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Dr. George C. Wootton served as principal of Douglas College from its inception in 1969 until 1979. Born in Saskatchewan and raised in British Columbia, Wootton graduated from North Vancouver High School and received his BSc, MASc, and PhD (in metallurgical engineering) from the University of British Columbia. Before his appointment to Douglas College, he worked for the Department of Mines in Ottawa, Atomic Energy Canada in Chalk River, and Seneca College in Toronto where served as Dean of Engineering.

During Wootton's tenure at Douglas College, satellite campuses were added in Delta, Langley, Maple Ridge, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Pitt meadows, and White Rock. His principalship saw the development of career programs in the area of psychiatric nursing, clinical health, child care, and community service work. Other programs initiated during this time were in the fields of criminal justice, women's studies, graphic arts, theatre, and environmental studies.

Wootton left Douglas College in 1979 to become director of the Vancouver Public Library.

Established to provide services and support to Indigenous students at Douglas, the Douglas College First Nations Advisory Committee was made up of stakeholders from within the College community and beyond. A 1995 resource guide for Indigenous students included the following description of the committee:

“The Douglas College First Nations Advisory Committee meets regularly to work with Douglas College in developing and implementing community educational initiatives, programs and services. Membership is comprised of First Nations representatives from Qayqayt First Nation, Vancouver and New Westminster Education Centres, New Westminster Urban Cultural Society, New Westminster Senior Secondary School, Douglas College Faculty and Staff, Douglas College First Nations Alumni, Douglas College Student Society First Nations representative, and the New Westminster, Katzie and Coquitlam Bands. The Douglas College First Nations Advisory Committee works to support and guide the ‘Spirit’ for enhancing services for First Nations Learners at Douglas College.”

In the early 2000s, the committee’s name was changed to the Aboriginal Advisory Committee.

Established in April 1981 (with its initial meeting held the following month), the Finance, Facilities and Personnel Committee was an amalgamation of three previous standing committees and drew its original terms of reference from each of those earlier groups. The Committee’s principle responsibilities fell within these three areas and included: (1) advising the College Board and administration on significant financial and business matters, reviewing draft budgets, and reviewing financial statements; (2) recommending policies related to building and site development, engaging with local governments and stakeholders, studying site proposals, and acting on behalf of the Board when initiating and planning with other agencies for jointly owned facilities; and (3) providing advice on personnel policies, reviewing specific personnel problems, examining proposals, and engaging in the negotiations with faculty and staff.

In October 1997, this Committee was replaced two committees: the Finance Committee (which addressed issues related to finance and facilities) and the Human Resources Committee (which addressed personnel issues).

When it was formally established as a standing committee of the College Council in 1975, the primary function of the Finance Committee was to advise the Council and Administration on significant financial and business matters, present recommendations on the disposition of financial documents, and make recommendations on proposals related to major financial decisions. The Committee was also tasked with reviewing drafts of the College’s operating budget, capital needs and the capital budget, financial statements, and voucher lists.

In 1981, following the split between Douglas and Kwantlen, the Finance Committee (by then a committee of the College Board) amalgamated with other committees to become the Finance, Facilities and Personnel Committee.

The Finance Committee established in October 1997 had a mandate that was distinct from the earlier iteration of the same name, which had existed from the College's earliest years until 1981. The work of this newer Finance Committee focused on both finance and facilities. Its finance-related responsibilities included advising the Board and administration on significant financial affairs at the College, reviewing the operating and capital budgets, and reviewing financial statements. Its facilities-related responsibilities included making policy recommendations regarding building and site development, examining long-term plans for future developments, reviewing and recommending site acquisitions, meeting with government officials and local stakeholders regarding the acquisition of sites and facilities, and acting on behalf of the Board with respect to jointly owned facilities.

In January 2009, the Finance Committee became the Audit and Finance Committee.

EVENT is a literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, non-fiction, notes on writing, and book reviews by emerging and established writers. It was founded in 1971 due in large part to the efforts of creative writing professor David Evanier, who was also the magazine's first editor. Associate editors were made up of faculty from the Department of English and Communications.

