At least twice over the last several years, Athabasca University (AU) has called the Athabasca community into action.
At least twice over the last several years, Athabasca University (AU) has called the Athabasca community into action.
The first was when it called upon local stakeholders to lobby the provincial government in support of funding for its proposed Academic and Research Centre. That campaign was an overwhelming success, to which AU's new building is a testament.
More recently, AU undertook the ‘Open Our World' fundraising campaign, which also met its target.
But now, with last week's release of the Athabasca University Sustainability Taskforce report, it's now time for Athabasca to call AU into action.
The report paints a fairly gloomy forecast for AU, suggesting that the university's debt could be unmanageable in two years without substantial restructuring.
More troubling, however, is the suggestion in the report that some of AU's problems may be mitigated if it were to leave Athabasca.
The Athabasca University Faculty Association believes the notion that AU's location is an issue is hogwash. And it's certainly worth noting that AU's rise to the global forefront in distance education occurred while it was based here.
Nevertheless, perception becomes reality, as they say. And therefore the challenge for both civic leadership and AU is to strengthen and forge the relationship between AU and the community so that the issue of location is taken completely off the table.
Town and county council need assurances from AU that it plans to stay in Athabasca long-term. They need to offer creative solutions, like marketing partnerships and economic development strategies that help make our community more attractive.
But more than anything, they need to remind AU that our community has gone to bat for them many times before. Now it's time for AU to go to bat for us.
