On March 24, Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenny visited Athabasca, 145 kilometers north of Edmonton, to discuss the future of the University of Athabasca at a town hall meeting.
Peter Scott, president of the university, said school leaders were not invited.
Mr Kenny told the crowd that his government had instructed AU, an online institution with about 40,000 students in Canada, to increase its physical presence in Athabasca by consolidating the city’s administrative and executive services with about 2,805 people. The university, he said, must draw up a plan by June 30th to attract and retain more staff to work in the community. The government will change the law to give the city more representation on the school board, Mr Kenny said.
While the school was implementing a plan that would allow more employees to work remotely, local politicians in Athabasca urged the province to ensure that some university staff remained in the city to feed the rural economy. Forty years ago, Peter Loheid’s government moved the AU to Athabasca from Edmonton to do just that.
“I agree with his vision,” Mr Kenny told the crowd. Mr Scott, who took office in January and said he was first briefed on the government’s wishes in a March 22 letter, did not.
While the leaders of Alberta and the AC are at odds over the school’s mandate, the struggle is not just about where employees live. It is a battle for the independence of higher education institutions, how best to strengthen rural economies and the future of higher education and employment. This is a quick course in Alberta politics.
In 2018, AU has drawn up a plan to create an “almost virtual” campus that will give employees more freedom about where they live. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated that plan and raised concerns in Athabasca, where about 250 of the school’s 1,200 employees are based.
Prior to the pandemic, about half of the institution’s staff worked virtually, while others worked outside offices in Athabasca, Calgary, and Edmonton. The AU recently closed satellite sites that Mr Scott said Athabasca was the school’s physical home. Atabasca’s AU staff will still be able, but not required, to work on its physical campus under a near-virtual strategy.
Mr Scott, who arrived in Canada from Australia, has been adamant about disobeying the government’s plan, arguing that the people working in cabins in Athabasca do not represent rural economic development.
“You don’t make the future work by winding the clock back to 1980,” he said in an interview.
Alberta, he added, asked the AU to “radically change its mandate to make us the engine of economic development” of Athabasca.
Instead, AU’s mandate, Mr Scott said, is to work in the best interests of the institution and its students. The school needs to attract the best talent to do this, and residency requirements would hamper the online university’s ability to lure future employees.
“It would be absurd to dictate where they buy their groceries,” Mr Scott said, adding that the university had not been consulted on the government’s plan.
The AU, he said, could better contribute to Alberta and its northern communities on its own terms. It serves students in rural and remote areas, training Alberts who would not otherwise have access to higher education. Mr Scott said AU was second only to the University of Alberta in the number of students enrolled in the province. Research on northern communities in Alberta, he said, is more valuable than checks for landlords in Athabasca. Restrictions on residence would impair the AU’s ability to provide quality education and research.
“The bureaucratic tape is our nightmare. Institutional autonomy is the victory for the country, “Mr Scott said. “If you release Canadian universities to move to the future, this is the economic future that Canada wants.
Mr Kenny and Demetrios Nicolaides, the Minister of Higher Education, instructed the AU to step up its presence in Athabasca after the city and surrounding communities lobbied the government. The “Save Athabasca at the University of Athabasca” campaign began in 2019, according to Rob Balay, the city’s mayor. This escalated last year as citizens believed that AU’s proposed “virtually virtual” campus would devastate the community.
“It simply came to our notice then. This affects our schools. This affects our tax base. This affects our business. The loss of all these jobs would mean millions of dollars from our local economy, “said Mr Balay, who had previously served on the AU for six years.
The city of Athabasca and Athabasca County have invested about $ 23,000 each, and the community has raised another $ 30,000 to lobby the government, Mr Balay said. The group hired the Canadian Strategy Group, co-founder of Hal Danchila, a Tory operative with close ties to the prime minister. Mr Danchila declined to comment.
Mr Balay said part of the AU’s goal should be to provide good jobs for the community.
“I do not necessarily agree with the university’s position to hire the best and smartest,” he said. “I think it’s about how you specifically target people who want to move into this area.”
This approach may be consistent with current AU hiring practices, he said: “If they think they’re getting the best and brightest now, well, I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.”
AU and Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc, a producer of kraft pulp, are the two largest employers in the area, the mayor said. According to data collected by Keep Athabasca at the University of Athabasca, the number of local AU employees peaked at 520 in 2010. It fell to 337 by 2019 and 299 by 2021, the group estimated. The university says its Athabasca staff will still be able to work off campus on an “almost virtual” plan.
Alberta founded the AU in 1970 and envisioned an institution in Edmonton. The plan quickly shifted to distance learning, and in the late 1970s, 22 communities competed to become the new AU base. The Lougheed government, with a vision to stimulate rural areas by “decentralizing” key institutions, declared Athabasca the winner in 1980. The city’s campaign slogan during the years of lobbying was: “Athabasca wants you, Athabasca U”.
The then president of the AC resigned, accusing the government of violating the school’s autonomy. Board members followed. Staff members condemned the idea of moving to Athabasca, which they saw as an outpost with a lack of amenities and cultural attractions. In the spring of 1984, at the beginning of the relocation, the university estimated that 65% of its support staff and 35% of its professional staff had left due to the transition.
Mr Nicolaides said the government had applied for a residence permit because the AU was moving away from the Lougheed government’s vision of doubling the school as an economic engine. Senior administrative and executive roles have migrated from the community in recent years, he said.
“It’s only a matter of time before they stop all operations,” Mr Nikolaides said. The “almost virtual” plan, which has been in place for years, also affects him. “It is difficult to see this, as an important goal of the institution is to help provide jobs in rural and local communities.”
Alberta has cut university budgets in recent years, but Mr Nikolaides promised in a March 22 letter to help AU meet its demands. He told the AU that “he will be happy to explore any support the ministry can provide to the University of Athabasca, including financial support to help achieve our mutual goals.”
Mr Nicolaides appointed Nancy Laird as chairman of the AU board in 2019. Her term, along with the appointments of two other governors, expires on August 14, 2022. As of March 23, the government has appointed four new governors, all with ties to Athabasca. or AU before landing at the University of Northern Alberta.
Mr Scott, who is also on the board of governors, sees the government’s letter as a request for consideration, not an implementing directive.
“We will respond this way,” he said. The new president feels blinded and said Mr Nikolaides had previously assured him that the government would not interfere in the university’s business.
“A lot of people told me something mysterious,” Mr. Scott said. They said, “Welcome to Alberta.”
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