Several universities embarked on the construction of new buildings before the pandemic. After a forced transition to distance and certain experiments in online pedagogy that will remain, is there still an appetite for the physical expansion of universities?
Posted at 3:00 p.m.
At the École de technologie supérieure (ETS), the answer is unequivocal. “Yes, we still have expansion projects, because we still have huge needs as we made a commitment to the government to double our graduation in 10 years to meet the labor shortage. says Jean Belzile, who heads the strategic development and resources department at ETS.
To increase the number of engineering graduates, one must have access to buildings with mainly laboratories.
Students need to develop their know-how and it is much more difficult to do remotely: this is why we really needed to go back to face-to-face teaching.
Jean Belzile, director of strategic development and resources at ETS
The ETS is currently building its pavilion F. It will have six floors and a basement, for an area of more than 13,000 square meters. It will mainly include laboratories as well as spaces for professors and graduate students.
In addition, the ETS has been working on the Dow project for years. “This complex will be two to three times larger than our last buildings,” says Jean Belzile. The next step is for the government to include the Dow complex in its five-year investment plan. »
The ETS is also working to increase its offer of student apartments so as to be able to accommodate more of them from all over the province, but also from abroad. The proportion of international students at the ETS has also increased from 15 to 33% between 2017 and 2022.
“It’s particularly important to have places to house our students, especially when we are in the midst of a housing crisis,” says Jean Belzile. We hope to be able to make an announcement about this soon. »
The city center still has its relevance
HEC Montréal is in the process of finalizing its new building in downtown Montréal, which will welcome its first students in 2023. Of course, when the project was launched to get closer to the clientele of practicing professionals, we were far from to think that teleworking would be adopted massively.
It is certain that people are no longer in the city center five days a week as was the case before, but at the same time, when people go there, they want their day to be worth the trip.
Federico Pasin, Director of HEC Montreal
“So they take the opportunity, for example, to go to dinner at a restaurant with colleagues, then to go see a show in the evening, or, why not, take a course,” says Mr. Federico Pasin, director of HEC Montreal.
In addition, several programs that will be offered there, such as the part-time MBA, will be in hybrid mode. “The teachers identify the subject that will be more relevant to teach online and the one that will lend itself better to the classroom,” explains Federico Pasin. Thus, students will come to class only when it is really worth it and, at the same time, it will allow them to network. And for those customers who work downtown, it’s easier to stay there after work than to go to our main campus on the mountain. »
It should also be noted that HEC Montréal is sorely lacking in space at the moment.
“Our premises are practically all always occupied, specifies the director. We have very little leeway if, for example, we want to host a symposium, a research-related activity, etc. However, we must be able to accept to receive events, sometimes spontaneous, to have vitality. We will be able to do this from now on with our building downtown. »