Northlands College. Photo courtesy saskatchewan.ca
It will be the largest graduating class in the history of Northlands College, as 19 students will receive degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina during convocation exercises this evening in La Ronge.
Students from communities across the north were enrolled in programs, such as arts and science, nursing, business administration and social work.
It’s the first time that graduating university students will be together for their convocation, as the college offers the programs at campuses in Creighton, Buffalo Narrows and La Ronge.
Karla Hardcastle is the manager of university programming for Northlands College, and says the number of students graduating shows that the college’s programming is growing out of its infancy.
“Larger numbers of students are completing programs from year-to-year, and we are proud of our students who have persevered for the last three to five years to finish their university degrees,” she added.
Hardcastle says that by providing programs for northern students, it means less travel to the main campuses in Saskatoon and Regina. In some cases, students with young families don’t have to uproot and move further south or be disconnected during the school year.
“It’s a point of pride for us that we have been able to offer so many different university programs to students in northern Saskatchewan and give them the option to learn where they live,” she said. “So many students over the last 20 years that we have worked with, have said they could have never done this program because they couldn’t move, or didn’t want to move to go to university.”
She says in some cases, some students started out taking classes down south and were able to finish at home. She says that being able to offer a variety of university programs means it doesn’t have to be a one size fits all approach to post-secondary schooling for students in northern Saskatchewan.
Hardcastle says that at the end of the day, the degrees come from the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan, but they get to have a personal experience close to home, and that’s a partnership the college is very proud of.
The convocation exercises take place tonight at 6:00 pm at Eagle Point Resort.