Embedded Files
UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
SAVE THESE DATES!
SAVE THESE DATES!
RALLY at NIC outside Komox hall at the Courtenay campus from 8:30 - 9:30am, and noon - 1pm - Thursday Feb 5th!
show the board that these programs matter to our community! KEY times to be physically present will be between 8:30 - 9:30am when the board arrives, and then from noon - 1pm during lunch break. Media will be present from 12-1pm. Having a physical presence is PARAMOUNT. If we can't show them the community cares enough to show up, we can't show them that they need to preserve this program. Tell your friends, family, re-post this website to your social media, email it, spam it, yell it from a street corner! If you can only make it to one thing, this is it!
This is a peaceful rally which must abide by NIC rules. Do not physically impede board members, security, staff, instructors, or students (or anyone). Do not enter the Komox Hall building. It is our hope that these decision makers can be persuaded, but any dialogue with them should be respectful. Share your passion, but don’t verbally attack anyone. All of the rally organizers wish for this gathering to be a show of support for students, and it is their wish that this gathering abide by these principles.
LINK for Thursday Feb 5th NIC OPEN PUBLIC MEETING on Microsoft Teams from 1-3:15pm, and please join EARLY as there will be a large number of people to be added to the meeting:
To join the meeting, you must display your first and last name, it is requested that your cameras be on (but not strictly necessary), and it is requested that observers refrain from using the 'raise hand' or reaction functions.
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/23070337421430?p=5oFzYWhh3vbQIXdar5
Meeting ID: 230 703 374 214 30
Passcode: iu9yD6op
NOW - Feb 5th - Email BOG@nic.bc.ca to RSVP to the Feb 5th board meeting online. Link to meeting will be posted here when available, and will be emailed out day of as well to anyone who has signed the petition.
January 30th Update
January 30th Update
On the evening of Tues. Jan 13, the Board of Governors (B.O.G.) announced recommendations to suspend 15 programs including nearly all visual and digital arts, and the entirety of the Fine Arts Diploma. If the decision to suspend the Fine Arts Diploma is approved on Feb 5, this could mean the end of the only Fine Arts college program on the North Island along with other valuable programs.
On January 23, the Education Council concluded that it could not provide meaningful advice on the proposed program suspensions because it had not been given sufficient information within its academic scope, and noted that the request did not clearly align with Policy 3-20. The overall discussion at this meeting reflected significant uncertainty and concern about process, sequencing, and the rushed timeline.
We have until Feb 5 to voice our concerns and demand that the Board of Governors vote NO to suspend the 15 programs at NIC. The board has moved ALL presentations from our community to a public forum held on Feb 4. It will only be available virtually to observers. Presenters have only 3 minutes each.
UPCOMING EVENTS - SAVE THESE DATES!
(Check website for updated links to attend meetings online)
NOW - Feb 5th - Email BOG@nic.bc.ca to RSVP to the Feb 4th forum and Feb 5th board meeting online. Link to meeting will be posted here when available, and will be emailed out day of as well to anyone who has signed the petition.
Saturday Jan 31st from noon - 4pm, RSVP to jackmoorsart@gmail.com for location and more info - Students are invited to attend a sign making and organizing party in preparation for the day of action. Bring snacks and any sign making supplies/experience you have! We need help making signs for the upcoming in-person action on Feb 5th. Our organizers are stretched thin!
Wednesday Feb 4th, online Microsoft Teams, noon - 4pm - Attend public forum to listen to 20 community members give short, three minute, presentations to the board asking them to save these programs, followed by questions from board members. (see website for link when available)
Thursday Feb 5th starting at 8:30am on campus in the Comox valley - Attend a day of action to show the board that these programs matter to our community! KEY times to be physically present will be between 8:30 - 9:30am when the board arrives, and then from noon - 1pm during lunch break. Having a physical presence is PARAMOUNT. If we can't show them the community cares enough to show up, we can't show them that they need to preserve this program. Tell your friends, family, re-post this website to your social media, email it, spam it, yell it from a street corner! If you can only make it to one thing, this is it!
