ampus hews EDITOR SCOTT DRAKE THE VOICE, THURSDAY, FEB. 18, 2016 3 Satisfaction with skills is off target Langara’s 2020 Strategic Plan omits failure to meet ministry skills satisfaction goals By SCOTT DRAKE igh overall student satisfaction rates highlighted in the Langara 2020 Strategic Plan mask prob- lems with basic skills develop- ment, college accountability documents reveal. Langara’s strategic plan was an- nounced earlier in January to highlight goals of the college. The plan, which shows a 95 per cent rate of student sat- isfaction with education, failed to men- tion that Langara did not reach its 85 per cent target set by the Ministry of Advanced Education for satisfaction of skill development, such as oral commu- nication and problem resolution. The statistics included in the strate- gic plan came from the Diploma, Asso- ciate Degree, Certificate Student Out- comes (DACSO), a _ provincial government survey used to measure student success. The strategic plan showed 95 per cent satisfaction with education and 98 per cent satisfaction with quality of in- struction. What didn’t appear was that skill development rated only 70 per cent according to the Langara Accountabili- ty Plan and Report released in July. This 70 per cent fell below Ministry of Advanced Education targets for the col- lege. However, the skills satisfaction num- ber unfairly reflects the reality of most- ly university transfer schools, accord- ing to lan Humphreys, vice-president of strategic planning and business devel- opment. “The measure is unduly influenced by university transfer students who tend to transfer out before they have fully developed their skills, and before they have identified any terminal cre- dential or specific field of study,” he said. The DACSO surveys also show that only 30 per cent of recent Langara grad- uates found their education useful in getting a job. In comparison, the provin- cial average is 56 per cent. Despite the strategic plan numbers, Langara does not rely exclusively on the DACSO surveys when measuring student success. “Tf you look at the results for career and baccalaureate students, our ratings are much higher,” said Humphreys. Student satisfaction, in general, plays a large role in the newly con- ceived program reviews, according to Janet Douglas, a program review facili- tator with the teaching and curriculum development centre at Langara. If students were reporting low criti- cal thinking and writing skills, Douglas said programs will have to” address these issues.“The programs would be saying, ‘how come our students are having this experience and what can we do to make that better?” she said. News about not meeting provincial targets for average skill development has possible impacts for current and potential students. “That actually makes me kind of wor- ried,” said Cesar Hortelano, a comput- ing science student at Langara, “I can’t get accepted anywhere else but here.” 66 If you look at the results for career and bac- calaureate students, our ratings are much better IAN HUMPHREYS VP, STRATEGIC PLANNING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UBC and SFU students and faculty advocate for schools to make climate- responsible investments By SCOTT FORBES secondary institutions to rid them- selves of their fossil fuel invest- ments has not gained traction at Langara College. The movement calls for universities and colleges to switch their invest- ments from fossil fuel-based compa- nies to sustainable and climate-respon- sible ventures. Both the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU) have active so- cial advocacy groups working with stu- dents, faculty, and university officials to engage in the process of divesting. Langara financial statements for 2015 report investments of more than T:: divestment movement for post- $42 million, but they do not reveal whether or not the college invests in fossil fuel related companies. Viktor Sokha, vice-president of ad- ministration and finance at Langara, declined to comment on the subject and there is no indication of an active campus group in support of Langara divestment. UBCC 350, a group advocating for UBC divestment, has taken their re- quest to the university’s board of gov- ernors. “What we are formally asking is over the course of the next five years the university take all of its invest- ments they have in the top 200 fossil fuel and coal companies in the world and invest them elsewhere,” said Re- gan Eberding, media executive of UBCC 350. UBC’s board of governors voted against ending their fossil fuel invest- ments on Feb. 15. Despite the setback Eberding said "is Qrree THACTION — CLIMATE DENTAL REGAN EBERDING submitted photo UBCC 350 members gather at a finance committee meeting at UBC on Feb. 3, 2016 to ask board of governors to divest from fossil fuels. Langara divestment remains unclear people’s awareness of the issue has brought to light the “injustice” of the university’s decision. SFU has been more receptive to the divestment dialogue, according to Josh Cairns, executive director of Embark, part of the Divest SFU coalition. “We have been pleasantly surprised with SFU’s response,” said Cairns. “IT think they have taken a much more open, inclusive, consultative ap- proach than UBC has, and I think stu- dents have been encouraged by that.” “There has been a recent shift over the last few years where there has been increasing consultation with the student body and an increase in desire around divestment in its various for- mats,” Cairns said. “The recent fall in share prices for fossil fuel companies has spurred that interest a little more.” Both UBC and SFU held teach-ins about divestment on Feb. 9 in order to raise awareness of the issue. fins 1 University of British Columbia Student rep info tough to find, access LSU website does not list names of all elected stu- dent councillors, unlike most B.C. student unions By SIMRAN GILL cessing their elected representa- tives, even though the Langara Stu- dents’ Union (LSU) has announced the final results of its spring 2016 byelec- tion. The results were released along with those of the U-Pass referendum on the LSU website on Feb. 6. It included the acclamation of the student affairs offi- cer, the secretary to council and the in- ternational students’ advisor. However, unlike every other student union in the Lower Mainland, the LSU does not pub- licly list its council representatives, its staff or their contact information. Some students were surprised two weeks ago when they showed up to vote in the U-Pass referendum, only to find that there was also a ballot asking them to tick yes or no for the election of LSU councillors. “T didn’t know I was going to have the chance to vote for council as well,” said Langara student Edwin Ortiz. “I also didn’t know anything about any- one who was running.” While the candidates’ names and their platforms were posted on the LSU website, there is no mention of who oc- cupies the other 16 council positions. In comparison, all the other student governments in the Metro Vancouver area provide easy to find information about their student representatives. According to the LSU bylaws, council must meet at least twice a month, but the dates of those meetings are neither Less students have difficulty ac- $120,000,000 posted, nor open to members without 2 — prior consent. If a student wants to see University of the minutes of those meetings, the by- soo 00 laws state “a member of Council or a — Staff member must oversee the inspec- 3 McGill University tion to ensure that records are not re- $56,000,000 produced or noted in any way.” But the available information left 4 Kwantlen some students wanting more. Polytechnic “We as a student body are not ade- University quately aware or informed about vot- $1,118 ing or about the political nature of be- 5 University of ing a student,” said Hari Sun, a political ween yo science student at Langara. . $32,400,000 I went in there really confused, Source: The Sustainability and Education Policy Network said Langara student Ashvan Wal. “I just ticked yes for everyone, I didn’t want to be mean.”