An Invitation
Colleges & Communities

You are invited to participate in a series of discussions on the colleges and how students, faculty and staff can engage in creating smaller communities within the overall Trent community, based on the college system.

The colleges were envisioned as a way of encouraging faculty and student interaction in academic areas and in social and extra-curricular activities. As our student numbers have increased, most students live off-campus and the residential experience has become, primarily, a first-year experience. Many faculty have disengaged from college life as the requirements of their teaching and research take precedence over service in colleges. Colleges remain, however, a defining characteristic of Trent. Over the past 40 years they have adapted to the changing circumstances of students and faculty and the financial realities of Trent. We now need a further discussion about how well the college system is meeting the needs of current students, faculty and staff and how the continuing adaptation of colleges might proceed.

Join the discussion – open meetings
Tuesday, February 6th, 4-6pm – Otonabee College, Dining Hall
Thursday, February 8th, 1-3pm – Lady Eaton College, Dining Hall

Background information about the colleges from Susan Apostle-Clark, Vice President Academic

Memo from Ray Dart, Head of Peter Gzowski College designed to raise ideas for discussion

Please bring your ideas and thoughts to the meetings! and fill out our Survey by choosing Survey from the links on the left.

Deadline for survey completion - Friday, February 16, 2007.

The survey may be completed only once and consequently you are asked to provide your student/staff/faculty ID number and last name. This information will be deleted prior to any analysis thereby guaranteeing your anonymity. If you have further comments you wish to add, please forward them to collegeweek@trentu.ca by Friday, February 16, 2007.

Following the meetings, the College Heads and the colleges subcommittee of CASSC will review all the ideas and suggestions and provide a summary report for the Trent community.

Susan Apostle-Clark, Vice President Academic
Professor Stephen Brown, Champlain
Professor Ray Dart, College Head, Gzowski
Professor Leonard Conolly, College Head, Lady Eaton
Professor Ian Storey, College Head, Otonabee
Professor Michael Peterman, College Head, Traill

January 30, 2007