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CNC Administration Must Carry the Ball, Not Drop It

By 250 News

By Jan Mastromatteo


On March 9, the College of New Caledonia announced that it will be cutting 24 instructor positions. Apparently unaware of the irony, the administration made this announcement on the very same day that a forum was being held in the College Atrium which focused on the huge skills shortages that exist in British Columbia. The forum presenters, which included both business and labour, made very clear that there is such a shortage of skilled personnel in the province that many companies cannot carry out their work effectively.

On the same day, the College also announced that the technology programs that it suspended last year would remain suspended, including Wood Technology, Engineering Design Technology, Computer Information Systems, and Electronics Technology (suspended in 2002). In addition, two trades Entry Level Trades Training intakes will be cancelled.

On the other hand, the College administration has announced that it will be starting some mainly short term, entry level, trades programs, but it is unclear whether these are one time or permanent offerings (the one exception is the New Media program which is being reinstated after being suspended for two years). But these “new offerings” cover up the fact that, over the last several years, a number of substantial programs have been eliminated from the range of programs that the college offers. In addition, there have been a substantial reduction of course offerings in the University Transfer area.

Program cuts and layoffs have been taking place at the College for the last four or five years to the extent that many faculty and staff refer to the process as “death by a thousand cuts”. Indeed, several years ago, the College administration even tried (unsuccessfully because of community opposition) to suspend the Forestry Technology program, a move that many saw was sacrilegious and extremely shortsighted, given that Prince George bills itself as the forestry capital of Canada. Last year, 22 instructors received layoff notices (the effects of which were somewhat ameliorated by early retirements and granting of leave to the extent that 8 ended up to be permanent layoffs). Operational staff have had their ranks decimated over the last few years and students have had substantial tuition increases.

The college has made these instructor, staff and program cuts, supposedly to meet what it terms “community demand.” But is there not a danger that the College risks becoming incoherent in its vision of itself and where is it going?

CNC is a comprehensive college which means that it offers a broad and comprehensive range of programs, from trades and technologies to university transfer, business and management, developmental education, health, and social services.

This comprehensive nature is a big asset for the North because it gives students a variety of choices in training and education. For example, in the University Transfer area, students can access at CNC a number of programs that are not available at UNBC or any other institution in the North. These UT courses include Criminology, Human Kinetics, Fine Arts and others.

A perennial issue for a College such as CNC is that the demand for post secondary programs tends to be cyclical. On the one hand, only a few years ago, enrollments in nursing were low, yet today there is a huge demand. And the same can be said about trades and technology. On the other hand, enrollment in university transfer courses and forestry technology used to be relatively high, but in the last several years has dipped.

The big danger in these cycles is for decision-makers to be myopic in their outlook. Slashing a program and laying off instructors and staff may seem to make economic sense in the short term, but in the long term what it ends up meaning is that the North loses a valuable post-secondary asset, often forever. The experience with the Ministry in Victoria has been that once a program is cut, it is very difficult for a college like CNC to get it back even if demand rebounds. Thus we, as a community, lose out.

CNC faces challenges today. The administration has chosen to respond to these challenges by in the main laying off instructors and cutting programs. Such a strategy is a slippery slope. If there are fewer instructors and fewer program offerings, then fewer students will attend the college, and a downward momentum is established that will only lead to more layoffs and cuts. Even more disturbing is that CNC is the only college in BC both this year and last year that is cutting so many jobs.

In today’s world, a successful college administration must be able to balance enrollment and budgetary pressures while maintaining the comprehensive nature of the college and access for students. Not to do so is to drop the ball. And this will only hurt the North. 


Jan Mastromatteo is the President of the CNC Faculty Association

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