Charlie Keil is the eighth Principal of Innis College and professor in the college’s Cinema Studies program. Since becoming Principal in 2015, Charlie has strived to get to know hundreds of Innis students. His annual Principal’s Dinner during orientation week and evenings with notable Innis Alumni have become a hit with students, and demonstrate his commitment to serving the students of Innis College.

Innis Herald: What are three things your office is responsible for in the College?

Charlie Keil: I should say at the outset that the office of the Principal is ultimately responsible for everything, which may make it seem to an outside observer that I don’t actually do anything.  But the Principal tries to set a general direction for the College, in consultation with the College community, which includes students, of course.

Since your question asked me to identify three things, I will do my best to answer the question:

1. I am driving forward the process that will ideally see the College building expanded substantially. We just completed the Concept Design phase, and now we are embarking on a capital campaign. Students will absolutely benefit from the extra space that will come with the new build. The design drawings are available for anyone to view.
2. I identify sources of need, especially when it comes to students, and then I try to address them. This can lead to new scholarships or funding sources, such as the recent Student Refugee Fund, and the Admission Award for Indigenous Peoples, inaugurated this year.  
3. I work to bring students and alumni together, either through Principal’s dinners or other less formal arrangements.

I want to add that students don’t need a reason to visit my office—they should just come by and see me!

IH: What are some ways in which students can contact you?

CK: I try to be as visible and actively involved with students as I can, but because I do attend a lot of meetings, I am not always easy to find.  That said, I will always make the time for student interaction.  Working through the Principal’s assistant, Maitri Vosko, who is one of the most approachable people on the planet, is a good way for students to arrange to meet me.  My office is on the first floor of the College building—Room 124.

This fall, I will be having dinners in the Events Room as I have every fall since I became Principal.  This year, I will be joined by the new Dean of Students, Steve Masse, so students in the residence can meet both of us at those dinners.  And I hope to provide guided tours of the College building for students in the fall as well, so stay tuned for more details about that. Finally, I am the host for many of the events we hold in Town Hall during the year, so if students come to those, they are sure to find me there.

IH: What is your favourite part of the job?

CK: As you can probably tell from my earlier comments, I really do like interacting with students and alumni.  I’ve met a lot of Innis students over the course of my three years as Principal, and it’s an endlessly rewarding aspect of the job.  Working to make positive change for the students is my main motivation.

IH: What is the most bizarre or interesting fact you know about Innis College?

CK: Well, the fact that Innis has had three homes at three different sites is pretty distinctive, I’d say.  When the College was founded in 1964, the original building sat on King’s College Circle. Four years later, it moved to the Macdonald-Mowatt House, where the School of Graduate Studies is now located.  It didn’t arrive at its current location at Sussex and St. George until 1975. And now it’s time to ensure that a building built almost 45 years ago can meet the needs of a student population that is close to three times larger than it was in the 1970s.