Thursday Feb 5 @ 9AM - Board of Governors meeting – online via Microsoft Teams. ANYONE MAY ATTEND THIS MEETING, and everyone who is present will be officially tallied. This is the big meeting where the decisions are being finalized regarding program suspensions. Show up if you want to save the Fine Arts Program or any of the 14 other valuable programs recommended for suspension.
Location : NIC Comox Valley campus, KOMOUX Hall board room
(see website for link when available)
Show up if you want to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC!
The risk of losing these 15 programs is concerning enough, but the process by which these decisions are being made is also deeply problematic and inadequate. Issues with this process include:
Rushed decision-making timeline - The B.O.G. provided only 3 weeks and 1 day between announcing the recommendations for suspension and the meeting to vote on those recommendations on Feb 5. This gave only 8 days to apply to speak at the B.O.G. meeting before the Jan 21 deadline.
Lack of transparency - The administration has been in conversation with the B.O.G. about this process since September but shared no information with students or the broader community. This decision has been made behind closed doors and the information related to this process and decision have not been made available.
Lack of consultation (with students, faculty, community): This is a publicly funded institution and a community college - stakeholders should be involved in a meaningful consultation regarding the impacts of these decisions and how to move forward in a way that considers the needs of those affected.
Lack of Information: With the expedited timeline and lack of consultation, the B.O.G. has not been able to collect relevant and necessary information required to make this decision. Additionally, there is insufficient data collected to justify this decision. Furthermore, important information about this decision has not been shared with some members of the B.O.G. until a week after the recommendations were voted on. Information was not shared with stakeholders with enough time to submit arguments against the decision.
Breach of process - The B.O.G. has violated its own bylaws in this process and the college changed its bylaw 3-20, adding 3-20-1 only 4 days before initial program cancellations were quietly made on October 2nd, and it hasn’t even followed the process documented in policy 3-20-1. All board members should have been present at all board meetings.
Faulty justification - The college is selectively using data that supports their arguments - for example, instead of counting the number of students who complete the Fine Arts program, they limit the number to those who have applied for graduation as well. The surveys that the college is relying on have very small sample sizes - the survey they used to find the number of Fine Arts students employed in a training related job is based on responses from only 20 people! The college also ignores important aspects of the provincial mandate letter including “consideration of the diverse needs of local communities with specific attention to the unique needs of rural, remote and First Nations communities.”
The B.O.G. did NOT follow process and does NOT have enough information to make this decision.
We have very little time, so our goal is to show NIC that cutting the Fine Arts Program is a decision that goes against our community. In order to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC, we need you to share your opposition to the college’s recommendation for its suspension.
Here are some immediate actions that you can take to save Fine Arts at NIC:
Write an email to the college to tell them why the Fine Arts Program at NIC is a valuable part of our community and cannot be cut!
Send your emails to bog@nic.bc.ca (Board of Governors), aisling.brady@nic.bc.ca (Education Council Chair) & lisa.domae@nic.bc.ca (College president) and make sure to CC community.director@nisu.ca & advocacy@nisu.ca (North Island Student’s Union) as well.
Create a testimonial explaining how the program closure would affect you and the community economically and socially. Send it to the emails above and as a letter to the editor (see action #6) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lVoGIiTV7FCS7PPaO6vq7SpWWgijG3cf60PBLo6SOWI/edit?usp=sharing
Sign our petition: https://forms.gle/4tkQXbZQh14UGUeM9
Write a letter to the editor to the Comox valley record (https://comoxvalleyrecord.com/services/submit-letter-to-the-editor/) and the Campbell River Mirror (https://campbellrivermirror.com/services/submit-letter-to-the-editor/).
Contact local media (radio, tv, print, online) to make your voice heard about the cuts.
Tell your friends, family, and community members and ask them to share & take the above actions as well!
