New UOIT president Ronald Bordessa held many posts at York

Ronald Bordessa, a former dean of York University’s Atkinson Faculty of LIberal & Professional Studies, has been named president of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, reported the Toronto Star April 21. Bordessa, 62 – who succeeds founding president Gary Polonsky – was born in Wales, and has been at Royal Roads University in Victoria for the last five years as academic vice-president and provost. A geographer who held various positions at York University over 30 years, Bordessa has a reputation as a challenging, innovative thinker, and education leaders say he is a perfect fit to lead Ontario’s newest university. Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy, who worked at York with Bordessa, praised the appointment. “What I know about Ron is he is one of the very best at bringing colleagues together and talking about shared vision and actually implementing it. He is a sophisticated buyer of ideas…. He will pick the ones that will move the institution and have got traction,” said Levy, a former vice-president of UOIT. Bordessa plans to move to Durham with his wife, Mari. They have four grown children.

Faculty, administrators and students at Queen’s University held a meeting to dig at the ongoing perception of the university as a predominantly white and often racist institution, one that breeds a “culture of whiteness”, reported The Kingston Whig-Standard, April 21. Three weeks ago, the Queen’s senate accepted from York University professor emerita Frances Henry a report that was completed in 2004. The senate also heard a series of recommendations from the equity committee based on Henry’s report, which included hiring only administrators who clearly show how they would meet the university’s equity goals and a proposal to create a new executive portfolio to deal with diversity.

The whole concept of reporting public sector salaries based on an arbitrary income level is absurd, wrote Jack Eisenberg in a letter to The Windsor Star April 21. With rising salaries, it stands to reason that more people will be on the ($100,000-plus) list each year. With respect to the University of Windsor, there are approximately 150 members in the $100,000 club. Compare that to the University of Toronto (1,500 members), York University (600 members), University of Waterloo (450 members) and the University of Western Ontario (430 members), and you’ll see that numbers without context can be meaningless. These universities are larger and their communities have a higher cost of living, which explains why context is so important.

In the extensive media coverage about the firing of Toronto Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn, Canadian Press noted April 21 that he earned a BA in economics from York University in 1972.

The BC Lions, who had three first-round picks in the Canadian Football League draft, picked York University Lions linebacker Ricky Foley before the Argos grabbed University of Calgary defensive lineman Dan Federkeil, reported the Toronto Star and the National Post April 21.

In a story about a local highschool coach, The Review (Niagara Falls) noted April 21 that other mentionable St. Paul High School graduates included York University quarterback-running back Brian Fortier, a first-year student in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science .