Capilano University has named a former dean of its faculty of business and professional studies as its new president.
J. Paul Dangerfield will be taking the top job this fall after current president Kris Bulcroft retires in July.
Dangerfield said he is looking forward to the homecoming.
“Of course, I have a direct connection in that I started my academic career at Capilano. They gave me my start in teaching,” he said. “It’s a wonderful university with great faculty. I found the students, when I was there, tremendous. I still am in touch with them many years later.”
The university formed a search committee in 2015 and managed to woo Dangerfield from his current position as executive director and campus dean of the New York Institute of Technology’s Vancouver campus. Previously, he was the vice-president of education, research and international with B.C. Institute of Technology from 2009 to 2014.
The committee selected Dangerfield, in part, because of his reputation as a team builder, problem solver and developer of leadership, something Dangerfield said he looks forward to doing at Cap.
“(It’s) being able to provide leadership when there’s a lot of noise going on, when there’s a lot of chaos. The world that we work in is very complex,” he said. “What I’ve done over a number of years is help provide some clarity to those complex situations and help teams solve the problems to be able to deal with those complexities.”
Dangerfield will be taking the reins after a few rocky years at Cap, which saw a series of budget shortfalls, course cancellations, student protests, a lawsuit from the faculty, teacher and staff strikes, and a harsh ruling from the Canadian Association of University Teachers chastising Cap for violating academic freedom.
While he’s mindful of the “pitfalls of the past,” Dangerfield said he comes into the position with an eye to the future.
“My focus will be on moving forward. I think there’s been a lot of lessons learned but there are a lot of other lessons to be learned out there from other universities and colleges who are pushing the envelope in academic excellence and educational technology and new ways of delivering programs and new ways of supporting students,” he said.
Many of Cap’s challenges will still exist when he takes the job, especially with it remaining one of the lowest funded post-secondary schools in the province. But, Dangerfield said, there is room to build on the school’s strengths.
“I think what we all realize is we can’t keep doing things the same way and hope to get different or more positive results when you’re dealing with resource constraints,” he said. “I think we need to be able to be able to build that capacity to identify future trends in education and industry, business, the arts and develop more relevant programs for the future.”
And, Dangerfield said any new directions the school moves in will be done with stakeholders, on and off campus, helping chart the course.
“I would never arrive at a university or any organization saying ‘Here’s our vision for the future.’ A vision is always a shared activity that you work on with the community,” he said. “As a general approach, something I think we’d all agree on to work towards over the next five years is that Capilano is a university recognized well beyond the North Shore for its excellence in teaching, very relevant programming and also its support for the community.”
Capilano Faculty Association president Brent Calvert said the union’s members are excited to have Dangerfield in the position.
“Paul brings past experience with Cap … so he understands the existing culture here. Since he’s left Capilano he’s had tremendous leadership-building experiences and during the search process, we were really impressed with his ability and interest in capacity building.”
New leadership should be able to help “reinvigorate the Capilano brand,” Calvert added.
While the school has its new president lined up, it has also named a new ceremonial leader.
David T. Fung, international entrepreneur and North Shore resident, will be the school’s new chancellor in time to preside over the 2016 convocations.
As a member of both Capilano University’s board of governors and the senate, the chancellor serves as an ambassador for the university and confers degrees to graduates.
“Serving in the role of chancellor is a great honour, and as a North Shore resident, I’m especially pleased to have this opportunity to engage with the local community,” says Fung. “I look forward to serving as an ambassador for Capilano University, helping to encourage students to become leaders in a rapidly changing world.”
Fung was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Capilano University in 2014. Today, he is the chairman and CEO of ACDEG Group of Companies, a global tech firm.
The board of governors appoints the chancellor on the recommendation of the Capilano University Alumni Association for a three-year term.
