Latest news with #AlgomaUniversity
CTV News
21-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Algoma University faces backlash over program pauses amid budget concerns
Faculty union at Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie concerned after several temporary program pauses put in place.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Faculty, community raise questions about Algoma University suspending programs, including music
The Algoma University Faculty Association is raising questions and concerns about the suspension of admissions to five programs, particularly the music program which it said was popular and performing well. OPSEU local 685, as well as students and community leaders say the decision to not accept new students in the history, geography, sociology, visual arts and music program will have a wider impact on the Sault Ste. Marie. Interim university president Donna Rogers told a Senate meeting at the beginning of this month that those courses were identified as having low enrolment. In a news release, the faculty association said it is concerned about how the decisions were made. Professor George Townsend sat on the Senate committee that started reviewing these programs in December 2024. In the association's news release, he said he was shocked "to find out that the Board of Governors had gone ahead and made a decision before we (the Senate) had even completed our exercise." "The board made this decision based on incomplete data," he said, with Townsend adding that enrolment in music doubled this year, while salary costs were reduced. Edward Turgeon, the director of the music program, was also puzzled by the move. Turgeon had been heartened by numbers he obtained from the registrar's office that confirmed an increase in enrolment in the program from 2023-24 to 2024-25, going from 33.5 full-time equivalent students to 65.5. Additionally, he said that early this year, that he had put forward a proposal that would trim the cost of running the music program by about $60,000 a year. "So the information that I supplied in February, two months before the board made its recent decision would have placed the music program solidly in the black," he said. "We're trying to understand and faced with giving the board and giving the university these ways to make it a profitable program, this requires engagement." He said the program has contributed greatly to the community and further, with one graduate going on to be a leading conductor on Broadway. Jacob Rendell, who owns Case's Music store in Sault Ste. Marie, said they teach students who later go on to study at Algoma University, and then hires Algoma students to teach youngsters. He said not taking on more music students sends a message to future young musicians that they might want to go elsewhere. "I hear, honestly, a lot of mixed emotions from various people," he said. "At the end of the day, the university is a business. So there's an understanding that that there has to be, there's a fiscal responsibility that they have to take on." However, he said it is a shock for those in the music community. "A lot of people are kind of reeling and not really knowing what that's going to mean for the future," said Rendell. "The community of musicians here is pretty tight knit. So one of my biggest concerns is I have a long history of professional relationships and friends that actively teach music at the university, and I'm worried about the impacts on them." Algoma University in a statement said it "recognizes the value of all its academic programs and their contributions to the cultural and economic fabric of Sault Ste. Marie, Brampton and Timmins, including those currently under the one-year admissions pause. That is precisely why the University is committed to ensuring they are financially sustainable over the long term."
CTV News
21-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Algoma University faculty concerned over program pauses
Northern Ontario Watch Faculty union at Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie concerned after several temporary program pauses put in place.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Post-secondary sector says budget measures won't avert crisis in northern colleges and universities
We need elbows up, but also heads up, says the president of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Employees in response to measures announced in Ontario's budget last week. Nigmendra Narain speaks for the organization representing 18,000 faculty, academic librarians and academic staff. He says some steps announced in the budget are welcome, but will do nothing to ward off an impending financial crisis, and argues the province is reducing its funding from last year. Many colleges and universities in the northeast are struggling and having to adjust their budgets suddenly. Federal policy changes have capped the number of international students who pay three to six times the amount of domestic students. While post-secondary institutions work to avoid outright lay-offs, schools such as Cambrian College in Sudbury and Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie have been offering early retirement incentives to faculty, re-assigning instructors and suspending intake to programs with low enrolment. Cambrian College in Sudbury said it had to eliminate 22 positions because of a $40 million dollar drop in revenue. Algoma University is seeing its operating budget cut in half and it will welcome more than five thousand fewer students next fall. It has suspended intake to five programs with low enrolment this fall. In a recent statement to CBC, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Colleges and Universities said the government has made an historic investment of $1.3 billion in the sector, and put $750 million to fund science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) student seats over five years. Narain said those numbers need to be put in context. "Their claim is based on the idea that they are doing it over the course of history, that it's a larger investment," he said. "Their own blue ribbon report suggested (an investment) closer to $3 billion. So they are 50 per cent or half the amount off of what their own blue ribbon panel suggested was a minimum amount of investment that is needed." Narain said the amount being put into research is also declining since last year and while the STEM investment is welcome, it would be better for even more overall funding so all students could study and contribute "Some of them are going to do engineering degrees, they're going to do medical degrees, but they're also going to do English and theatre and political science and economics," he said. "So we need that funding to be there for the students to take the courses and so forth." The budget also includes an additional $10 million dollars to help out small, northern and rural colleges and universities. The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance welcomed that measure in a statement. "Rural and northern institutions have less-than-adequate infrastructure and services in place for their students compared to their more urban counterparts. As a result, this funding is a good step towards more comprehensive supports for these schools and we'd be keen to see this investment grow in other northern post-secondary areas like transit and infrastructure." More college graduates live and contribute to rural, northern communities An Ontario researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Carolina Agarão, said a larger concentration of college graduates live and work in northern Ontario. She said while the reliance on higher tuition of international students has masked the problem of insufficient government funding, there is a now a crisis as those students stay away. "I think we are really seeing a funding crisis in post-secondary education, but we know that colleges are critical to promote the well-being of workers and communities and what we really need to see is that the government needs to step up," Agarão said. 'We're there for colleges and universities', says Bethlenfalvy In an interview with CBC Sudbury after the budget, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy acknowledged the difficulties facing the sector with the cap on international enrolment, but said that was an "Ottawa decision" and the province is putting in significant investment to fund colleges and universities.
Hamilton Spectator
12-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Algoma University pauses five programs to improve finances
Algoma University will temporarily suspend first-year admissions to five undergraduate programs in an effort to strengthen the institution's long-term financial sustainability, according to an internal memo obtained by The Sault Star. The five low-enrollment programs that will be paused are Geography, History, Music, Sociology, and Visual Arts. As of April 28, only 18 students had accepted offers to these programs, based on data from the Ontario Universities' Application Centre. This decision follows recommendations from the Ontario Auditor General's 2022 Value-for-Money Audit on university finances, which looks at the financial contributions of each of its academic offerings. A 2024 follow-up report criticized the university for making 'little to no progress' in determining whether programs could be restructured to provide a net-positive financial return. 'This decision was not easy, nor was it taken lightly,' wrote Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Donna Rogers in the memo. 'Low-enrolment programs create long-term financial risks for universities, including reduced funding for student services, research grants, and faculty development.' Those already enrolled in the affected programs will continue their studies without disruption, with full access to courses and academic support. No layoffs will occur as a result of the decision. Prospective students who had accepted offers have received personalized communication from the university, along with alternative program options and assistance from the Registrar's Office. Rogers emphasized that the move is not a program cut or suspension — decisions which fall under the authority of Senate — but a temporary measure designed to allow departments to reflect on program design and future viability. The Board of Governors approved the pause earlier this year as part of the university's broader commitment to sustainable academic programming. Discussions with impacted departments are ongoing, with a focus on collaborative solutions. 'We are deeply grateful to all faculty and academic leaders for their partnership in this important work,' Rogers wrote.
