Truth Sp Feature Interview _POA Speaks To Brad Campbell, Chartered Accountant, Acting President of ECIAD. By HARALD GRAVELSINS Planet of the Arts: The stereotype about accountants is that they are bean counters: that they are dull, they place the bottom line above everything else, and they understand money but not people. Do you think this stereotype applies to you? Brad Campbell: No I don’t. [laughs] I’ve been associated with the Institute since 1982 and I think I've learned a lot about how this place operates. I used to think I had a lot of the answers, that a lot of the answers were in the numbers. The fact is, the answers are with the people here. And I-think this place has func- _ tioned very well. I find most people very cooperative, work well to together, and by and large I think it’s led to a real maturity of the institution, over the years that I have been here anyway. So I would say no, I don’t do everything with respect to the numbers although we obviously have to work within the parameters of the resources that we have. In the role of V.P. Finance that is your role, to make sure that you do as much as you can with the resources that you have. But J think that the critical part of that is listening to the people that you are working with and to explore all the alternatives you -have within the resources that your have and to make the best use of them from all perspectives. -POA: How are students here different from the students you went to school with in Commerce at UBC? BC: Well, in terms of many social activities and what not I don’t think there is any difference. [laughs] Probably in terms of scholastic interests, most of the people in Commerce were interested in things related to business pursuits and activities, whether it be accounting or finance or organizational behaviour or what not. Most of the students I knew weren't sure what it was they were going to do specifically. They were just trying to learn some general, basic skills. | find that the students here, in surveys that we’ve done in the past, particularly on the fine arts side of things, are pursuing their work for the love of pur- suing it, and I admire them for that. It’s a ae passion for the course of study that they have taken knowing that it’s very unlike- ly that they are going to be able to support themselves directly from ‘those activi- ties. And I must say that I really admire that. It’s pur- suing something for the pure love of pursuing it. POA: What was it like earning your CA designation? BC: It was tough. You're not only working. You're also studying at the same time. It was a grind. I’m glad it’s over. Our budget is 85% salaries. POA: On the whole are CA articling students overworked, underpaid, and get no respect? BC: Absolutely. POA: Did you have any aspirations to stay on with a CA firm as a manager and make it to the partner level eventually? BC: Well, to be honest with you, when the position of Bursar at ECIAD first came along | was really unsure about accepting it because I had only a few months previously completed my training and actually just received my CA designation. I had worked with the POA: BC: BC: eaks To Institute over the years as an external auditor and previous to being employed here permanently I was with ECIAD on a three month assignment while they were going through an executive search for a replacement for the Bursar. It was an odd situation, in fact, because the Institute went through a search, hired somebody and two days later, the person left. At that point I was approached by the President and asked why I didn’t apply for the job. And I had a number of reasons why I didn’t apply, but we talked about the job and the opportunities and the potential it presented. One of the things that most concerned me about the job was whether I would be a fish out of water here - in a sea of creativity. | found just the opposite. I really enjoyed the people I was working with and really started to learn a lot from them as far as not maybe being quite so narrow in my focus. To someone who is not an accountant, how would you describe the stresses that face the V-P. Finance? It’s tough to be the guy that always has to say “no”. . In terms of dealing with this job, there seems to be never-ending pressure to do more and more with less and less. Trying to maintain a balance and be as fair and equitable within the resources you have is really the tough part of the job. You've got collective bar- gaining issues on the one hand, and you are trying to keep people satisfied with their working at ECIAD and their standard of living on the other. You’ve got pressures of the students for services, whether it be expanded hours in the library, more studio assistance, more student services. And you're trying to accom- modate all these things within what are becoming more and more limited resources. And it’s tough. It’s tough to run that balance and have everybody feel that they have been listened to and dealt with fairly. We go through the same exercise every year in trying to establish tuition fees. Nobody here wants to charge the students more because they know how tough it is out there for students. It’s.a grind to pay for your fees, your books, and your art supply costs, and all your living expenses on top of that. Everybody appreciates that. We look at how many students here BC: are on student loans, and know the type of debt load that they are coming out with. By the same token, what we have to do is try to balance all the bud- getary pressures against all those other issues as. well, and that’s the real challenge. That's the tough part of the job. _POA: What contributions could you tell me about that you are responsible for in the way of major innova- tions or specific tough decisions? One of the first things | did when I came here was I really took an accountant’s view of where money was going and also took a longer-term perspective on BC: planning from a budgetary perspective. | felt that the way public funding was going at that time, this was in the early 1980’s, our funding agencies were going to start running into more pressure. So what we did was to structure a five-year plan which involved POA: POA: SEPTEMBER 1995 / PLANET OF THE ARTS i: Power budgeting surpluses in the early years, which we could accomplish relatively easily by getting basic controls established in the accounting system without impacting on either the students or on faculty or on the quality of programming. The