Mennonite College Federation makes plans

WINNIPEG, MAN.

The Mennonite College Federation Committee met again Nov. 17 in Winnipeg to continue planning towards a goal of achieving a Federation by summer, 1999. At the previous meeting on Sept. 29, guidelines were established for hiring staff to help the eight sub-committees achieve their goals. At the most recent meeting, the program committee indicated that three people, Gerry Ediger, Adolf Ens and Isaac Block, will be hired to help with establishing programming for the federated colleges. Other consultants will be co-opted as needed.

Governance structure was a major item in the September meeting. The sub-committee, chaired by Abe Konrad, outlined a proposed structure, with overarching responsibility given to the church constituency (the Conference of Mennonites in Canada, the Concord College convention and the Friends of Menno Simons College). A Mennonite College Federation Council would be formed, with representatives from each of the three colleges, as well as invited agency, institutional and individual representatives. Responsible to this council would be an MCF Governing Board consisting of 15 voting members, 3 from each of the three college boards and 6 others (including faculty, student and alumni representatives from the colleges on a rotational basis, representatives from service and educational agencies, and other members at large).

The physical assets of the Federation would be held by a single corporate entity owned equally by the Conference of Mennonites in Canada and the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba (the Manitoba MB Conference). Notice was given by Menno Simons College that it would like to be a co-owner of the property, together with the two Conferences. No decision on this was made at the September meeting, but the issue was again raised at the November meeting. Menno Simons would like to see one legal entity govern both property and program. However, since Menno Simons College has no bricks and mortar, no capital funds and no fixed constituency, its claim to ownership of the physical plant is much more tenuous. MSC was assured that even though it would not be a partner in the ownership of the property, it would still be a full partner in the ownership of the program.

Menno Simons College also announced it was working toward amending its constitution to make it more Mennonite and to define who can be considered a "Friend" of Menno Simons College, and therefore eligible to be on the board of the College.

Tensions still seem to be evident in the discussions when finances and control are discussed. It was noted that more information is needed by the constituencies in order to properly process these items. Ed Reimer, a Menno Simons member on the Committee, encouraged the group to work on the long-term implications of Federation, rather than concentrating on just getting the concept off the ground. Would students continue to register as students of Concord, CMBC or MSC, or would they register as students of the Federation? Which body grants the degrees? What will happen to students who have no connections to either of the two sponsoring Conferences?

The marketing sub-committee chaired by Eleanor Epp-Stobbe had similar questions. Is it MCFC that is marketing itself to students, or each of the colleges, or both?

John Unger, moderator of the Manitoba MB Conference, urged the sub-committees to give clarity to the financial picture as well as the governance structure prior to the annual meeting of the Manitoba MB Conference in February, at which time final MB ratification of Federation would take place.

Many of these questions will be discussed at a joint board meeting scheduled for Jan. 24.

SB

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