ATHABASCA – The province of Alberta announced it would be reappointing Byron Nelson as the chair for Athabasca University’s board of governors after his initial three year term expired.
Initially appointed in 2022, Nelson has been at the head of the university for a number of changes, including the hiring of current president Dr. Alex Clark, the return of convocation to Athabasca, and the creation of the school’s new strategic plan, "Like No Other."
“I am beyond thrilled to be re-appointed to a second term as Chair of the Board of Governors of Athabasca University. I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of the past three years and celebrate the changes and improvements that the team at AU has accomplished,” said Nelson in an Aug. 21 press release.
“I cannot predict what the next three years will look like, what hurdles will be placed before us, or what challenges we will face, but I look forward to facing them with the Board of Governors, President Alex Clark, the senior leadership team and all other AU team members, along with the continued support of the town and county governments and the local community.”
A former candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta and an accomplished trial lawyer, Nelson has also served on the board of Food Banks Alberta, and received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal for his work in adult education.
Local response
Locally, the announcement was met with optimism, including by Town of Athabasca Mayor Rob Balay, who himself sat on the board before entering municipal politics.
“I was glad that he was reappointed. Any dealings that we’ve had with the board, and I speak with Byron quite a bit, and I’ve always found him very good to work with,” said Balay.
“He was very responsive, and I think it’s important for the university to have some continuity and some strong leadership. I believe he brings that to the board of governors and I was very pleased to hear him announced for another term.”
When Nelson was first appointed, AU was in the middle of a campaign to turn the institution into a fully online school, including staff, led by then-president Peter Scott. A grassroots campaign popped up in Athabasca, Keep Athabasca in Athabasca University.
John Ollerenshaw, a former AU employee before his retirement, was one of the leaders of the campaign. In the years since, Ollerenshaw said he felt Nelson has done a good job of rebuilding relationships with the community, but he still had concerns.
“They’ve taken seriously the mandate they were given by Premier Jason Kenney back then. How much of their good intentions have followed through into good actions are somewhat questionable, though,” he said.
“The campus is still empty; there’s probably $215 million worth of real estate sitting mostly empty. It’s a great change from the way things were 20 years ago, when there were upwards of 500 people working out of those buildings.”
Leftover concerns
Local employment at AU has been a sticking point for community relations. Under an investment management Agreement (IMA) last amended in 2024, the university’s provincial funding is tied to a variety of metrics, including small sections that require certain percentages of employees and senior staff to live in Athabasca.
According to the Ministry of Advanced Education, AU met the required metrics in the 2023-24 year. The target for full-time employees was 265, with a tolerance threshold of 10, and AU reported 256 employees, and the target for senior admin residing in Athabasca was 22 per cent, with AU reporting 38 per cent. The requirements lag behind a year, so AU would have reported its 2023-24 statistics in March of 2025.
The requirements jump up for the 2025 targets, the last year the IMA covers. According to the Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA), in conjunction with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), the local staff numbers have fallen to around 225. AUFA and AUPE count local staff as anyone residing in Athabasca County, Westlock County, Thorhild County, as well as sections of Lac La Biche County and the southeast of the M.D. of Opportunity.
David Powell is the grievance lead for AUFA, as well as a long-time Athabascan, and he spoke on behalf of the union to congratulate Nelson on his reappointment.
“Congratulations to Byron Nelson, we wish him well on another term as board chair, and we look forward to a successful outcome at bargaining,” said Powell.
Powell added that AUFA shares some of Athabasca’s concerns around local staffing and was concerned about a seeming lack of effort when it came to extending the regional workforce.
“The issue here is that what we’re getting in Athabasca is a big show, and that show is important; it’s even welcome. But there has been no initiative to hire locally whatsoever,” he said.
“I think there are large goals of the president to create some sort of larger program locally, but in the two years he’s been here, there’s been no hustle to find local jobs.”
