Concordia Announces ‘Bittersweet’ Departure of Senior Administrator

Provost and Vice-President Benoit-Antoine Bacon Soon to Leave for Queen’s University

NewsJosh Fischlin — Published January 8, 2016 | Updated January 9, 2016 at 1:18am

Benoit-Antoine Bacon, the Provost and Vice President of academic affairs, is leaving his position at Concordia in order to take the same position at the school in Kingston, Ontario this upcoming August.

The announcement came in the form of a press release this morning from university president Alan Shepard, in which he called the news “bittersweet.”

“It was a pleasure for me to have as provost somebody who is a graduate of the institution,” Shepard said in an interview with The Link.

Bacon was appointed as Concordia’s Provost in 2013 to carry out a five-year mandate, which is now being cut short. The Office of the Provost manages all academic affairs, such as curriculum appraisals, faculty contract negotiations, and overseeing enrollment.

“[It’s] a mix of professional and personal stuff for him—its growth,” Shepard said. “He’s done most of his working career in Quebec, and he’s interested to see what’s going on in other jurisdictions.”

Despite the loss, Shepard said he’s confident that the leadership team at Concordia will be able to keep up their momentum.

There is an established “rulebook” for how to deal with a situation such as this, according to Shepard, who continued that an “external search firm” will probably be hired to help fill the position.

One of the key things that he achieved during his term was the renewal of the academic leadership team, Shepard said.

“Queen’s is one of Canada’s great institutions. It’s a draw to be invited—to be recruited—by a place like that,” he said. “We’re going to miss him a lot.”