The First Nations University of Canada is making a full effort to fill its half-empty Regina campus.
Total enrolment at all FNUniv’s campuses is about 850 registered students, a 20 per cent jump from last year. Despite the increase, the university is still struggling to get back to where it was 10 years ago.
In 2005 the FNUniv had an enrollment of more than 1,100 students but six years later it bottomed out at 230. Since 2012, the rebuilding has begun. In 2013 a five-year plan aimed at 15 percent enrolment increases each year for five years was unveiled.
Overall enrollment is up about 45 per cent since 2012, said Lynn Wells, the university’s vice-president of academics. She says the numbers dropped last year and some staff cuts had to be made this year, but she says the university is on the right track.
“You know the fact that we are getting these enrolment increases year after year… it has taken some time to rebuild the confidence in the institution, but we are doing that. Our numbers are on a growth trajectory,” she says.
Enrolment was expected to increase 15 per cent last year, instead it increased only 5 per cent. That resulted in an $800,000 budget shortfall. To make up for lost revenue, the university cut nine staff members.
Wells says the cuts will not hurt the quality of education. She says the campus has actually been expanded to make it more accommodating for more students.
“By the time we get to January we will be adding more courses and our goal is to double what we teach in Regina over the next year,” she aid.
Regina’s FNUniv campus can accommodate about 1,300 students; right now there are about 450.
More and more aboriginals are going to university in the province. The University of Saskatchewan reports more than 2,100 aboriginal students – that’s up 10 per cent from a year ago. At the University of Regina, the final numbers are not yet in, but last year there were more than 1,600 aboriginal students making up about 12 per cent of the student population.