Ray Ivany, new president of Acadia University, receives warm welcome

Former president and CEO of NSCC to begin leadership at Acadia

Ray Ivany, a pioneering former head of Nova Scotia Community College was named this morning as the new president of Acadia University.

Ivany, a native of Sydney, N.S., is the current head of N.S. Workers Compensation Board but is best known for his tenure at NSCC, where he dramatically restructured the institution.

"I am very excited about joining Acadia. I have long been and admirer of theirs- as I think many Nova Scotians are," he said Wednesday afternoon.

"There is so much right about Acadia. There is a deep commitment to focus on the development of the whole student, as a human being. That is becoming rare among universities and there is a long tradition of that at Acadia."

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Ray Ivany, named Wednesday as the new president of Acadia University. (Photo supplied)

Ivany is a graduate of the College of Cape Breton, has earned a master of science degree from East Tennessee State University and was a research fellow in the School of Public Health at Harvard University.

He is also no stranger to leadership roles. Between 1998 and 2005, he was president and chief executive officer of Nova Scotia Community College. During his time at NSCC, the college underwent a significant transformation in academic programming, enrolment growth and infrastructure through a $123-million capital investment by the provincial government. Ivany has been credited for making the school one of Canada's most highly-regarded colleges.

Ron Smith, chair of Acadia's board of governors, said in a press release earlier Wednesday that Ivany was chosen specifically for his leadership ability, extensive experience with post-secondary education and his "enthusiasm for building relationships."

Ivany was interviewed by faculty and students as part of a long selection process. Yesterday, both administrators and students applauded his appointment.

"He is someone with so much experience and he has been received so well by the university community," said Scott Roberts, a communications representative for Acadia. Roberts said the reaction from faculty, staff and students was consistently positive and the campus cannot wait for him to join their community.

"We got a lot of very positive comments about him. People are really excited."

Ivany's job will not be easy. Acadia University has recently suffered a two per cent drop in enrolment and endured two faculty strikes since 2004.

"The strike was a bit of a hiccup," said Kyle Steele, current president of Acadia's student union. "I know everyone on campus, students and faculty, would rather forget about it. Relationships on campus are much much better than they used to be."

The university has several new initiatives planned, including a major project in New England and the Caribbean.

"In a time of so many complexities and ambiguities in the world today, education is so deeply needed. We need to connect ourselves to a broader base of students," Ivany stressed.

Faculty is also set to launch a project called the Alternative First Year, which would offer a more diverse range of coursesand broaden the scope of academic opportunities for incoming first-year students.

Steele was a part of the selection committee that made the final decision about their new president.

"We are trying not to have a Barack Obama feeling on campus, or assume that he will be able to fix everything, but we are pretty excited."

Steele says that there is new feeling on the Acadia campus today and both students and faculty alike are optimistic about the upcoming years.

"The news has brought our whole campus up. We are going to be a university to be reckoned with."

Ivany's six-year term begins on April 1.

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