The NWT’s education minister says she is “definitely committed” to Aurora College’s transformation into a polytechnic university, a shift that has now been delayed.
The college’s transition into a university was set to be complete by May 2025. Its president and board said this month that will not happen on time.
This week, MLAs Robert Hawkins and Kieron Testart suggested a disconnect between the department and college officials, who said the transformation was never properly funded during a public briefing earlier this month.
“In talking to Aurora College, they are investing themselves to create this transition. They are marching ahead because this government is not leading,” Hawkins said. “This is the opportunity for this government to get out of the way or get behind.”
“They are saying they are on a knife’s edge,” Testart said. “I for one don’t want to see them teeter over. I want to see them succeed. I want to see our students succeed.”
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In response, education minister Caitlin Cleveland said the federal government had committed $8 million to the transformation while the territorial government has provided $1 million a year for the past four years.
“There are other programs within the government that I think would really welcome a million dollars a year in order to run transformation and to run a program,” she said.
Cleveland added the territory had funded an Aurora College transformation team, with eight public servants, which worked to complete 66 of approximately 80 milestones before being disbanded. She said Aurora College was able to use operational funding meant for the bachelor of education and social work programs, which were suspended in 2017, toward transformation work, and said as an arms-length institution, the college can seek third-party funding.
Outgoing college president Glenda Vardy Dell had said at the public briefing that nearly 60 percent of the school’s annual budget came from inconsistent third-party channels. She said that complicated the provision of consistent programming.
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On Tuesday, Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Denny Rodgers asked Cleveland if her department would consider funding the transition team again to continue its work and provide funding to reopen a centre for teaching and learning at the college. The college had to close that centre last year after it was unable to secure third-party funding.
“If we want this transition to be a success, we must commit to it,” Rodgers said. “That will have to come with funding.”
Cleveland said she had not received a request from the college’s board of governors to help fund that centre, nor to support “putting the band back together” at the transition team.
‘A great working relationship’
Testart on Monday called on the minister to improve the GNWT’s relationship with the college. He suggested accountability measures such as tying grant funding to meeting deadlines or making progress on the transformation.
Cleveland said she has “a great working relationship” with Joe Handley, chair of the college’s board, and speaks to him twice a week.
She said if requests from the college for funding did come in, “I would definitely sit down and talk to them about it.”
Cleveland acknowledged a significant amount of work remains to transform the college into a polytechnic university, with no new date so far agreed to replace the original May 2025 target.
She said the remaining work includes not just building a “shiny new campus” with adequate student housing but also offering degree programs.
“I see the great value in this project,” she said.
