Aurora College needs to bring programming back to Inuvik.
That's the message from Inuvik Town Council to Aurora College president Dr. Angela James, who was in town on Dec. 9 to give a presentation on the state of the post-secondary institution as it proceeds towards becoming a polytechnic university.
During the presentation, James conceded that previous administrations were overly optimistic about how quickly the transition would happen and said the current administration was trying to distance itself from that.
"In the past, um, there was some sensationalizing of when Aurora College was deemed to become a polytechnic," she said. "There was some sensationalizing regarding Aurora college is going to have a new Tin Can Hill campus in Yellowknife and that they're going to be launching in May of 2025.
"Well that was sensationalization and it was not really what should have happened, unfortunately, so now the new board of governors SA国际影视传媒� who wasn't part of
that, nor was I SA国际影视传媒� are now more on a more steady, sturdy, solid and strategic pathway."
However, Mayor Peter Clarkson and councillors around the table were more interested in asking about what they described as a lack of programming at the Inuvik-based Aurora campus.
Clarkson noted that the college had, at most, 25 full-time students this year, a significant drop from 165 students in 2010. He listed some suggestions for programming the college could offer to fill employment needs in the region.
"If you offer the same programs every year and nobody's attending, maybe something else needs to be offered," said Clarkson. "I've talked to a lot of people in town, a lot of the Indigenous offices and governments SA国际影视传媒� everybody would send people to an information technology program.
"We are all trying to hire people who can keep the computers running, keep the smartboards running or keep the phones running and yet we're having to hire from down south or train people ourselves."
Other programs Clarkson suggested included environment and natural resources technology program (ENRTP), advanced financial accounting and recreational leadership for youth.
He also noted that a past 'trades trailer' program had been out of operation for years and would be helpful for people in surrounding communities looking to improve their employment prospects.
"Those things have become lawn ornaments," he said. "You need to get those going. We need tradespeople throughout the area. There are huge construction projects SA国际影视传媒� probably by the time they're done it's going to be over $500 million SA国际影视传媒� most of those people are coming from down south because there's no people here that are trained to do some of that work.
"Something needs to happen because it's rock bottom and we appreciate any leadership you can bring to this," the mayor added.
James replied that the college is struggling with low graduation levels from the NWT education system.
"I must admit that Aurora College, and across the Northwest Territories, we're dealing with major issues," she said, "especially in many of the NWT school systems with our high school students that are not ready for post-secondary studies. So what the board of governors is investigating and looking at is that. A lot of our dollars... are spent on upgrading, so we need to have conversations with the NWT superintendents association and the principals of the Northwest Territories because there is many, many students who are not graduating or are not coming in and are not ready to take ENRTP, or personal recreation sports or nursing programs. They need a lot of preparation work before they are ready.
"So I just have to bring that forward to the Town of Inuvik, in addition to the Northwest Territories, is this is the major issue that we're dealing with right now."
James added college administration is looking into the possibility of using the Inuvik campus for graduate research and education, building on the international success of the Aurora Research Institute.
Clarkson said the town would be sending a letter to the Aurora College board of governors to reinforce its stance.
