Peter Scott says he’s in favor of economic development in Athabasca, a town of fewer than 3,000 people located 145 kilometers north of Edmonton. But he says he can’t understand why Education Minister Dimitrios Nikolaidis is insisting his school be the main economic driver. He also questions spending money to uproot and house hundreds of staff — if they come — while not advancing the school’s core mission of quality online education.
Read more: Alberta threatens to cut funding to Athabasca University in ongoing battle
Scott said the school has successfully rebounded from near-bankruptcy in 2015, has money in the bank, is growing its programs and boasts 40,000 virtual students across Canada. Story continues below ad “Why are we talking about cutting the budget of a university that is doing great work? This is a weird place,” Scott said Friday in an interview. “If you want to help rural Alberta, maybe there’s another minister with an investment fund that could really help that community — and I’d be more than happy as a key supporter of that community to contribute. “But I shouldn’t be asked to divert student funds to do this job. The Alberta government should do this and continue.” Earlier Friday, Scott, in an online video to staff and students, urged stakeholders to contact Nikolaidis and make their feelings known, telling them, “signing this agreement can set the university back 40 years and bring it to the path of destruction”. A week ago, Nikolaidis ordered the school to come up with a plan within two months to have more staff and executive members work physically in Athabasca. If the school does not implement the relocation plan, the minister warns the school could face a cut in its $3.4 million a month performance grant. Trending Stories
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Just under 300 university staff currently work at Athabasca, representing a quarter of the schools’ total workforce. The rest work remotely. Of those remote workers, the school says one in three live in rural areas _ either in Athabasca or elsewhere, with staff spread across 100 cities, towns and hamlets in Alberta. Story continues below ad Scott said Nikolaidis wants 500 more employees, including executive members, to relocate to the city by 2025. Scott, in the online video, said Nikolaidis “put (the university) in an unreasonable and untenable position.” He said if the university’s board of trustees voted in favor of the plan, the relocation costs for employees and their families along with the tight timelines would be nearly impossible to implement — meaning the school would lose its funding for not complying. But, he said, if the school doesn’t sign the deal by the end of September, it could lose its funding anyway — about a quarter of the budget, with bankruptcy inevitably following.
Read more: University responds to policy battle with Alberta government, suggests not to be heard
Nikolaidis was not available for an interview, but said in a statement: “This administration will not waver in its support of (Athabasca University) as a key economic and social driver in the northern region. “Alberta taxpayers deserve to see the millions of dollars in funding for this foundation benefit the local community and Albertans.” The minister said he was taking the next step with the September deadline because the university failed to deliver a workable staff relocation plan when it was ordered to produce one in June. Story continues below ad “In the absence of a plan, we were forced to develop our own road map,” Nikolaidis said. The statements are the latest move in what has turned into a five-month standoff between the minister and the school. Nikolaidis said the school could still be effective while helping the economy grow, but Scott resisted. He said the change would make it harder to recruit top talent and make online education boom. More importantly, Scott said, it has upended the rationale for the school’s very existence. “The majority of our performance scholarship is now tied to metrics that support the economic development of a town of 2,800 rather than a student body of 40,000,” he said. The change was announced earlier this year after a local lobby group — called Keep Athabasca at Athabasca University — lobbied for more administrative staff and executive members to work in the city to help stimulate the economy. In March, Premier Jason Kenney came to town to promise the province would make changes to bring people back. To further that goal, Nikolaidis replaced the board president in May and added more city members to the board. © 2022 The Canadian Press