Post about the cuts on Social Media & Reddit including this list of actions that people can take.
Submit photos of your artworks! Student speakers will only have 3 minutes to address the board on Feb 4th! They need help representing the arts community.
Submit your artworks to our student presentation folder —> PRESENTATIONS - Google Drive
Make sure your submitted files are labelled with your name so student presenters can credit you and your work in their presentations.
Note: any submitted artworks will not be used after Feb 5, 2026 without the written consent of the artist.
Make rally signs! Join us for a sign making hang out on Saturday, Jan 31 from noon till 4. RSVP to jackmoorsart@gmail.com for location TBD.
Create your own action! Use your creativity & imagination to show your support for Fine Arts at NIC!
In order to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC along with many other valuable programs, you and your community members must take immediate action and speak out loudly against the proposed program cuts.
📣 🎨✊
For more information: www.sites.google.com/view/save-nic-art/home
To learn more about the economic and social benefits of arts in the Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands region, visit: https://www.creativecoast.ca/impact/
Petition
Petition
History
History
On the evening of Tues. Jan 13, the Board of Governors (B.O.G.) announced recommendations to suspend 15 programs including nearly all visual and digital arts, and the entirety of the Fine Arts Diploma. If the decision to suspend the Fine Arts Diploma is approved on Feb 5, this could mean the end of the only Fine Arts college program on the North Island along with other valuable programs.
On January 23, the Education Council concluded that it could not provide meaningful advice on the proposed program suspensions because it had not been given sufficient information within its academic scope, and noted that the request did not clearly align with Policy 3-20. The overall discussion at this meeting reflected significant uncertainty and concern about process, sequencing, and the rushed timeline.
The risk of losing these 15 programs is concerning enough, but the process by which these decisions are being made is also deeply problematic and inadequate. Issues with this process include:
Rushed decision-making timeline - The B.O.G. provided only 3 weeks and 1 day between announcing the recommendations for suspension and the meeting to vote on those recommendations on Feb 5. This gave only 8 days to apply to speak at the B.O.G. meeting before the Jan 21 deadline.
Lack of transparency - The administration has been in conversation with the B.O.G. about this process since September but shared no information with students or the broader community. This decision has been made behind closed doors and the information related to this process and decision have not been made available.
Lack of consultation (with students, faculty, community): This is a publicly funded institution and a community college - stakeholders should be involved in a meaningful consultation regarding the impacts of these decisions and how to move forward in a way that considers the needs of those affected.
Lack of Information: With the expedited timeline and lack of consultation, the B.O.G. has not been able to collect relevant and necessary information required to make this decision. Additionally, there is insufficient data collected to justify this decision. Furthermore, important information about this decision has not been shared with some members of the B.O.G. until a week after the recommendations were voted on. Information was not shared with stakeholders with enough time to submit arguments against the decision.
Breach of process - The B.O.G. has violated its own bylaws in this process and the college changed its bylaw 3-20, adding 3-20-1 only 4 days before initial program cancellations were quietly made on October 2nd, and it hasn’t even followed the process documented in policy 3-20-1. All board members should have been present at all board meetings.
Faulty justification - The college is selectively using data that supports their arguments - for example, instead of counting the number of students who complete the Fine Arts program, they limit the number to those who have applied for graduation as well. The surveys that the college is relying on have very small sample sizes - the survey they used to find the number of Fine Arts students employed in a training related job is based on responses from only 20 people! The college also ignores important aspects of the provincial mandate letter including “consideration of the diverse needs of local communities with specific attention to the unique needs of rural, remote and First Nations communities.”
The B.O.G. did NOT follow process and does NOT have enough information to make this decision.
We have very little time, so our goal is to show NIC that cutting the Fine Arts Program is a decision that goes against our community. In order to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC, we need you to share your opposition to the college’s recommendation for its suspension.