When Kwantlen College was formed in 1981, responsibility for EVENT shifted to that institution, which is where key faculty involved with the publication had been re-assigned. When Kwantlen announced its plans to cease funding EVENT at the end of the 1984-85 fiscal year, then-editor Leona Gom launched a campaign to save the publication. Readers, past contributors, and other members of the Canadian literary community rallied to the cause and Douglas College agreed to take back control for the magazine in 1985.

Contributors to EVENT have included writers like Gordon Pinsent, Carol Shields, Susan Musgrave, Madeleine Thien, Timothy Taylor, and Alistair MacLeod. The magazine has also been the recipient of numerous National Magazine Awards and Western Magazine Awards.

Past editors include: David Evanier (1971-1973), Robert W. Lowe (1974-1975), Monica Ochs (1975), Rona Murray (1975), John Levin (1976-1980), Leona Gom (1980-1984), Dale Zieroth (1983-1986), Calvin Wharton (1997-2001), Cathy Stonehouse (2001-2004), Billeh Nickerson (2004-2007), Rick Maddocks (2007-2010), Elizabeth Bachinsky (2011-2014), Ian Cockfield (2014), and Shashi Bhat (2015- ).

In January 1996, the Education Committee was established as the successor to the College Board’s Education & Services Committee. Initially it maintained many of the same responsibilities as in its previous iteration but with a new emphasis on providing a link between the College Board and the Education Council. By 1999, much of the Committee’s responsibilities were set out in the College and Institute Act, which had become legislation in 1996. The Committee endeavoured to clarify and foster the link between each of the College’s governing bodies, reviewing information and advice the Board received from the Education Council. The Committee also reviewed matters requiring joint approval of the Board and the Education Council, and it carried out any responsibilities delegated to it by the Board.

The Education Committee was discontinued in 2000 following a re-evaluation of the Board’s committee structure.

Established in April 1981 (with its initial meeting held the following month), the Education and Services Committee was committee of the College Board. It was a new iteration of the Program Review & Development Committee, and it shared mostly identical terms of reference as its predecessor. These included reviewing proposals and presenting reports and recommendations to the College Board related to program development, educational priorities, new systems of instruction, admission policies, and financial matters impacting instructional activities.

By 1993, the Committee’s mandate had been updated to include reviewing proposals “on matters relating to instruction, College services, and College-community relationship and to present reports and recommendations to the College Board.” Public information and community development activities were added to the existing list of the Committee’s areas of focus.

In January 1996, the Education and Services Committee became the Education Committee.

The Douglas Students' Union (DSU) is a non-profit society incorporated under the BC Societies Act. The Union represents students on matters of school policy, provides services and hosts events aimed at enriching campus life, and engages in advocacy on behalf of its members.

The Douglas College Student Society (DCSS) was incorporated in 1972 under the Society Act with a mandate to represent and protect the rights and interests of students. The makeup of the Society's executive membership has changed over time, but typically included a President, Vice President(s), Secretary, Treasurer, and campus- or program-specific representatives. At different times in the history of the DCSS, the records of the Executive were collected by a staff person who was also responsible for the management of Society business/administration.

When the DCSS was formed it represented students from three campuses: New Westminster, Surrey, and Richmond. For this reason, the earliest governing body of the DCSS - the Student Council - was also sometimes called the Tri-Council. By 1979, five additional campuses were also being represented by the DCSS: Coquitlam, Langley, Maple Ridge, Agnes Street, and Newton Centre. Consequently, the DCSS's governing body became the Multi Campus Council. In the early 1980s, following the College's split into two separate institutions, the DCSS updated its Constitution and its governing body was reorganized as the Senate. Rather than a campus-specific focus like its predecessor, the Senate used a model of representation based on areas of study.

In 1992, DCSS membership voted to leave the Canadian Federation of Students, only to re-join the national organization six years later. In 1999, the DCSS underwent a restructuring in which it was renamed the Douglas Students' Union (Canadian Federation of Students, Local 18).