2024-25 Program 

Mandatory Sessions

Webinar: The college, the board and the governor: legal framework and obligations
This session provides an essential overview of the board's roles, the general and specific legal duties of governors, personal liability for corporate acts and omissions, and a brief overview of risk management and indemnification. College leaders will deepen their understanding of college governance.

Facilitator:

Victoria Prince, National Practice Group Leader, Corporate Commercial,
Borden Ladner Gervais

Katherine Carre, Counsel
Borden Ladner Gervais

Leadership Accountability Gap

Participants will discuss what it really means to be a leader today. This has become the most critical question for colleges as they contend with a myriad of challenges at a time of unprecedented change and disruption. To succeed, colleges will need truly accountable leaders in place at every level. This thought provoking and practical session will help participants become the truly accountable leader colleges require. Participants will walk away with practical insights on how to:

• be a more deliberate and purposeful leader
• learn to tackle the hard work that is holding you back
• build a strong leadership culture in your college

Facilitator:

Dr. Vince Molinaro, Founder and CEO, Leadership Contract Inc. 

Webinar: Working with college boards
As a senior college leader, working effectively with boards of governors is a critical skill set. This session will highlight important aspects of the roles, intersections with the board, and how to ensure the board is educated, informed and able to perform its governance responsibilities effectively.

Webinar: Understanding college financial statements 
Financial statements provide critical information on a college’s financial health and its ability to pursue and achieve its strategic objectives. This session will provide an introduction for board members, board staff and senior managers on:

• basic components of financial statements
• financial statement objectives
• generally Accepted Accounting Principles “GAAP” for colleges
• role of senior management and boards vis-à-vis financial statements
• what to focus on when reading the financial statements
• reporting of financials to key internal and external stakeholders
• upcoming “GAAP” changes for college financial statements

Facilitators:

Robert Wilkes, CPA, CA, Partner, BDO Canada LLP 

Marcus Sconci, CPA, CA, Partner, BDO Canada LLP

Leadership Symposium:

Strategic Change Leadership - Unlocking innovation in post-secondary education
Discover how creativity drives transformative change for leaders, educators and learners. Explore essential tools, mindsets and approaches to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and meaningful experiences in learning communities.

Facilitator:

Dr. Yael Katz, Vice President, Academic, Georgian College  

Elective Sessions

Attendance at the OCASA Leaders & Innovators Conference is optional to receive TWO elective credits. 

OCASA has moved to a virtual conference this year, spread over several months, with the first eligible LE credit scheduled for June 4, 2025:

Prioritizing EDI Impact with Michael Charles
Join Michael F. Charles, lawyer, organizational change strategist, and Associate Vice President, Innovation, Inclusion, Reconciliation & Healing at Centennial College for an insightful session on how colleges can center Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in a changing college sector. 
This session is complimentary. 

Please visit the OCASA conference page for more information about the full conference event and to register for this session. Information about joining OCASA, and the related benefits, is also available there, with complimentary membership available to those administrators who have not previously (or recently) joined. Please visit the OCASA website for more information.

Webinar: Labour and employee relations – an introduction
The College Employer Council (CEC) provides system leadership to labour and employee relations. Join this session to better understand the role of CEC, collective bargaining across the system, managing with collective agreements, and legislative frameworks.

Presenter:

Graham Lloyd, CEO
College Employer Council

Webinar: The college system – an introduction

This session will help you to better understand the context for the college system as a whole. Current key issues will be discussed, along with the challenges and opportunities ahead, and the strategic priorities for the system. College governors and college leaders will gain a critical appreciation for the sector in which their college operates, and its strategic role in the province.

Presenter:

Maureen Adamson, Interim President & CEO
Colleges Ontario

Webinar: Risk management for senior managers – an introduction 
This session will look at the critical role senior management plays in leading risk management, building a pervasive risk culture and ensuring that the board has the information it needs to endorse the president’s proposed approach to, and proposed strategies for, risk management.

Presenters:

Philip Racco, Partner
Enterprise Risk Practice, MNP LLP

Sarah Dionne, Senior Manager
Enterprise Risk Practice, MNP LLP

Webinar: College financial leadership
Financial leadership is critical to both boards of governors, and senior college administrators. This session will highlight good governance practices around financial leadership, key components of revenue and expenditures, financial health indicators, the current financial status of the college system and the influence of the province on college financial matters.
Within the financial context, this session will also integrate good governance concepts, the importance of understanding legislation, regulations, risk management and fiduciary duties and standard of care, along with strong financial oversight.

Presenter:

Sanjay Puri, VP Administration & CFO
Humber College