Senior Director, Public Affairs appointed

President Bonnie Patterson announced the appointment of Don Cumming to the position of Senior Director, Public Affairs effective March 5, 2001.

Cumming brings 14 years of experience in various dimensions of communications in public and private sector organizations. Reporting to the President, he will have responsibility for both the Communications Office and the Office of Institutional Analysis and Planning. He will lead an integrated and strategic approach to internal and external communications, the promotion of the university's academic excellence, government relations, issues management, and institutional data management and use.

Since 1998, Cumming held the position of Director of Communications for the Government of Prince Edward Island where he created a corporate-wide Communications Division that included Strategic Marketing and Design Services, the Queen's Printer, and Multi-Media Services. He also served as PEI's representative on federal/provincial committees.

Cumming served for eight years in Ontario's education system as the Communications Officer for the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. Earlier, he was Specialist in Corporate Policies with ciba-geigy Canada Ltd. in Mississauga. He is a graduate of York University (Honours BA in Political Science and History) and completed graduate work at the University of Western Ontario.

"I look forward to meeting and working with the faculty, students and staff," says Cumming. "Trent University is an important player in our community and I am proud to have a role in promoting our academic excellence, our teaching and research accomplishments and the support services we provide to help our students succeed."