Inducted As President, Michael Silvaggi
Responds To His New Role of Representing
St. Clair College
Story by Alysia Therrien
Photography by Heike Delmore
It’s not every day that you wake up to being president, but according to Michael Silvaggi it is sheer elation. Michael is now the new president of St. Clair College after being a proud employee for almost 24 years. Officially beginning his presidential term on June 1, Michael states he truly feels his long hours dedicated to the college have brought this to fruition. He acknowledges the college as a pillar in the community by stating, “We know what this institution means to Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent, and that is certainly not lost on me.”
St. Clair College is close to its 60th birthday and after so many decades, it continues to be a leading institution. The responsibility of the college has always been to provide knowledge and skills training to students, but to Michael, it is about building futures and meeting needs, especially the ones here in Windsor. He declares, “My responsibility is to contribute and help develop new areas of focus within our community so that individuals can be trained and live in our region.”
Having been raised in Windsor, Michael offers a personal perspective that many families share, which is the hope of our children remaining here in the region. A generational standpoint he suggests, but he stresses the importance of, “Creating a community where individuals can live and live a life where they are able to create opportunities for their own kids.” Keeping family close is important to Michael and St. Clair College is very much his family now and that is what drives him every day.
Michael knows the strengths of the college, but he insists it needs to continue to ensure that he and his team, “are meeting the needs of industry, meeting the needs of our community partners and meeting the needs of our residents.” Whether that is through healthcare, automotive, construction, or technology, Michael suggests this is done through quality, enhancement and creativity. He recognizes that as the times change, we need to be willing to alter our ways of doing things in order to consider different ways of being efficient. “Our biggest strength is the fact that we have relationships in the community, and we listen to them,” says Michael. We are all “part of the fabric” as Michael states, so it is important we keep an open mind and hear the voices within our community.
As the president of St. Clair College, Michael says you can expect him to continue program development. Through academic programming, the goal is to consult with private and public sectors to continue fulfilling the demands for training. “We cannot do this in isolation,” says Michael. “The industry needs to exist, whether we are helping create it or sustain it.” He states that St. Clair’s goal is to provide employee ready graduates to fill the gaps where there are current shortages. His focus is on bringing solutions. With the help of his team, community partners, and students, Michael knows the answers are in collaboration.
Michael is proud of the growth St. Clair has experienced in his almost 24th year with the college. Its profile and reputation have become recognizable within the region, which you can see now with the amount of college logoed swag worn by individuals. Green and gold runs through his veins, as Michael points out, but you can see these colours circling through the city. The Saints logo is a staple in Windsor and Michael is grateful to be a part of that positivity. He shares, “As I progress in my career, it begins to mean even more because it becomes a reflection of you.”
My responsibility is to contribute and help develop new areas of focus within our community so that individuals can be trained and live in our region.” —Michael Silvaggi
The college has become something more than just an educational institution in the community, he adds. “In terms of page-count, one of the largest reports that is tabled with our Board of Governors annually outlines the community involvement of campus groups and organizations, clubs, classes, alumni, and individual employees and students. It goes on for pages and pages, depicting the caring volunteerism that epitomizes the word ‘Saint’,” said President Silvaggi.
“That’s all on top of our institutional contributions, such as co-sponsoring the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics and the annual S’Aints Christmas concert in support of food banks in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, and our donation of equipment and facilities to the healthcare system during the pandemic. I’m certainly as proud of that community involvement as I am of our academic reputation.”
Practicing addressing people’s needs began for Michael back when he was completing his Business Administration degree. His time working in hospitality put him through school where he developed his early interpersonal skills. With further experience in insurance and customer service, he finally landed his first position at St. Clair College in the finance office.
It wasn’t long before he proceeded to other roles within the college. He held various management roles within the office of the registrar, student services and eventually earned the role of vice president of academic in 2022. Throughout those years, he gained a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the college and even went on to acquire a master’s degree in adult education. He went from working with numbers in the finance department, to working with enrollment data, to working in various departments. He established relationships with families, parents and students by listening to them and addressing their various needs. Throughout this time, he was opening the doors that led him to his current role as president.
Michael understands how the institution works, but he still credits the mentors he had along the way for this knowledge. “I have been blessed to work with a lot of people at St. Clair College that have always taken the time to explain or were always willing to provide deeper detail as to why decisions were made,” Michael explains. “When you can emulate someone and lead by example, those were traits I brought into my practice.”
Michael takes pride in that he no longer walks around as an individual, but as a reflection of the college. “Our mission stipulates that we want to transform lives and I think we are doing that,” he shares. Just this month, he was able to shake the hands of almost 4,500 student graduates. The shared gratitude was expressed on both sides, from Michael to the student for selecting St. Clair and from the student to Michael, for the incredible opportunity.
Beyond the college, Michael is a father and husband, who is proud to be born and raised in Windsor. What he wants most is to see our communities thrive. Whether that is by making himself available or by offering a quick laugh, Michael truly cares and will put himself out there, even at his own expense. “I care about my family, I care about St. Clair, and St. Clair is really part of that family,” he says.
These last couple of months have been quite celebratory, especially with the transitions happening at the college this time of year. As the previous representatives from student government move on and the new heads of student government take their positions, Silvaggi says. Windsor has been so welcoming. “I am proud to be the president of this institution, it’s something that you couldn’t have dreamed of, but as we like to say there are always doors opening and I’ve been blessed the doors have been aligned for me to have this opportunity.”
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