Local schools applaud post-secondary promises

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This article was published 08/01/2016 (3935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Universities and colleges in Manitoba will receive a base funding increase of 2.5 per cent and two per cent, respectively, in the coming year, bringing total amount invested in post-secondary institutions up to $710.8 million.

The announcement, made by Premier Greg Selinger and Education Minister James Allum was one of six made by the provincial government on Thursday. The promises

of funds were well received by local post-secondary administrators.

“Within the context of Manitoba, it’s about where it’s been, but I think it’s also important to provide a context from … across Canada. From a grant-increase perspective, (Manitoba) has been getting more than most other provinces,” said Scott Lamont, Brandon University’s vice-president of administration and finance.

“When I look at my colleagues across the country, a number of them have seen decreases in some years and that’s caused them some difficulty … it takes your eye off the ball,” said Assiniboine Community College president Mark Frison, who was at the announcement in Winnipeg.

In addition to the grant increases, a spate of specific initiatives were funded, some of which made it to the Wheat City.

They include several initiatives meant to be a part of the province’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including $150,000 for a Métis studies program at Brandon University and $350,000 to be divided among the seven universities and colleges to “support indigenous culture on campus.”

Lamont said the $50,000 will have a big effect on BU’s relatively small campus.

“We haven’t yet decided how we will allocate that money because it was frankly a very pleasant surprise,” Frison said.

Both schools signed the Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint, designed to foster “excellence in indigenous education.”

“They signed that quite independently of the government of Manitoba. We wanted to be in a position to support them and also continue the process of reconciliation,” Allum said.

The Métis studies program will be new to BU, after the proposal was submitted to the province several years ago and was “caught up” when the province changed how it evaluated program proposals.

“You will get a bachelor of arts, with a major in Métis studies … it was submitted by the Faculty of Arts,” Allum said.

Lamont said the program won’t affect other program proposals, including the joint business school submission being prepared by BU and ACC.

Other funding includes a $450,000 boost for ACC’s internationally educated licensed professional nurse program and $10,000 for the Len Evans Memorial Scholarship, named after the longtime Brandon East NDP MLA and one-time BU economics professor who passed away last week.

The nursing funds make permanent a program that was previously funded federally as a pilot project. It helps people already in the country transfer their nursing certification from another country to make them employable in Canada.

Scholarship details are scarce, but Allum said the province was already looking to support students in the Brandon area.

“It just made sense to us to align it with what BU is doing because, of course, Mr. Evans is an iconic New Democrat in Manitoba, so we wanted to honour him and so it’s a great privilege for us to do that,” Allum said.

“In no way is it partisan, but it does reflect somebody who has enormous stature in our community.”

Lamont also highlighted a promise of “enhanced flexibility” to match funding support via the Manitoba Graduate Scholarship, and the Manitoba Scholarship Bursary Initiative.

Both Lamont and Frison said they were happy to know their grant total in January, since the announcement normally comes in April.

“Colleges and universities requested of the minister many months ago that if there was a way that our funding announcement could be done in the same way as K-12s (are), that would be a huge benefit, that would fit better our planning cycles,” Frison said.

The funding announced is contingent on a re-election of the government, confirmed Allum’s spokesperson, Zach Fleisher.

“If the government changes, then spending priorities change,” Fleisher said.

PC education critic Wayne Ewasko isn’t surprised the promises got the thumbs-up from local schools.

“The big thing right now is, how are we going to make funding announcements to this degree when we don’t know how bad (the amount to debt and deficit in the province) actually is?” Ewasko said.

“We’ve already committed to scholarships and textbook credits, there’s going to be more and more rolling out,” he said of his party’s plans for the campaign.

“What are we, two weeks before the blackout period (ahead of the spring election)? They are hoping Manitobans will forget about a lot of the broken promises in the last election. They’ve had four years.”

» tbateman@brandonsun.com

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