Hundreds showed up to lecture theatre 1-306 Friday afternoon at the College of New Caledonia to take in a public forum that saw over 20 presentations to the college’s board. Unfortunately the room only held 112, which forced most to listen in from an overflow room down the hall.
The College of New Caledonia is facing a 2.8 million dollar budget shortfall, forcing its board of governors to make some unpleasant cuts.
In the run up to making those decisions, the college held the forum to hear from the schools stakeholders who were all making their case to avoid the axe.
CNC President Henry Reiser has floated the idea of suspending intake for CNC’s popular dental hygiene program so they can adjust tuition costs.
Dr Jose Lopez, part time dental instructor and dentist in Prince George says this would be a catastrophic decision.
“I have 13 employees in my office, out of these 13 people on our team 11 came through CNC” Lopez said eliciting loud cheers from the audience.
He said that dental service in Prince George would suffer and hiring would become difficult if a 2 year suspension takes place as suggested.
“I hope you enjoy your next trip to the dentist” Lopez said cheekily
President Henry Reiser, leading a board of unwilling executioners said he is not happy with the decisions they will have to make, but they have faced almost 10 million in cuts in 5 years and have to make some calls that they know will hurt students
“Things change, times change. Programs are sometimes undersubscribed and they need to either be renewed and re launched or sunsetted and new programs added.” Resier told the crowd
He added that since 2002, 23 new programs have been launched at CNC. He also acknowledged that they are required to follow government direction when it comes to addressing the skills gap in the north.
Other notable presenters included the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, who offered their help in offering advice for what types of skills gaps their members are facing.
Mayor Luke Strimbold of Burns Lake also addressed the board as one of several representatives from the CNC Lakes campus saying they are unhappy with being left out of the decision making process.
The final budget vote will take place on April 24th.