feedback from the Concordia community on the bill and, as he told the Board, he received more than 200 emails in response.
Vice-President of Development and External Relations and Secretary-General Bram Freedman gave a brief presentation on the bill, after which Board members provided their input.
After the discussion, the Board of Governors approved a proposal by the president that the Board’s Executive Committee work with the Senate Steering Committee to develop and approve the university’s statement on Bill 60.
Presentation on KnowledgeOne
Tony Meti, president of KnowledgeOne, Concordia’s service provider for online courses, gave a presentation to the Board explaining the corporation’s business model.
Currently, KnowledgeOne delivers 12.5 per cent of all credits delivered at the university. It continues to expand every year — with 31,255 Concordia registrations in online courses for the year 2013-14, up from 25,333 in 2010-11.
Meti said 95 per cent of KnowledgeOne’s work is done for Concordia, but that the company has other corporate and university clients and hopes to expand in those areas.
Concordia Chief Financial Officer Patrick Kelley explained that KnowledgeOne’s parent company, eConcordia, is a non-profit entity controlled by the university. KnowledgeOne has operated with positive earnings for the past two years and has provided revenue back to Concordia during that period.