purpose was-to set aside money for a time which I felt was going to be tough. And in fact what happened in the mid-1980’s when a lot of institutions were having to cut programmes and lay off people and be more aggressive with tuition fees, ECIAD had that financial cushion which basically allowed us to strategically plan and to go through most of the 1980’s relatively unscathed in the greater scheme of things. And ECIAD was one of the few institutions in the system that was able to do that. : We're going through this cycle again and one of things that I’m going to be announcing in the near future is a budgetary task force which will involve all constituencies of the institution to look at and explore all alternatives we can in dealing with issues going into 1996-97 and 1997-98. We have to take another forward view, and see how we are going to deal with the rest of the decade here. So far I have just been in preliminary discussions with people about this but what I’m going to do is hopefully get representatives from the Board, from the administra- tion, from the faculty and from students to explore within a broad perspective all the alternatives that we can think of in order to achieve what | call “the balance”. What is your understanding of the basis on which you were selected to serve as acting President of ECIAD? It’s tough to be the guy that always has to say ‘no’. Probably attrition. [laughs] With the Academic Dean leaving and then Alan Barkley, I’m the only one left of the senior administration. I hope that wasn’t the entire case for the Board choosing me. I worked with Alan Barkley very closely over the years. He and | worked very much as a team, in my opinion. I’m cer- tainly aware of all the issues he was dealing with. Given all this, | guess I was considered to be in the best position to cover off at this time. Do you feel that you have the chance more than ever as the chief executive officer of the Institute to con- sider policy issues? Well, in an acting role you have to be careful. I don’t think that I should be making any sort of radical changes or decisions at this point in time. We are really in a period of transition. Irrespective of that, I will certainly try to lay my perspective on things, which may or may not be different from my predeces- sor’s, as we go through the process of completing either collective bargaining or dealing with the budgetary task force or any of those things. I don’t think this is the environment to change anything dramatically. My approach is to try to bring people along as much as possible, to get as much feedback as possible from all constituencies, and that’s my objective through the budgetary task force. There are two other things I’m going to do that, hopefully, will improve communications and under- standing among people in the ECIAD community. | want to set up a monthly meeting with the students, just an informal gathering; I’m going to be there, I’m planning on having the deans there as well as the registrar, and maybe others on an as-needs-basis depending on the issues, of course, that are raised. But I'm trying to hopefully give the students an informal basis to talk about whatever it is they want to talk about. Maybe we can establish a clearer continued on page 13... Truth S Feature Interview POA Speaks To Brad Campbell, Chartered Accountant, Acting President of ECIAD. By HARA Grave.sies Planet of the Arts: The stereotype about accountants is ‘that they are bean counters: that they are dul, they place the bottom line above everything else, and they understand money but not people, Do you think this. stereotype applies 10 you? Brad Campbell: No I don't. [laughs] I've been associated with the Institute since 1982 and I think I've leamed lot about how this place operates. I used to think T had a ot ofthe answers, that alot ofthe answers were in the numbers. The fact is, the answers are with the people here. And think this place has func tioned very well | find most people very cooperative, ‘work well to together, and by and large | think i's Jed to a real maturity ofthe institution, over the ‘years that I have been here anyway. ‘So 1 would say no, I don’t do everything with respect to the numbers although we obviously have to work ‘within the parameters ofthe resources that we have. In the role of VP. Finance that is your role, to make ‘sure that you do as much as you can with the resources that you have. But I think thatthe critical part of that is listening to the people that you are working with and to explore all the alternatives you have within the resources that your have and to make the best use of them from all perspectives. How are students here different from the students you went to school with in Commerce at UBC? BC: Wel, in terms of many social activities and what not 1 don’ think there is any difference. {laughs} Probably in terms of scholastic interests, most of the people in Commerce were interested in things related to business pursuits and activities, whether it be ‘accounting or finance or organizational behaviour or ‘what not. Most of the students I knew weren't sure what it was they were going to do specifically. They ‘were just trying to lear some general, basi skills 1 find that the students her, in surveys that we've done in the past, particularly on the fine arts side of things, ae pursuing their work forthe love of pur= suing it, and {admire them for that. It's a passion for the course of study that they hhave taken knowing that i's very unlike ly that they are going to be able to support themselves directly from those activi= ties, And I must say that I really admire that. I's pur- suing something for the pure love of pursuing it POA: What was it like earning your CA designation? BC: It was tough. You're not only working. You're also studying atthe same time. It was a grind, 'm glad it’s over Our budget is 85% salaries. POA: On the whole are CA articling students overworked, underpatd, and get no respect? BC: Absolutely. POA: Did you have any aspirations to stay on with a CA firm as a manager and make it to the partner level eventually? BC: Wel, to be honest with you, when the postion of Bursar at ECIAD first came along I was really unsure about accepting it because I had only a few months previously completed my training and actually just received my CA designation. I had worked with the POA: BC: Serrewser 1995 | Paver oF me Arts 3 eaks To Power Institute over the years as an extemal auditor and previous to being employed here permanently Iwas ‘with ECIAD on a three month assignment while they ‘were going through an executive search for a replacement for the Bursar. It was an odd situation, infact, because the Institute went through a search, hired somebody and two days later, the person lef. ‘At that point I was approached by the President and asked why I didn't apply forthe job. And 1 had a number of reasons why I didn't apply, but we talked about the job and the opportunities and the potential presented. (ne of the things that most concerned me about the {job was whether | would be a fish out of water here {in a sea of creativity. I found just the opposite. 