Impact
Impact
The Fine Arts program at NIC is a valuable part of the Comox Valley and the North Island more broadly. The loss of this program would have devastating impacts for our arts community and will ripple out far beyond to change the very shape of the place we call home. This impact will be felt the hardest by students living on lower incomes, and students with disabilities as grants, bursaries, and scholarships only apply to credentialed programs.
We have very little time, so our goal is to show NIC that cutting the Fine Arts Program is a decision that goes against our community. In order to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC, we need you to share your opposition to the college’s recommendation for its suspension.
Our demands
Our demands
We call on NIC’s Board of Governors and the Province of British Columbia to take immediate, constructive action:
Pause any suspensions until transparency is met — release clear, program-specific data and the methodology used to justify proposed changes.
Maintain program stability and access — protect students’ pathways and preserve local access to education.
Meaningful consultation — engage students, faculty, communities, and Indigenous partners in a way that can genuinely influence outcomes.
A solutions-focused sustainability plan — present viable alternatives and mitigation strategies that keep programs alive rather than quietly dismantled through uncertainty.
Take action!
Take action!
In order to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC, you and your community members must take immediate action!
In order to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC, you and your community members must take immediate action!
Speak out loudly against the proposed program cuts!
Speak out loudly against the proposed program cuts!
Create a testimonial
Create a testimonial
Explaining how the program closure would affect you and the community economically and socially. Send it to NIC and as a letter to the editor.
NIC emails:
bog@nic.bc.ca (Board of Governors)
aisling.brady@nic.bc.ca (Education Council Chair)
lisa.domae@nic.bc.ca (College president)
Make sure to CC:
advocacy@nisu.ca (North Island Student’s Union)
PSFS.Minister@gov.bc.ca ( Minister of Post Secondary Education)
Brennan.Day.MLA@leg.bc.ca (Member of the Legislative Assembly)
Paste-able list:
bog@nic.bc.ca, aisling.brady@nic.bc.ca, lisa.domae@nic.bc.ca, community.director@nisu.ca, PSFS.Minister@gov.bc.ca, Brennan.Day.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Comox valley record
Campbell River Mirror
Write an email to the college
Write an email to the college
Tell NIC why the Fine Arts Program at NIC is a valuable part of our community and cannot be cut!
Send your emails to:
bog@nic.bc.ca (Board of Governors)
aisling.brady@nic.bc.ca (Education Council Chair)
lisa.domae@nic.bc.ca (College president)
Make sure to CC:
advocacy@nisu.ca (North Island Student’s Union)
Post to your socials
Post to your socials
Include a link to this site in a post on social media!
Share info on the economic impacts
Share info on the economic impacts
To learn more about the economic and social benefits of arts in the Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands region, visit: https://www.creativecoast.ca/impact/
Government data here:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/sports-culture/arts-culture/facts-and-stats
Attend meetings
Attend meetings
Attend the following meetings and sign up to speak. These meetings are open to students and community members (see Upcoming Events list below for details):
RSVP to attend January 23rd Education Council meeting (online) by emailing edco_RS@nic.bc.ca.
Email aisling.brady@nic.bc.ca if you want to speak.
Wednesday Feb 4th, online Microsoft Teams, noon - 4pm - Attend public forum to listen to 20 community members give short, three minute, presentations to the board asking them to save these programs, followed by questions from board members.
Attend the Feb 5 @ 9AM - Board of Governors meeting – online via Microsoft Teams. ANYONE MAY ATTEND THIS MEETING, and everyone who is present will be officially tallied. This is the big meeting where the decisions are being finalized regarding program suspensions. Show up if you want to save the Fine Arts Program at NIC.
Location : NIC Comox Valley campus, KOMOUX Hall board room
Contact your MP
Contact your MP
Contact your local north island MLA and MP and let them know how important accessible, affordable arts are to our community, and to our community college!
Brennan.Day.MLA@leg.bc.ca (Member of Legislative Assembly, Courtenay)
PSFS.Minister@gov.bc.ca (Jessie Sunner, Minister of Post Secondary Education and Future Skills)
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