Over the course of the last several months, Nipissing University has been working on its three-year Strategic Mandate Agreement, with the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities. The three-year agreement is set to expire this year. It highlights the universities strengths and its vision for moving forward, detailing the programs the university wants to offer, and the funding requirements to make it all happen.
Nipissing University President Dr. Michael DeGagne explains.
"The last three years, so as soon as you finish the first one, you're almost then obliged to start the next one. So I think for the last year we've been very intently working on this," explained DeGagne. "It defines how the government will support us going forward, and it is right on with all of our expectations."
DeGagne says the ministry is 'consistently supportive of the aspirations for the university.'
"The idea is that we are the university that trains essentially public servants. We're excellent at teaching teachers, social workers, nurses, our Criminology programs are strong, our arts are strong" said DeGagne. "So we went forward with that to say look, we need as much support as we can, taking young people from the north and from around Ontario, and helping them get into the helping professions."
There are still a few 'i's' to dot and 't's' to cross, but at some point soon, the university will be signing off with the ministry and moving forward for the next three years.
"What it helps us do is, it keeps us consistently focused on students. It allows us to have the resources to make sure that the students that do come here are consistently in smaller classes, offering that more personal touch that we're known for. It helps us continue on with the student experience that people who have come here talk about. What we're good at, will continue," said DeGagne.
He went on to say Nipissing's last budget was close to being balanced.
"Of course we're still recovering from a number of shocks that occurred a few years ago with regard to the faculty of education. We were so heavily involved in teacher education. But we anticipate full financial sustainability within a year or two."
The universities funding formula is complicated, but DeGagne says what the post-secondary institution needs is continued financial support for all of the programs it currently operates now and into the future.
"In the future, we're also looking for a Northern grant, so something that acknowledges the special conditions of Northern universities, and gives us some assistance in reaching out to these populations."
The ministry has Strategic Mandate Agreements with each of the provinces 45 publicly funded colleges and universities.
The university President expects to hear back from the ministry in about a months time. How the ministry responds will determine the direction the university will take over the next three years.
