Interview with Dr. David Docherty.

On Tuesday October 22, 2019, The Quill had the opportunity to sit down and meet with BU’s new president. Our interview took place at Forbidden and during this time I was able to listen to him talk about his time in Mount Royal, as its university president and what future he saw from BU. 

Our interview began with the basics, I asked him what his first impression of BU were and his answer was “Clark Hall” He then further explained that the one thing he had noticed was the structure of Clark Hall and how it towered with it’s early 1900s’s structure. He said that at Mount Royal there was no building like Clark Hall. Brandon University is a mixture of old and new buildings and its charm seemed to impress our new president. Next, I asked him what he believed BU’s strengths were, he said that he believed the size of our university was its main strength. He said that as a smaller university more connections are built, and more people know each other. He also said that as a smaller university in a smaller city he felt as though he had lost the anonymity he possessed back in Calgary.  He further explained that in a smaller city where more of its population attended the university, many in the street would recognize him as that university’s president. 

My next question for Dr. Docherty was what he believed needed improvement. He said that the one thing he wanted to start improving was Brodie Building. No further details were given about his plans regarding Brodie Building simply that it was on the top of his list to improve. Following this question, I asked him what he hoped to accomplish during his presidential term. His answer came quickly. While there were a lot of things, he hoped to accomplish the main one was having the first award scholar or professor from BU. He said he believed students and professors alike had the potential and talent to win a national award. He said that he hoped to implement coaching workshops where students could be guided through the application and interviewing process of applying for an award. 

I asked him how his past administrative experience at Mount Royal was and how it would hep him with administering BU. This question also lead to an answer for another question about the reduction in the operating grant from the province that BU will have to face. For his administration time at Mount Royal he said that it had been his first time as a president and that of course there were ups and downs but that he was proud of what the school had accomplished. He said that during his presidency he put greater focus on students obtaining a bachelor’s degree. By the end of his term more students were choosing a four-year degree rather than a two-year degree. Now as his presidency begins at BU, he has experience in dealing with any ups and downs that a university may face. Relating to the budget cut that BU will face, he said that during his time in Mount Royal budget cuts were made, and he got through them. He went on to say that while nobody liked budget cuts, they were still going to be made and all you could do was get through them. 

When asked about his commitment to diversity, transparency, personal accessibility and community building and how it will influence his administration of BU he said that BU already possessed many of the aspects he was committed to. He said that there were gender neutral washrooms across campus and that he was happy to see all the personal accessibility implementations at BU. He went on to discuss how his commitment to those ideals were implemented at Mount Royal University and said that one of the first things he had done had been to make sure the administration was made up more than just men. Equality and diversifying with the higher ups is a big priority for him. He also said that he made sure the administration had diversity regarding each member’s sexual orientation. He said that diversity created more opinions and thus more problems could be solved. 

As our interview came to an end, I could not help but ask why his hiring process had seemed to drag. He said that while he was very excited to begin his presidency at BU, he had promised his daughter she would be able to graduate high school in Calgary. He believes that family is very important and that promises made must be kept. Therefore, he began his presidency in May and because of this, we had interim president Dr. Steve Robinson up until April.

Brandon University will be lucky to have Dr. David Docherty as its president for the next few years and Brandon University welcomes him with open arms. He is incredibly accessible, and he encourages students to feel comfortable talking to him as he believes that being the president of a university, an essential part of his role is to get to know his students better.