Then and now: Meet the new Vice-President Services
Thirty years after he began his career at Concordia, Roger Côté’s unwavering dedication to and passion for the service sector remains evident.
Côté says his love of working with people is what drives him. This love didn’t go unnoticed by several Concordia student leaders in 1981 who, after hearing Côté present at a regional conference about his work at Champlain College, encouraged him to apply at Concordia. He started that year as director of the Loyola Campus Centre.
“I knew the university and that it had a vibrant environment from a student services perspective,” says Côté. It was not long before he left the Eastern Townships and headed to Montreal to pursue what would become a long career at Concordia. “It provided some interesting challenges, as well as an opportunity for professional growth and to work in an environment that, even then, was recognized as very dynamic and stimulating in terms of student life and student services.”
Côté has held a variety of key management positions at the university, including Acting Dean of Students, Director of Socio-Economic Services, Director of the Financial Aid and Awards Office, and Associate Vice-President of Enrolment and Student Services. Throughout his career at the university, he has seen enrolment nearly triple.
“We have reinvented and transformed ourselves, all the while remaining true to the core values and the tradition of the university, a tradition of being close to the students and being supportive of innovation and transformation. We could have distanced and institutionalized ourselves to the point of losing touch with what we valued 30 years ago, but those values are still going strong today,” says Côté. “That’s a credit to our leadership over the years and it’s a credit to every single employee of this institution who remains committed.”
University business operations, such as the bookstore, have remained leaders in their field, always looking for innovative ways to serve the community."
Roger Côté
In keeping with the university’s long-standing values, Côté views his role as Vice-President Services as an opportunity to ensure the service sector is aligned to meet the needs, expectations and aspirations of the university community. This represents a challenge, he says, when dealing with resource constraints.
One of Côté’s key objectives is to keep pace with the ever-increasing demands of the information technology field. “We need to develop an infrastructure that is sustainable and will evolve with students who come to the university with considerable experience in working in an online environment,” he says.
Côté is also committed to maintaining the university’s impressive development and management of its facilities, as well as its support for sustainable practices. This includes the university’s consistent top ranking in energy consumption per square metre among Quebec universities (according to the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport). “It is vital that we continue to use our facilities and run our business operations in a most optimal and sustainable fashion,” he says.
He is quick to add, however, that the service sector is not just about buildings and technology, it’s also about working closely with students on their personal needs, be it their health, psychological well-being, spiritual needs, learning support, career planning, financial circumstances, or their recreational and fitness interests. “Our main goal lies in complementing and contributing to the total development and education of our students by providing services that will help them perform better not just in the classroom, but within their personal lives as well. That’s the Concordia way.”
Related links:
• “Concordia Appoints Roger Côté Vice-President Services” - NOW, June 9, 2011
• “Roger Côté Named Acting Vice-President Services” - News and Events, January 17, 2008
• 2007 Outstanding Faculty/Staff