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.”
