ATHABASCA – Athabasca town council can expect an update from Dr. Ken Coates regarding ongoing discussions between Athabasca University and the Ministry of Advanced Education regarding the university’s land use and facilities planning.
Coates’ may be a familiar name to residents of the Athabasca area as he headed the 2017 Third Party Review of Athabasca University and has now been retained by the university to facilitate talks between the ministry and the post-secondary institution. Mayor Rob Balay told Athabasca town council at the Nov. 1 regular meeting that he expects Coates will meet with council at some point before the end of the year.
In that 2017 review, Coates said the university needs to “better address northern educational needs, capitalize on underdeveloped opportunities, and position AU as a leading presence in teaching and research related to the provincial North. As an outcome of this activity, AU should be able to maintain if not expand the size of its operation in the Town of Athabasca and in northern Alberta generally.”
Balay said he recently viewed a presentation on AU’s land use and facilities plans going forward and was interviewed by Coates for his perspective on the ongoing situation with the local campus.
“And so he’s sort of going back to the drawing board, after all that, and will contact us when he's ready to provide that presentation to council, but it will be this year. He knows there's an open invitation to come and said he will be here when he's ready to provide all the information,” said Balay.
In a message to staff last week, AU president Dr. Peter Scott said he is “confident”, given recent progress in talks with the ministry, that both parties “will reach a viable solution that considers all stakeholders and that we will soon be in a position to create research innovation and growth opportunities for AU, its learners, and the Athabasca region.”
“I am pleased to share that we have had a productive few weeks. We have met regularly with members of the Ministry of Advanced Education team, and we are making great progress toward a resolution. We are jointly committed to finding a solution that addresses increased economic development in the Athabasca region and doing that in a strategic and measurable way that preserves AU’s core purpose as a teaching and research university.”
Scott went on to say the consultation sessions facilitated by Coates are “incorporating ideas and suggestions shared with us directly from our community, including our learners and members of the town and county of Athabasca.”
“In these sessions we have explored sustainable economic development ideas for the region that will capitalize on AU’s strengths as a leading innovator in open education and research, and responsibly put learner and taxpayer investments to their best use long-term. Many of these ideas were presented as a plan to move forward; a plan that was unanimously approved by AU’s General Faculties Council (GFC) and Board of Governors in September.”
Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides will attend the Dec. 9 AU board meeting, where parties are hopeful the new investment management agreement between the province and university can be finalized.
Background
Following the hiring of Canadian Strategies Group by the Keep Athabasca in Athabasca University advocacy group to lobby the provincial government on its behalf in 2021, Minister Nicolaides visited Athabasca in March 2022 along with Premier Jason Kenney and laid out three directives, presenting a deadline of June 30 for AU executives to submit a plan on how the university would pull back its near-virtual plan and return staff to working on the campus in Athabasca which now sits virtually empty.
When that deadline was not met, Nicolaides said he was prepared to take substantive action, which included a threat of withholding $3.45 million from the institution per month. Soon after, AU board chair Nancy Laird was removed from the position several months before the end of her term and replaced by Byron Nelson. Several new board members with direct ties to Athabasca have also been selected.
In a July 31 e-mail Nicolaides said, “Through the tools available to us, we’ve directed to Athabasca’s Board (of Governors) that the University must end its pursuit of the near-virtual strategy and must deliver a new strategic plan to Advanced Education for approval by Sept. 30. Failure to comply will result in reductions to Athabasca’s future funding.”
Minister Nicolaides detailed key changes to the IMA for Athabasca University at that time, including three new metrics starting with the AU Board of Governors was to provide direction by Aug. 31 to AU president Dr. Peter Scott to cease the near-virtual strategy and to start implementation of a new plan expanding and reinforcing AU’s physical presence in the Town of Athabasca.
Scott decried what he called “government overreach” in a video that was released soon after Nicolaides’ announcement.
At the beginning of October, the ministry made several more changes to the AU board, rescinding four appointments and announcing several more. The new board members are currently being onboarded to be prepared for an upcoming meeting during the week of Nov. 28, and for the Dec. 9 meeting with Nicolaides.
