N.W.T. to get polytechnic university, location not determined

It appears the Northwest Territories will get a polytechnic university. The question remains, however, where this university will be located.

The N.W.T. government released its response to a foundational review of Aurora College on Friday. The review was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on May 30.

• Review proposes transforming Aurora College into polytechnic university

• Include more voices in the Aurora College review, says MLA

It contains 67 recommendations, including the biggest to transform Aurora College into a northern Canadian polytechnic university. That recommendation has been accepted by the government.

The other recommendations cover a range of areas for improving the college, from governance to accountability, academic program management, operations, and the recruitment and retention of students.

The government has accepted 51 of the recommendations, and partially accepted 16.

Where will the main campus go?

One of the more controversial recommendations was to relocate the main campus from Fort Smith to Yellowknife. This was partially accepted.

In its response, the N.W.T. government said it plans to continue with the "three-campus model" in Fort Smith, Yellowknife and Inuvik. The response also states the government will work to establish "areas of specialization" for each campus.

"If and where a 'main campus' will be assigned will not be decided at this time," the response reads.

Many Fort Smith residents expressed outrage at the recommendation when the Aurora College review came out, saying the loss of the headquarters would hurt the community.

• Fort Smith residents cry foul over review of Aurora College, MLA says nothing is final

• Councillor warns Aurora College move could 'decimate' town's economy

"To the greatest extent possible, negative short-term social or economic impacts resulting from the transformation of Aurora College will be avoided," the government's response says, though it does not lay out how this will happen.

At a technical briefing about the possible future location of the college Friday, Chris Joseph, the project lead on the Aurora College foundational review, explained there are too many things to work out first before deciding where its headquarters will be located.

"What is the character of the university itself? What is the necessity to have different campuses with different designations," he offered as examples of what some of those questions are.

New position to drive future of college

Another recommendation was to hire a deputy minister of higher education to drive the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university by 2024.

While that position does not yet exist, the government's response indicates that person will be based in Yellowknife during the "transformation period."

The future of Aurora College's social work and education programs could also be decided by the college's vice-president of education and training. The foundational review recommends that personprioritize a review of the social work diploma and bachelor of education, which the government has accepted.

• Aurora College's teacher, social worker programs targeted by budget cuts

The fates of these programs have been in limbo since February 2017, when then-education minister Alfred Moses announced his department was cutting the two programs. Followingbacklash, he backed down from that announcement and instead put the social-work program on hiatus while the college conducted a review.

• Fort Smith, N.W.T., union workers, students plan march to protest cuts

The findings of thatreview were released earlier this month by Yellowknife-Centre MLA Julie Green, who hadfiled an access to information request to obtain the report.

• Halted social work program at Aurora College should be expanded, report suggests

• N.W.T. education minister says she's not qualified to make call on Aurora College program

At this point, there are no estimates on the cost of transforming Aurora College into a polytechnic university.

"More work is needed to clearly identify the capital and operational costs," the response reads.

"This work will be done following the direction of the 18th and 19th Legislative Assemblies of the Northwest Territories."