Champlain campus director placed on temporary paid leave
Administration and campus operations under investigation by ministry of higher education
By Matthew McCully
Local Journalism Initiative
During a special meeting of the Champlain Regional College board of governors on Wednesday evening, a resolution was passed placing Nancy Beattie, campus director for Champlain College Lennoxville on temporary paid leave.
The resolution follows a motion of no-confidence filed by the Syndicat de l’Enseignement du Collège Champlain Lennoxville (SECCL), Champlain’s teachers’ union, on Dec. 18 to the board of governors.
Beattie will remain on leave, “until the conclusions of the different investigations are brought to the board of governors,” the resolution read.
Beattie is currently facing allegations of psychological harassment before the Tribunal Administrative du Travail.
The college is also under a Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur Investigation into, “Among other things, the administration, operations, and organizational climate of the Lennoxville Constituent College,” the resolution explained.
Wednesday’s meeting was held online and lasted over two hours with the bulk of the meeting involving an in-camera session exclusive to external members of the board.
Before addressing the single-item agenda, board chair Matthew Mazur read the letter and no-confidence motion submitted by the SECCL to the board of governors in December.
“Our aim with this communication is to highlight the urgent need for immediate action from the Board regarding critical issues affecting Champlain College Lennoxville,” the SECCL letter stated, calling it worrisome that the board, made aware of the SECCL’s concerns at an Oct. 27, 2023 meeting, chose not to take action until the conclusion of the ministerial inquiry and the Tribunal Administratif du Travail case. “This inaction is unacceptable to the SECCL membership,” the letter stated.
The SECCL correspondence went on to say its no-confidence motion stemmed from “a culmination of repeated unsuccessful attempts to internally address, through various communication channels and meetings, ongoing leadership failures, systemic mismanagement, and a profound lack of action in confronting critical issues that have plagued our institution for several years.”
Attempts to resolve those issues, according to the SECCL letter, “were met with unreasonable delays and or inadequate responses, contributing to the prevailing sense of mistrust and discontent among the faculty.”
The letter then pointed to recent media scrutiny surrounding Beattie’s work tribunal case saying, “The serious allegations raised against her have not only cast a shadow over the institution but also unearthed glaring deficiencies in governance.” The SECCL also wondered why Beattie wasn’t placed on investigative suspension pending the labour tribunal decision, a move they believed, “Would have mitigated workplace tensions, helped to maintain a healthy environment, and would have protected the high standards and reputation of the College.”
The letter went on imploring the board of governors to consider the gravity of the situation and take action in the briefest delays.
The letter was followed by the SECCL’s no-confidence motion, which referred to “failures in leadership, mismanagement, and lack of action in addressing the critical issues facing Champlain College -Lennoxville have been ongoing for many years,” adding that turnover of the management team indicated a systemic problem in the working climate and eroded trust. The motion also stated that the SECCL had communicated the lack of confidence of its members towards management on Dec. 15, 2022, that Beattie had provided insufficient strategic leadership and guidance regarding pedagogical matters, and that communication issues and the lack of governance transparency were evident.
The motion also pointed to an increasing financial deficit at the college, as well as a failure to update the harassment policy.
“The issues detailed above have been met with lack of adequate response by the College so far,
be it resolved that the above factors have caused an irreparable breach of trust leading to the SECCL to express a vote of no confidence in the Director of Constituent College, DCC, be it further resolved that the SECCL mandates the Executive to convey this vote of no confidence in the DCC to the appropriate stakeholders,” concluded the motion.
After the letter and motion were read, the external members of the board of governors broke off for an in-camera session.
Beattie was brought in at the beginning of the session and permitted to speak, and then returned to join the remaining board members and meeting guests in the main room as the external board members deliberated for roughly two hours.
When they returned, board chair Mazur read the following resolution:
“Whereas numerous articles have been published impacting the image of the college, and whereas the chair of the Board of Governors received on Dec. 18, 2023, a motion of non-confidence in the Director of Constituent College Lennoxville from the Saint-Isaac de l’Enseignement du Collège Champlain-Lennoxville, and whereas a number of allegations of psychological harassment are currently before the Tribunal Administrative du Travail, and whereas the college is presently under a Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur Investigation into, among other things, the administration, operations, and organizational climate of the Lennoxville Constituent College, and whereas it is the responsibility of the Board of Governors to ensure that Champlain Regional College and its constituent colleges fulfill their obligations to maintain a safe and healthy workplace for all, and whereas it is the responsibility of the Board of Governors to ensure the well-being of the community, the integrity, and the reputation of Champlain Regional College and its constituent colleges, be it therefore resolved that the Board of Governors will provide a temporary paid leave of absence effective immediately for the Director of Constituent College Lennoxville until the conclusions of the different investigations are brought to the board of governors, and be it therefore further resolved that the Director General will work with the Director of Constituent College Lennoxville to ensure a smooth transition during this time period.”
Champlain campus director placed on temporary paid leave Read More »