Russ Lazaruk was elected as the new chair of Camosun College’s board of governors on September 14.
Lazaruk has been a member of the board of governors for the last four years, and he has held the position of vice chair since last year.
Current Camosun board of governors vice chair Ron Rice says he nominated Lazaruk for the position of chair because of his experiences over the last few years on the board.
“He’s been great to work with,” says Rice. “I certainly look forward to his leadership over the next few years. He’s very thoughtful; he’s well spoken. I think that being even-tempered is very useful in a chair, and I’m encouraged by how well he’s done in this position.”
Rice isn’t the only one at the college who thinks Lazaruk is right for the job. Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) external executive Andrea Eggenberger is pleased to see someone with such a diverse background as chair.
“I’m glad to see someone who has community involvement in their background,” says Eggenberger. “He’s mainly worked in finance and investment, but we see that he does a lot of community work, for example, in the public libraries or the Victoria art gallery. I’m really glad to see someone participating in multiple facets of the community. It implies that they appreciate the value of each academic program that Camosun offers and can see that artists and musicians add as much to the economy as nurses and accountants. So we’re really glad to see someone with a lot of community involvement and a lot of varied community involvement, and someone who’s been on the board for a while too.”
The position of chair is quite important to board meetings no matter the organization, according to Eggenberger.
“A chair is really vital to the efficiency of the meeting,” she says. “Without a chair the meeting could go on forever and never really resolve an issue. So we are really glad that Mr. Lazaruk has previous chairing experience with other boards on Salt Spring Island . He has also been on our board for a couple of years, so he knows just how it works, which is really good.”
Camosun’s board of governors sits at the top of the college’s hierarchy. Lazaruk explains that it’s a governance board, so they aren’t involved in the college’s operational details.
“We deal with the budget, which is actually developed by the executive team and the finance department, and then approve that,” he says. “That’s probably our number-one role; the rest of our role as the board of governors is strategic, so ensuring there’s a strategic plan and the general direction of the college.”
Second in command at the college is the president, who deals directly with the chair, says Rice.
“The chair on this particular board chairs all of the meetings and interprets the will of the board,” says Rice. “He is the liaison between the president and the college and the board. I always try to imagine an hourglassŃeverything has to go through the president to get to the chair, and then everything has to go through the chair to get through to the board. So he is the go-between between us and the college.”
The most important thing the board can bring to the college and achieve within board meetings is a common vision, according to Rice.
“I think the biggest part of it is trying to find a shared vision,” says Rice. “So, making sure that everyone’s perspective and opinion is considered. I think really it’s about keeping an eye on the goal rather than how the decision is made or how long the conversation has to be, just as long as the goal is reached.”
Those goals, according to Lazaruk, are to keep the college as comprehensive as possible.
“If I had a broad goal, it’s to help the college and encourage the college to continue being excellent in everything it does,” says Lazaruk. “It’s a strive toward excellence in everything that we do, and I don’t mean excellence in terms of being a Harvard or something like that, but whatever we feel that our role is. We are very much a comprehensive college, and those services that we deliver to our students, whether it is student services or education learning, are done in the best way possible.”
Lazaruk says that last year’s strategic sessions really focused the board’s direction for Camosun College.
“I think that we’ve probably given more focus to our goals,” he says. “Last year, after having gone through the strategic issue sessions, we reaffirmed that we are a comprehensive college and that we serve a broad range of students and student needs, everything from Access and Adult Basic Education right through to University Transfer and of course our applied degree programs. That’s what a comprehensive community college does.”