1 really enjoyed the people 1 was working with nd relly started to learn alot fom them as'far as not maybe being quite so narrow in my focus. ‘To someone who is not an accountant, how ‘would you describe the streses that face the WP. Finance? It's tough to be the guy that always has to say “no” In terms of dealing with ths job, there seems to be never-ending pressure to do more and more with less and les. Trying to maintain a balance and be as fair ‘and equitable within the resources you have is really the tough part of the job. You've got collective bar- ‘gaining issues on the one hand, and you are trying to keep people satisfied with their working at ECIAD and thei standard of living on the other. You've got pressures ofthe students for services, whether it be ‘expanded hours in the library, more studio assistance, ‘more student services. And you're trying to accom- ‘modate all these things within what are becoming. ‘more and more limited resources. And it’s tough. It's tough to run that balance and have everybody feel that they have been listened to and dealt with fairly. ‘We go through the same exercise every year in trying to establish tuition fees. Nobody here wants to charge the students more because they know how tough it is. ‘out there for students. I's a grind to pay for your fees, your books, and your art supply costs, and all, ‘your living expenses on top ofthat. Everybody appreciates that. We look at how many students here fare on student loans, and know the type of debt load that they are coming out with. By the same token, ‘what we have to dois try to balance all the bud ‘etary pressures against all those other issues as wel, and that’s the real challenge. That’ the tough part of the job. POA: What contributions could you tell me about that ‘you are responsible for in the way of major innova~ tions or specific tough decisions? One of the first things I did when I came here was 1 really took an accountants view of where money was joing and also took & longer-term perspective on planning from a budgetary perspective. I felt that the ‘way public Funding was going at that time, this was in the early 1980's, our funding agencies were going to start running into more pressure. So what we did ‘was to structure a five-year plan which involved POA: It’ ‘budgeting surpluses in the early years, which we ‘could accomplish relatively easily by getting basic ‘controls established in the accounting system without impacting on either the students or on faculty or on the quality of programming. The purpose was to set ‘aside money for a time which I felt was going to be tough ‘And in fact what happened in the mid-1990's when Jot of institutions were having to cut programmes and lay off people and be more aggressive with tuition fees, ECIAD had that financial cushion which basically allowed us to strategically plan and to go through most of the 1980's relatively unscathed in the greater scheme of things. And ECIAD was one of the few institutions in the system that was able to do that We're going through this cycle again and one of things that 'm going to be announcing in the near future is a budgetary task force which will involve all constituencies ofthe institution to look at and, ‘explore all altématives we can in dealing with issues {oing into 1996-97 and 1997-98, We have to take Another forward view, and see how we are going t0 ‘deal with the rest ofthe decade here. So far Thave just been in preliminary discussions with people about this but what I'm going to dois hopefully get representatives from the Board, from the administra- tion, from the faculty and from students to explore within a broad perspective all the alternatives that we ‘can think of in order to achieve what I call “the balance’ ‘What is your understanding ofthe basis on which ‘you were selected to serve a acting President of ECIAD? s tough to be the guy that always has to say ‘no’. Poa: Be: Probably attrition. (laughs) With the Academic Dean leaving and then Alan Barkley, I'm the only one left (ofthe senior administration. I hope that wasn't the ‘entire case for the Board choosing me. I worked with ‘Alan Barkley very closely over the years. He and I ‘worked very much as a team, in my opinion. I'm cer- tainly aware of all the isues he was dealing with. iven all this, I guess 1 was considered to be in the best position to cover off at this time Do you fee that you have the chance more than ever as the chief executive officer of the Institute to con- sider policy issues? Well, nan acting role you have to be careful. I don't think that I should be making any sort of radical changes or decisions at this point in time. We are really in a period of transition. Irrespective of that, I wil certainly try to lay ‘my perspective on things, which may or may not be different from my predeces- sor’, as we go through the process of completing either collective bargaining ‘or dealing withthe budgetary task force ‘or any of those things. I don't think this is the envionment to change anything dramatically. My approach isto try to bring people along as much as possible, to get as much feedback as possible from all constituencies, and tha’s my objective through the budgetary taskforce. ‘There are two other things I'm going to do that hopefully, will improve communications and under- standing among, people in the ECIAD community. I want to set up a monthly meeting with the students, just an informal gathering; I'm going to be ther, I'm planning on having the deans there as wel as the registrar, and maybe others on an as-needs-basis depending on the issues, of course, that are raised. But I'm trying to hopefully give the students an informal basis to talk about whatever itis they want to talk about. Maybe we can establish a clearer contin on page 13 ~~