Concordia's dean of students retires
Weeks before Concordia dean of students Elizabeth Morey leaves office, a picture of the country house she is retiring to, surrounded by trees and a lake, is already up on her office wall.
“When I started at Concordia, in the International Students Office, I remember one of those years when the government first raised international student fees and everyone was in the streets protesting, including the president of the university,” says Morey. “Things have changed an awful lot since then.”
Working at Concordia from 1980 to 1994 in a number of different roles, Morey came back to the university in 2008 for her current position. In the interim she had worked at Marianopolis College and a university in the United Arab Emirates.
“It was a homecoming in many ways,” says Morey of her return for a three-year term in 2008.
As the dean of students, Morey was responsible for creating a rich environment on campus for student involvement and success. She was also responsible for acting as a bridge between students and the university’s administration, a position where she thrived with the “creative tension” and diplomacy required.
Morey “has been an exceptional dean of students and she has helped us liaison with various groups,” says Roger Côté, Concordia’s acting vice-president services. “She has been essential in a number of initiatives which have been responsible for the betterment of life on campus.
“She has embodied the true notion of being a service to students and she was respected for it,” says Côté.
On May 15, Morey met with hundreds of Concordia’s student parents at a barbeque. She hopes that the Student Parents Centre, a small office she created two years ago that supports Concordia’s 4,000 parents, will continue to grow once she leaves. Funding, she says, is the biggest problem.
Another achievement she is proud of is the Co-Curricular Record, a document that will accompany student transcripts and showcase students’ extracurricular activities. Morey also cited the transformation of the Loyola Chapel into a student space: “A beautiful place that hasn’t been used to its potential for years,” Morey says.
“Concordia has a big bureaucracy and students tend to fall through the cracks; trying to help students find their way has been one of my biggest challenges,” says Morey. “A source of frustration is that the student services are great, but people don’t know about them.”
To create more knowledge about projects, Morey spearheaded the university’s We Value campaign, a promotional effort that eventually yielded over 50 different posters and sticker designs around campus.
No successor has yet been named to replace Morey.
“The process is well advanced but these things take time,” said Côté. An acting dean of students will be named shortly to fill the position. He hopes to name a permanent replacement by the end of June.
Related links:
• Dean of students
• Co-Curricular Record
• Student Parents Centre
• “Historic Loyola Chapel continues to evolve” - NOW, November 18, 2010