Retiring after eight years on OC board

Robert ìBobî Clark, who has served on the Olds College Board of Governors for eight years with three as chair, is stepping down.

Clark, 80, says he's enjoyed his time on the board because he's had a connection with the college many times in his life.

Clark, a Carstairs resident, notes he grew up in the area and when he was a youth, he attended Olds College 4-H Week and ended up being involved with 4-H at the national level.

Later, while they were both attending an Olds College grad, then-premier Ernest Manning asked Clark, then a local MLA, to become a member of the provincial cabinet.

An avid hockey fan, Clark became involved with the Olds Grizzlys Junior A hockey team and helped the team form a partnership with the college.

He's also enjoyed watching the college grow and change over the years.

ìIt's one of the few post-secondary educational institutions that's been able to change with the times and equip the young people who graduate for life by getting jobs,î Clark says.

He says three years ago, 96 per cent of Olds College grads obtained jobs in the area of their certification within six months, ìwhich is unbelievably great.î

Clark is proud of the makeup of the Olds College board, noting in addition to public members, it includes student and academic representatives and non-academic reps, as well as the college president.

ìThis college has been so fortunate to have a great relationship between the students, the faculty, the non-academic staff and the board.

ìAnd that's not true in all cases. Within the last three years, there have been two and perhaps three occasions where the students and faculty have petitioned the minister of education to remove the president.

ìWe've never had that. And a lot of that credit goes to very strong representatives from the students and faculty, but also the president and his willingness to meet with people and talk to people.

ìI think at the board, those people feel like they're equal board members, they're equal members to the public,î Clark says.

Clark is proud of the fact that during his time on the board, a new president was chosen to replace Tom Thompson, who has held the post for 16 years. He predicts that new president will be officially announced in a couple of weeks.

ìThat was a long, slow, tough process but it worked out very well and there was unanimity among the board and I'm proud of that,î he says.

He's also proud of the fact that over the past few years enrolment at the college has risen from 1,200 to between 1,300 and 1,400.

He says it's been tough for the college to grapple with increasing enrolment at a time when governments have continually cut back on funding.

Clark's lone regret is that an innovative project with Sunterra to create a 10-acre cogeneration greenhouse on the college grounds has not yet been finalized, despite being in the works for about three years.

He's hopeful it will get the final OK from the province later this year and that construction will begin this fall.

ìIt'll be the largest greenhouse in Western Canada,î he says.

College president Tom Thompson is also retiring this year.

Clark has lots of praise for him.

ìSixteen years is a long time in the academic business to be in one place, and he's I think added a tremendous amount to Olds College. But now it's a good time for someone else to come in and move beyond,î Clark says.

He says Thompson and the college's advancement department were instrumental in obtaining a $16-million gift from David P. Werklund and his partner, Susan Norman, the largest-ever personal donation to an Alberta college or technical institution.

They'll also match donations by others, which could turn that gift into a total of $32 million.

The gift will also result in the creation of Werklund Agriculture Institute (WAI), which will specialize in smart agriculture.

ìWe're not getting someone who's going to replace Dr. Thompson,î Clark says. ìThe new president will move beyond and move into the next generation of Olds College.î