Left: Dean Robert Drummond
The following is an excerpt of an article by Carrie Brodi, assistant to Shawn Saulnier, chief development officer, Faculty of Arts.
A distinguished group of Faculty of Arts graduates met with Faculty of Arts Dean Robert Drummond on Nov. 13 for the first meeting of the new Dean’s Advisory Council. The council’s objective is to work in an advisory capacity to help the Faculty achieve its vision to become recognized as one of the finest arts faculties in the country.
The council has 12 members including, CEOs, presidents and owners of companies working in such areas as: foreign service, manufacturing, real estate, transportation, marketing, public relations and insurance.
During the meeting, several members credited York University and their liberal arts education as having played a key role in their life,” one member said. “There was no other school within a bus ride that I could afford. It made an enormous difference in how my life progressed.”
Drummond discussed challenges currently facing arts, which include: funding for teachers, students and research, and the need for new courses, such as additional language courses, that respond to an internationalizing world of new knowledge. He also stressed the importance of teaching arts students how to analyze arguments and articulate their positions, adding, “If we don’t instill these skills, we won’t be doing our jobs.”
One of the suggestions from the group on how best to communicate York’s excellence and diversity was to institute a mentor’s program to introduce high-school students to exemplary York students and alumni.
Members of the Dean’s Advisory Council include: Sergio Marchi, ambassador and permanent representative of Canada; Simon Dean, president of Royal LePage; Andrew Sherwin, co-founder and owner of Sentient Inc; Micheal Coates, president and CEO of Hill and Knowlton Canada; Brian Sullivan, president of NCR Canada Ltd.; Lorne Kirshenbaum, president and owner of Brandworks International; Ken Singh, president of Atlas International Freight and Forwarding Inc; Isaac Sananes, CEO of Canadian Premiere Life Insurance Company; Judy Nyman, president of Nyman Ink; Charlie Macaluso, CEO of Electricity Distributors Association; and Rob VanVelzen, president of FSA Group.
The Dean’s Advisory Council will meet again in February, 2003.