OCRA Executive

Stu Black retired from Niagara College following 25 years as a faculty member in the three-year Broadcasting program, 12 years as Program Coordinator. Appointed as a Provincial Coordinator for CSAC, Stu oversaw the development of program standards for radio and TV programs in Ontario colleges. Prior to early retirement, he was Project Manager for Niagara’s School of Media and Design. Stu served as President of the Niagara College Retirees’ Association (2021-2024) prior to joining the OCRA Board as Communications Officer.

Susan Alcorn MacKay has been working in the field of special education at all levels for the past 35 years and retired as the Director, Counselling and Student Support at Cambrian College. She continues to teach in the Learning Disabilities (LD) Program at Cambrian, providing assistance to students and their educators. She also develops and delivers on-line, additional-qualification courses in special education for Nipissing University, and is a member of the LDAO (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario) provincial board of directors. Appointed by OCASA (Ontario College Administrators Network), Susan plays an important role on the CAAT Retirees Group Insurance Advisory Committee (CRGIAC), which is involved in decision making around college retirees’ benefits.

OCRA’s 18th General Meeting at Niagara College on June 26 was a huge success. Beautiful venue, fantastic food, great speakers, fun wine tours and lots of visiting with old friends. We had registrants from nine colleges and it’s always interesting to hear what each college is up to. Big thanks to Lindsey Hendriks, Niagara’s event planner extraordinaire, who stayed onsite throughout the meeting to make sure everything ran smoothly.

I love that we had the opportunity to hear directly from our key partners. Evan Howard and Mike Dawson from CAAT Pension Plan provided an engaging talk that updated us on the state of our retirement plan. It’s comforting to note that our pension is 124% funded and that they’ve seen a 9.3% growth over the past 10 years, even given the uncertainties of the markets. Mike Vannelli and Stephen Lee Kam, our contacts at the College Employer Council (CEC), had not attended a GM for a few years but were back to give a great presentation that covered the history of the Sun Life benefits plan and to explain some recent coverage decisions. We had many questions from the floor and have sent these along for further clarification. Stay tuned for their responses. CEC will be starting a review of their current Sun Life benefits plan this fall and OCRA has been invited to participate. We look forward to this opportunity.

Yvonne Brady from belairdirect (formerly Johnson Insurance) was a hit with attendees. She provided lots of tips and tricks around comparing travel plans and making sure you have the right one for your needs. I strongly recommend that you check out the Medoc product from belairdirect. As an OCRA member, you can purchase as part of a group plan and that makes things more affordable. On a personal note, my husband and I had reason to use emergency medical this past spring when travelling to Mallorca. The service and support we received was outstanding.

Our keynote speaker was David DiPietro who handles business development for the Research and Innovation division of Niagara College. David’s engaging presentation certainly opened my eyes to the importance of applied research in the College sector to the local economy as well as to the student learning experience.

I’m also very pleased to report that we now have a full complement of members on our Board. Susan Alcorn-MacKay from Cambrian College and Stu Black from Niagara College were elected as new Board members for OCRA. Welcome aboard Susan and Stu!

Finally, thanks to the all the members of the OCRA Board, especially Yvonne Glenville, Doug Willford and Marilyn McDermott, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the GM ran smoothly.

Barb Watts
OCRA President

OCRA is pleased to announce that its 18^th General Meeting will be held on Wednesday June 26, 2024 at Niagara College in Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Daniel J. Patterson (DJP) Campus in the Benchmark Restaurant from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The meeting is free to OCRA members and includes the latest news from OCRA, guest speakers, lunch, and an optional wine tour/tasting at the Wine Visitor + Education Centre.

New for this year…the OCRA Board invites non-members to attend and receive one year’s free membership upon registering with the Association.

Evan Howard, CAAT Pension Plan’s Chief Pension Officer, and Michael Dawson, CAAT’s Chief Financial Officer, will present on the Plan’s 2023 performance results, strong funding position progressing to Level 6, upcoming initiatives, and innovations.

Mike Vannelli, Vice President, and Stephen Lee Kam, Human Resources Consultant, both with Benefits and Compensation at the College Employer Council, will update us on matters related to our benefits plan.

Yvonne Brady, Senior Consultant, Affinity Relationships, belairdirect (formerly Johnson Insurance) will provide us with information regarding travel insurance.

Our keynote speaker is David DiPietro, Manager, Business Development, Research & Innovation, Niagara College. David will provide an overview of applied research in the CAAT sector and will focus specifically on Niagara College’s award-winning initiatives to further industry collaboration and innovation. 

Full details about the meeting and how to register have been sent to OCRA members via Canada Post or email depending on the member’s specified communication preference. The deadline to register via email is Friday June 7, 2024 (Canada Post by Friday May 31, 2024). Questions may be addressed to OCRA’s Membership Co-ordinator.

Linda Choptiany Steps Down as President

On June 25, 2023, Linda Choptiany (Centennial) stepped down as President of OCRA. In 2001 Linda was one of the founding members of OCRA and since then has been an active and central member of the Executive. Linda will continue serving on the Executive as Past President.

Changes to Executive Officer Positions

Barb Watts (Georgian) has moved from the role of Vice-President to President of OCRA. Barb was a faculty member, coordinator, associate dean and acting dean in the School of Business at Georgian College. She has been the Vice-President of the Georgian College Retirees’ Club for four years and has experience working with OCASA (Ontario College Administrators Network).

