Tuned out during the summer? Too busy with the first weeks of classes to keep up? No worries. We’ve been watching. Here’s a look at the news you might’ve missed.
KSU President Gale VanAmburg resigns
King’s Student Union President Gale VanAmburg has resigned.
The fourth-year student announced their resignation in a statement on the KSU’s Instagram page on Sept. 15.
Their resignation is effective immediately.
“Over the past few months my health has rapidly declined,” said VanAmburg. “Despite many interventions, it has continued to worsen.”
“Despite my love for the role and the KSU, I have to take a step back in order to recover.”
VanAmburg was elected in March 2026. They were previously the communications vice president for the KSU, and ran the weekly newsletter This Week At King’s (TWAK), which is now on hiatus.
VanAmburg planned to revamp the union’s internal operating policy and boost student communication with the KSU.
“I really love the KSU. We have some really amazing people involved,” VanAmburg told The Watch in a March 2026 interview. “I’m hoping that we’ve created more momentum regarding student engagement this year.”
Financial Vice President Oliva Chaput was chosen as interim president by the council on Sept. 20. Fall by-elections will be held in October to determine the new president.
“I have every faith in the current members of council to continue the operations of the union,” wrote VanAmburg. “I was and am still in awe of their commitment to instil change to better our community.”
Alex Hall Gets Accessible
Alexandra Hall’s first floor kitchen has received a makeover in accessibility, thanks to a nearly $40,000 grant procured by the university from RBC’s national Barrier Buster Program.
These renovations come over four years after the building’s last accessibility upgrades, with the elevator and accessible basement floor added over August and September 2022. Accessibility Officer Michelle Mahoney said funds ran out before more renovations to the building could be completed.
Mahoney said work on the kitchen is overdue.
“It’s not the most accessible campus, but we’re doing a lot of little things,” said Mahoney.
“Those little things can make a big impact.”
The renovation includes new stainless steel appliances, wider entrances, lowered countertops and increased airflow.
Surveys from last February state that students were unsatisfied with the space, with lack of airflow a recurring concern. Mahoney said the new-and-improved kitchen will follow Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification standards. The RHSAC’s rating system is based on twelve different categories, such as interior circulation and wayfinding/signage.
RBC’s Barrier Buster Grants Program was launched during National AccessAbility Week in early June to provide grants to improve accessibility through 40 projects across Canada.
“It’s not just going to benefit people with disabilities or invisible disabilities. Everybody’s going to benefit from this kitchen.” said Mahoney.
Renovations are expected to be completed by late October.
Centre of Podcasting Excellence in development
The School of Journalism is moving forward with the development of the planned Centre for Excellence in Podcasting and Audio Storytelling (CEPAS), following a $130,000 alumni donation to the project’s future.
Audio and podcasting instructor, Pauline Dakin, is spearheading the development. Dakin said the advisory board is made up of industry professionals, including top CBC podcasters, audio journalists and independent podcasters. She said the Centre will offer new courses, certificate programs and microcredentials.
“We want to be a real clearing house of information and ideas about [podcasting]. But we want to make sure we’re always relevant and plugged in towards what’s happening in the real world.”
CEPAS will offer both in-person and online programing, available to academic students and the public. Dakin said adaptability and responding to change will be at the Centre’s forefront.
Dakin wants CEPAS to be housed within the proposed Southeast Corner Project. She said the space will give the King’s School of Journalism, Writing, & Publishing program a competitive edge.
“Have we got state-of-the-art equipment? Have we got a good space to do all of this? We know that we do have to do something,” Dakin told The Watch.
“And we are doing things to modernize. We’ve just redone the TV Room. There’s work going on on the Radio Room. But we need to do something bigger than that to stay competitive.”
Microcredentials from the Centre of Excellence in Podcasting and Audio Storytelling will begin next year, with the rest of the project TBA.
Kings planning to chop positions as part of “workplace adjustment program”
The University of King’s College needs to cut fourteen positions to meet budgetary constraints, the office of advancement announced in July.
Adriane Abbott, director of advancement, said in a Jul. 8 statement that the university is offering a ‘voluntary retirement’ program to qualifying senior professors in positions that could be scrapped or possibly filled by junior staff.
No specific departments or faculty are being targeted by the program.
Reductions need to be made to maintain the university’s deficit at $500,000 for 2026/2027 in order to balance the budget by 2027/2028.
There are three phases outlined in the King’s workforce reduction strategy. Phase one includes voluntary retirements by qualifying staff with full pension, with the final phase outlining “Involuntary departures, if required, should voluntary measures be insufficient.”
“Our goal has not changed,” wrote King’s Associate Communications Director Karen Eull in an email to The Watch. “The Board has directed the President to reduce the full-time employee complement by as many as 14 positions … or achieve equivalent reductions in spending.”
Abbott told CBC in July that King’s will know how many people have applied for retirement by September – in a Sept. 8 email to The Watch, Eull said there will be no updates before the end of the month.