Norquest to cut jobs, programs

College will lay off 50 people, accept 500 fewer students

NorQuest College will shrink its enrolment by 500 full-time students this fall and lay off about 10 per cent of its faculty and staff to cope with provincial budget cuts announced this spring.

NorQuest was hit with a double whammy — the 7.2per cent cut ($3.19 million) in its operating grant imposed on all post-secondary institutions. The college also lost $800,000 in student grants allocated by Alberta Human Services to support adults returning for high school upgrading and skills needed to get into an entry-level career job.

The college will take in fewer students at all levels, but basic academic upgrading programs up to Grade 12 will be hit hardest, due to the loss of funding from Human Services, said Norma Schneider, vice-president of teaching and learning.

NorQuest has about 8,500 students, many of whom are immigrants doing part-time upgrading and language training. That translates into 4,000 full-time equivalent students of which 500 will be cut this fall — about 12 to 15 per cent of the student enrolment.

Of the 50 staff laid off, about 30 are non-academic staff and 20 are teaching positions, said Schneider. Eight positions were vacant and some people took early retirement. The college employs 550 people.

“It’s unfortunate we can’t take as many students as we have before,” said Schneider, adding that some people may have to delay their schooling or find other sources of funding to get back to college.

“The good news is we still have a strong economy,” so many of these people can still get jobs, she said.

The college will also pull instructors out of Westlock, Whitecourt and Drayton Valley campuses and offer online courses there instead for academic upgrading. Stony Plain and Wetaskiwin campuses will retain teachers in classrooms, she said. Some post-secondary courses will continue in those communities.

“These are fundamental changes we had to make to meet our fiscal realities,” Schneider said.

In a “positive” development, the budget squeeze has forced NorQuest to look at more collaboration with other colleges, she said.

NorQuest will share a human resources director with Lakeland College, based in Vermilion.

Also, it will make available online its academic upgrading courses for people in eastern Alberta and they can use the facilities at Lakeland College, which cancelled its academic upgrading program in the wake of funding cuts, Schneider said.

In another change for the fall, NorQuest will add more content geared at adult learners in its academic upgrading, such as workplace skills, time management and life skills to better prepare them the workplace.

The college will carry forward a deficit of $1.4 million on its $40-million budget and will balance the budget in 2014-15.

Management will take a wage freeze for the next two years.

“Despite everything the staff has been through, people at the college still remain focused on the students,” Schneider said.

College president Jodi Abbott, who was unavailable for comment, said in a news release that the loss of staff is particularly difficult, given the culture at the school.

NorQuest strives for “a form of inclusiveness and family atmosphere for both students and staff,” Abbott said.

“The loss of these employees who have worked very hard to ensure student success is difficult.”

The budget was approved by the board of governors earlier this month and will now go to Advanced Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk.

MacEwan University, the University of Alberta, NAIT and other colleges are expected to announce their cuts later this month.