Village Squire, 1973-04, Page 11Taking education
to the people
Clinton Centre
Clinton Centre's Ross Milton
BY KEITH ROUISTON
As Ross Milton sits behind his desk
in his office at Clinton Centre with
the constant hum of the busy Conest-
oga College branch in the background
it's hard not to contrast this scene with
the first meeting with him a scant
two years ago.
Today, he is director of the flouri-
shing Clinton Centre of Conestoga Col-
lege of Applied Arts and Science, then
he virtually was the Centre. In those
days it was called Huron Centre and
consisted of a small office in Seaforth
where Ross hung his hat, and one
secretary to answer the phone and
write letters. Many people in Huron
county seemed to think it would never
be much more. Some even intimated
they thought perhaps Mr. Milton was
the wrong man for the job.
And, one has to admit, he didn't
exactly look like a college admini-
strator. He looked more like a Huron
county farmer a little uncomfortable
in a business suit. Today in his plea-
sant, but not luxurious office at the
college centre at Vanastra, he still
looks just about as uncomfortable in
a suit, smoking nervously, but few
would doubt his qualifications as a
college boss.
And why shouldn't he look like a
farmer. He once was a farmer in
Huron and has a base in education in
the county from teaching public sch-
ool years ago.
He says he finds it easy to drop into
the vernacular of the farmer, a move
that can be embarrassing sometimes
such as when he is talking to local
people in the morning but has a me-
eting with other college officials in
the afternoon.
He is constantly being kidded about
the farms, he says but can now and
then turn it to his advantage. He
recalled talking about college plans
with administrators from Conestoga's
campuses in Kitchener, Guelph, Galt
and Stratford at a meeting recently
and one told him not to milk the cow
dry, noting that Clinton Centre alr-
eady has one of the largest enroll-
ments in relation to its population
base of any of the campuses.
"I told them that any cow that
isn't milked properly will go dry
anyway," he said with a chuckle.
Despite the fact that community
colleges broke new ground in Canada
for post -secondary education, Clinton
Centre is still a relative oddity. The
colleges were often located in smal-
ler cities like Sarnia and St. Cath-
arines where previously there had
been no university or college, but
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