Brief

NSCC cancels fall convocation

Strike threat required early call, college says

Entrance to the NSCC Waterfront Campus. Photo: Amber Nicholson

The Nova Scotia Community College has cancelled fall convocation at all of its campuses. One hundred and thirty students were supposed to graduate at this week's convocations, but because of the threat of a strike by the NSCC faculty the college made the decision last week not to hold the convocation.

Tanya Boomer, a mature student who entered the Continuing Care Program with a GED, has never had the opportunity to attend a graduation. She was looking forward to enjoying her moment of achievement before it was taken away from her. "I feel as though my hard work was in vain without the opportunity to formally graduate and share my sense of accomplishment and pride with my classmates and family."

They needed to make a decision by Oct. 15 to allow students enough time to inform their guests who may have been travelling from away to attend. They didn't know at the time the outcome of the pending strike so they told the students they wouldn't be walking across the stage this Friday.

Rhonda Brown, communications specialist for NSCC, says students will be mailed their diplomas and/or certificates after Friday. If they want their opportunity to walk across the stage, she says they must wait four months to attend the next convocation, which will be held Feb. 26, 2010. But if the pattern continues from the past two years there won't even be a February convocation.

The college cancelled both 2008 and 2009 February convocations due to lack of participation.

Although the strike has reached a tentative agreement, the fall convocation will remain cancelled. A representative of the Centre for Student Success at the NSCC Truro campus says,

"It's too short of notice now to get things up and going again."

Tentative agreement meetings

Meetings will be held today and tomorrow across the province to discuss the tentative agreement between the province and the NSCC. Faculty members will be told at the meetings the details of the agreement and a vote date for the proposed agreement will be set.

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