Langara board launches evaluation of president after 92% vote of non-confidence

BY MARC BOLEN and OKSANA SHTOHRYN

Langara College’s board of governors has said it will immediately begin a formal evaluation of president Paula Burns in response to an overwhelming faculty vote of no confidence earlier this month.

In a letter sent to faculty on Monday, board chair Scott Murray said the evaluation under Policy 435, which assesses whether the president is meeting the college’s strategic priorities and operating within board policies, is expected to conclude in January 2026.

The LFA announced the 92 per cent vote of non-confidence against Burns at a special general meeting held Oct. 16.

In its letter to the board immediately after the vote, the Langara Faculty Association called on the board to remove her as president. It also asked for a process audit of college operations, a development of a crisis management plan and greater budget transparency.

The LFA cited the mounting crisis: steep enrolment declines, projected deficits, shrunken programs, and more than 219 faculty losing work. It also said the college suffered from vacant or interim academic leadership, opaque and inconsistent decisions — including layoffs despite wait-lists — and communications that, in their view, downplay the crisis and erode student confidence.

In its emailed response, the board said it was committed to conducting the review “with respect, rigor and fairness, taking into account a diverse range of voices.”

But the response falls short of what faculty are asking for, LFA president Pauline Greaves-Aylward told the Voice today in an exclusive interview.

“Only six presidents – out of more than 220 postsecondary institutions in Canada – have had a vote of no confidence since the enrolment decline began,” Greaves-Aylward said in an LFA release today. “Other institutions have handled this better. We’re calling on our board to do more.”

The college has been grappling with financial strain since the federal government capped international study permits in January 2024.

In an August email to faculty, Burns announced that the college has approximately 2,400 fewer students than in fall 2023. Overall, Langara’s student population is down almost 20 per cent from two years ago. The college is projecting a deficit of up to $13 million this fiscal year. The LFA says the administration has responded with mass layoffs but no clear plan to stabilize the college. Since fall 2024, more than 25 per cent of the LFA membership have lost work.

Burns said the college had begun development of the 2026–27 budget and is facing a reduction in revenue for the next fiscal of at least 25 per cent.

“This means we will need to make significant adjustments, and I want to acknowledge the weight of that reality as we move through this work together,” she said in a Sept. 26 email to staff.

Greaves-Aylward told the Voice the board’s response addresses only the evaluation of Burns, not the broader systemic issues faculty raised.

“We need that now, not in 2026,” she said, adding if the board was keeping the president, then it also needs to implement a process audit of college operations, the development of a crisis management plan and greater budget transparency.

In the 21 months since the crisis began, the only direction from leadership has been layoffs of faculty and support staff, she said.

Greaves-Aylward said the LFA wants the board of governors to “actually be more proactive in addressing the crisis, rather than relying on the president to provide direction,” Greaves said.

The Voice reached out to both the administration and the board of governors, but did not receive a response before publication.

Before coming to Langara, Burns served as president and CEO of Alberta’s Lethbridge College, now known as Lethbridge Polytechnic. During her time there, the faculty passed two votes of non-confidence in her leadership in 2015 and 2016. The college’s board continued to support her, and she remained in her role until her appointment at Langara in 2021, officially taking office in June 2022.

The board’s policies also require both the board and president to ensure adequate risk management is in place. Greaves-Aylward said that risk has not been properly addressed because people started losing work a full year ago. Yet until two weeks ago, as the faculty took their vote, there was no comprehensive discussion of a crisis or a crisis management plan, she said.