Tom Says: “Only a cynic would come up with this theory…”
We begin today with a question — Is it possible the fact that the University of New Brunswick at Saint John was not mentioned in the province’s speech from the throne last week was all part of the Graham government’s master plan?
Could the following be the scenario?
Grade 12 students are now looking at which University they would like to attend next fall after successfully completing their secondary school education. Many of them who might have thought of going to UNBSJ are now left in limbo by the fact that they don’t know whether or not the courses they want are the courses they’ll be able to get come next fall.
Instead of going to the Saint John based campus, other universities could also be strongly considered. Maybe attendance at UNBSJ will drop off dramatically over the next couple of years because of the provincial government’s inaction on the future of the school.
If enrolment numbers do fall dramatically, the province can then say, “You don’t have the enrolment required for the continuation of all the courses which you’re currently offering. As a result, you must begin to cancel some of the more poorly enrolled programs because of a ‘lack of interest.’”
This then, would allow the government to get off the hook and introduce wide sweeping changes to the curriculum. Courses dropped would mean less and less students — and would also enable the province to combine the university with the community college under the guise of the polytechnic institute.
It is inconceivable that the provincial government, (if it has any long term plans) to let the university function in the future the way it is today, that they would continue to leave students hanging out to dry.
All three of my children attended the campus of UNBSJ for varying lengths of time. However, if they were younger and just graduating from high school, because of not knowing what is going to be offered next fall, old Dad would be the one instead telling them, “You want a university education? You better start to look elsewhere!”
This isn’t the way any province would do business, is it? I’d like to know sooner but I’ll bet I find out later instead…
I’m Tom Young.