Andrew Dykstra (Georgian) has returned to the Executive as Vice-President. Andrew was a faculty member and coordinator for the Accounting programs in the School of Business at Georgian College. He previously served as OCRA’s Vice-President for five years and was also President of the Georgian College Retirees Club for five years.

Marilyn McDermott (Mohawk) has moved from a director position to that of OCRA Secretary. Marilyn was a faculty librarian at Mohawk College. She is currently the Communications and Membership Director for the Retirees’ Association of Mohawk College.

After serving 17 years as OCRA Secretary, Stella Pulkinghorn (Fleming) has stepped down and taken on a director position. Stella retired from Fleming College having spent most of her 25 years as Executive Secretary to the President and Associate Secretary to the Fleming Board of Governors. The OCRA Executive extends its thanks to Stella for her outstanding service and dedication to OCRA.

Dr. Joseph Mior (Fleming) has joined the Executive and taken over the position of Communications Officer from Barbara Mathers, who will continue to serve as OCRA’s Webmaster. Joe was a faculty member in the School of General Arts and Sciences for over 30 years. He was also an Adjunct Professor at O.I.S.E. (U of T) and Central Michigan University.

New Executive Directors

Rick Williams (Loyalist) was the co-ordinator of the Early Childhood Education program and taught part-time in the Applied degree program. Rick also served as Director/Commissioner in the Social Services field and as President of the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association. Currently, Rick is the Chair of the Loyalist College Pioneers Association.

Doug Greenwood (Sheridan) taught ethics and entrepreneurship at Sheridan in the Pilon School of Business. Doug was also the coordinator of the Marketing diploma program and the post-grad Marketing Management program.

The success of OCRA’s 17th General Meeting, held on June 21 2023 at Fleming College, was thanks to many people.

Thanks to Fleming College for hosting our event, especially Adele Russell, Senior Development Officer Advancement and Alumni Relations and Matt Markovic, Manager College Services for their support in the planning of the event and also to Drew Van Parys, Vice-President Corporate Services for welcoming our attendees.

Thanks too to our speakers, Kevin Rorwick, Chief Operating Officer CAAT Pension Plan for sharing good news about the pension plan and hinting at exciting new developments and Cindy Plunkett, Senior Director of Learning and Development at PointClickCare for providing lively and engaging information about being safe in the online world.

Finally, thanks to the all the members of the OCRA Executive, especially Stella Pulkinghorn, Yvonne Glenville and Barb Watts who worked tirelessly to ensure that the GM ran smoothly.

Linda Choptiany
OCRA President

OCRA is pleased to announce that its 17th General Meeting will be held on Wednesday June 21, 2023 at Fleming College in Peterborough from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The meeting is free to OCRA members and includes the latest news from OCRA, guest speakers, lunch, and an optional tour of the Fleming Sutherland Campus after the meeting adjourns.

Kevin Rorwick, Chief Operating Officer of the CAAT Pension Plan will talk about pension matters in his presentation “Better Pensions for Everyone”.

Our keynote speaker is Cindy Plunkett, Senior Director of Learning and Development at PointClickCare, Executive Director of the Canadian Learning Conference, and part-time professor at Ontario Tech University. Cindy is an expert in learning design and development with a PhD in educational technologies. Her presentation will be about our digital shadows and how to protect ourselves in the online environment.

Full details about the meeting and how to register has been sent to OCRA members via Canada Post or email depending on the member’s specified communication preference. The deadline to register via email is Friday June 2, 2023 (Canada Post by Friday May 26, 2023). Questions may be addressed to OCRA’s Membership Co-ordinator.

OCRA is pleased to announce that Marilyn McDermott (Mohawk College retiree) has joined the OCRA Board as a director. Marilyn was a faculty librarian at Mohawk College. She is currently the Communications and Membership Director for the Retirees’ Association of Mohawk College. Marilyn is responsible for email communication to members of Mohawk College Retirees’ Association.

Welcome aboard Marilyn!

OCRA’s 16th General Meeting, held on June 29 2022 at Georgian College, was a resounding success thanks to the many people who participated.

First, thanks to Georgian College, President Kevin Weaver, and the ABSC Event Centre staff for providing the perfect venue for our meeting. Thanks too, to our guest speakers, Yvonne Brady from Johnson Insurance, Derek Dobson from the CAAT Pension Plan, and Connie and Sherry Campbell from The Move Planners, for presenting informative and entertaining topics of great interest to our membership. And finally, thanks to the members of the OCRA Executive for planning and running the GM. I appreciate all of your effort.

Linda Choptiany
OCRA President

OCRA (Ontario Colleges Retirees’ Association) is currently looking for one retiree to serve a two-year appointment on its Board. OCRA is an organization that advocates for its members on issues of concern to Ontario college retirees and to retirees of associations served by the CAAT Pension Plan.

As a member of the Board, there will be opportunities to work on projects to provide information and assistance to OCRA members.

To serve on the Board, the retiree must be a member in good standing with OCRA and be interested in learning about the CAAT Pension Plan and Ontario college system group benefits. A candidate should be able to communicate by email and have basic computer skills. The typical time commitment for a Board member without a portfolio is a few hours most months of the year.

Board meetings are held online via Zoom with an option to phone in to the meeting.

For more information, please contact Linda Choptiany, OCRA President, at .

OCRA is pleased to announce that Barb Watts (Georgian College retiree) has joined the OCRA Board as a director. Barb was a faculty member and Dean at Georgian College.  She is currently the Vice President of the Georgian College Retirees’ Club and has experience working with OCASA (Ontario College Administrators Network). Welcome aboard Barb!