After experiencing a deep financial crisis, Laurentian University has achieved stability, assures its next rector, Lynn Wells, who says she is “extremely confident” about the future of the institution.
“We must accept the past and heal with the community. But my priority will be the future,” says Duty Mme Wells, during an interview conducted entirely in French.
In 2021, Laurentian University, struggling with a deficit of tens of millions of dollars, eliminated 69 programs, including 28 in French, to focus on the “most in demand” areas of study.
Today, the financial situation of the establishment is “very stable”, assures Mme Wells, who said she is “extremely confident” about the university’s future. Despite this good financial position, it is still “too early” to indicate whether these abolished programs will one day be reinstated, indicates the one who will take office on 1er April 2024.
However, she did not wait for this date to begin consultations. A priority, according to her, to build “the future of the institution”. “We will have to create transparent relationships with all members, reassure them [quant au fait] that the institution will be strong, that the decisions in the future will be very intelligent and strategic. »
“Experienced leader in the field of post-secondary education”, Mme Wells was appointed in early December for “her dedication to scientific excellence and her commitment to Indigenous and francophone cultures,” wrote Laurentian University Board of Governors Chair Vernon Cameron.
“With a degree in French literature, I have been a defender of French-speaking education for many years and determined to advance the bilingual mission of the University,” Lynn Wells declared in a press release on the day of her appointment. “The French and Francophone programs and the Francophone community are very important for the future of the institution,” she added in an interview.
Mme Wells also does not close the door to the idea of Laurentian University becoming a solely French-speaking institution, as long as the decisions, taken following consultations, make the institution “strong and stable for the future.”
Former vice-rector of studies at the First Nations University of Canada, in Saskatchewan, she is also committed to the “tricultural identity” of the establishment, which includes “English, French, and indigenous languages” .
Retention in difficulty
If Mme Wells is looking to the future, the crisis is not resolved at Laurentian University. By February, the establishment must have established a new strategic plan for the years 2024 to 2029, the first since the start of its financial woes.
According to a preliminary survey, conducted to prepare this plan, half of the employees and professors interviewed were considering going to work elsewhere, “citing total compensation and organizational culture as the two main reasons for their consideration.”
The observation extends among students, while 4 out of 10 students have already considered changing university, we can read in the report – the long version of which is only available in English.
This year, the university reported an increase in its enrollment, amounting to more than 8,000. According to Mme Wells, their increase, both “domestic” and “international”, will be a “priority” for the coming years, in order to ensure the “financial health of the institution”.
In the Harrison Report on the State of Postsecondary Education in Ontario, released in November, a panel of experts noted that colleges across the province are at “risk” of being heavily dependent on international students: their tuition fees represented more than 30% of total revenue in 2020-2021, and 20% in universities. “Many establishments would no longer be able to survive with an exclusively Canadian workforce,” they warned.
The source of financing is also not necessarily “viable”, taking into account “the threats inherent in various international factors such as pandemics [et] geopolitical events.
The future rector recognizes that “the situation of students [internationaux] “is constantly changing these days with the decisions of the federal government”, but she does not intend to close the door on them. “It will be the university’s job to have a stable and healthy environment for these students, to welcome them to the university with academic and mental health supports,” she adds.
Openness to collaboration
It must be said that the financial context of French-speaking establishments in Ontario is not all rosy. In addition to the risk of dependence on international student registrations, the report highlighted that the financial viability of the University of Hearst and the Université de l’Ontario français (UOF) is “on hold”, and their recommended uniting with other French-speaking or bilingual establishments in the province.
The University of Sudbury also received a funding refusal from the provincial government last June.
“I hope there will be funds to support French-speaking programs,” comments Mme Wells, in response to the report’s findings. She plans to “speak with the rector of the University of Sudbury and the rectors of other institutions” in a “major consultation”, judging that the “collaboration is very, very important”, without detailing in what form it will materialize .
In its draft strategic plan, published on December 7, Laurentian University names the objective of “improving program offerings and Francophone and Indigenous partnerships,” in particular by developing a “common roadmap” with “other local and provincial post-secondary institutions. »
When asked what the university’s secret recipe is for having a financial status described as “very stable”, she replies that “Laurentian has a very long history. There is a community that is very proud of this institution, and its support will be very, very important in its stability.”
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.