“Heailines/November 12,1 997

Karen Evans 1 new v Dean of Access and Continuing Education —

UCFV. hired from within to fill the vacant position of Dean of Access and |

candidate is a relative newcomer.

Karen Evans has been appointed to: .

the Dean’s position after 10 months at the university college. She was originally * ~ hired by UCFV last December as a

Chilliwack-based Continuing Education Pe

program director.

_«. Evans lives in Chilliwack and her pat . recent position before joining UCFV was. -

as a manager with the Business

next level of management after holding a ; “number of mid- level administrative posts, Continuing Education, but the successful uo :

and because she has direct or indirect _ experience in all four areas that the

; division she will be heading up concentrates on: continuing education, - college and career preparation, English as

_ Development Bank of Canada. She is the x

incoming president of the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce, and has a |

_ Bachelor of Administration degree from Athabasca University, and a Master of: -

Industrial Relations from Queen’s -

University. She replaces Susan Witter as.

dean. Witter moved on to become ” _ president of Douglas College. -

Over the course of her 19-year career, ©

“Evans, 41, has worked in a range of . positions, from assistant bank manager to college instructor, and family services ~ director to college administrator. Her - varied career path is partly a result of -

-. frequent moves when her husband was in the Canadian military.

_ UCFV president Peter Jones is delighted that UCFV’s newest dean —

- brings a wealth of Private, and public vs experience to the job..

-“Karen has a breadth of experience

that will be invaluable in her new role at

- UCFV,” said Jones. “ She also has an excellent understanding of the post-. secondary environment from her former positions at North Island College and as

“ program director here at UCFV. Karen understands the many complex and-*

Continuing Education area. . os “T am very pleased to have another. ‘member of the senior management tear . *. joining us from Chilliwack,” Jones ~

continued.’ “Karen’s work in a number of -

~ areas of the Chilliwack community. will. be very valuable and helpful in her new ~~. job. In many ways Continuing Education

has led the way at UCFV in community -

involvement and forming effective.’ - partnerships. Karen is well qualified to continue and build on this tradition.” Evans said that she applied for the job _- because she was ready to move onto the —

Karen Evans ..

a ‘second language, and international ” ~ education. She also said that her: private

sector experience will be helpful when it -

comes to fostering an entrepreneurial -

attitude in her division and forming |

partnerships in the community and within

the university college. “The entrepreneurial vision will,

continue to be an important and growing °

factor in post-secondary, particularly i in continuing education, and I think I can - bring some perspective to that. At the

~ same time, I have an understanding of the —

issues surrounding access and the need to keep education available to everyone,” Evans said,

“One of 1 my strengths is is-in building

partnerships and helping to shape new...

models of cooperation to reflect the

‘current times,” she continued.

“Government funding for part-time oe

‘important issues facing the Access and -- : vocational training is not going to grow

significantly in the near future, so we’

have to find ways to educate more people ~ _ by forming links with both private.

educational institutions and with other - departments within UCFV.”. .: Evans cited two examples of partnership projects she’s been working on in her job as a program director. © “UCE V is working with Sprott- Shaw community college on a federal-. government funded Hospitality

. Management program. We will provide

space, and some of the training, Sprott- Shaw will do some of the training and

- provide access to their extensive network

of practicum placement positions. . “Internally, we are working with the UCFYV Agriculture department towards: __- creating a training program in holistic, sustainable agriculture. They’re aan developing the curriculum and we are oo administering it ona cost-recovery basis.” It could be years before we get funding in the base budget for a new program like ~

that, so we will take the initial risk,

provide the opportunity to try something

_ new, and nurture the program.” ..

~ Her master’s degree focused on

'. training and developing adults. While. ~~ - working for North Island College most of

_- the students she taught or administered

”- programs for were over 35 years old. Her © focus at Seneca college’s CFB Baden |

campus in Germany was “second career”. .

training for people preparing to leave the “military. Her other job in Germany © focused on administering family services, | ro ~ including a daycare facility, and a variety... of programs for military families.

In her position with the Business Development Bank of Canada, she

~ focused on supporting training for people a _ who wanted to start or expand their own businesses.

: She’s looking forward to the

challenges of the becoming a dean. -

. “I did some fairly extensive research into the position and realized that I had a

» strong and appropriate background for

taking on these responsibilities. ’m __ . honoured that the hiring committee had -

~ enough the confidence in me to offer me - ‘the position. The Continuing Education -. ~. and Access area will continue to evolve at _

a rapid and continuous pace. I can’t .

“predict where we’ll be, even in six

months. But we will continue to adapt and . respond, and to build bridges externally

and internally. I’m looking forward to it.”

Evans plans on starting a PhD in

“educational leadership and policy at UBC. _ | .in 1999, She lives-in Sardis with her

husband and two teenaged daughters. One daughter is a UCFV science student; the:

. other attends high school. They are avid

skiers and travellers.