Westlock town council has concerns about what value NorQuest College is bringing to the community and may look to end rental subsidies for the organization.
Councillors invited representatives from NorQuest College to make a presentation their Oct. 14 meeting to explain its operations over the last couple years — college representatives Karen Link and Norma Schneider made the presentation.
Mayor Ralph Leriger said council invited NorQuest to attend a meeting to talk about their contributions to the municipality in part because the space the college leases in the town-owned Heritage Building is provided at a rate well below market value.
CAO Dean Krause said NorQuest’s lease is $2,300 per month for a space that is 404 square metres, or roughly 4,300 square feet — an amount that translates to about $.54 per square foot.
For comparison, according to a report on available commercial rental space in Westlock rents in Westlock can be $2 per square foot or higher.
“Going into the budget cycle, council needs to look at value. What value are we receiving for the dollars we spend,” Leriger explained after the meeting.
“It was evident to us that since the funding cuts for colleges, there hasn’t been a lot going on over there.”
Link and Schneider spoke about the impact of provincial budget cuts on post-secondary institutions and the challenges created, and outlined some of the kinds of programs the college is looking at bringing to Westlock.
“To be honest I hoped I would hear more about what actual programming had gone on in the past year, and what programming is planned — not being looked at but planned for the next year,” Leriger told them. “When we say that lease is maybe our towns most onerous, we mean most heavily subsidized.”
He said the subsidy would be “far more palatable” if there was more evidence of more programs being offered at the site, and how many students from the Westlock area are taking part.
“If you’re asking me what my vision is for NorQuest, my vision is students in chairs. It’s courses taken,” Leriger said. “Are we running a college or are we talking about running one? That’s it, to be very blunt about it.”
During the presentation, Link and Schneider spoke about what has been happening at the Westlock campus over the past couple years.
Provincial cuts have come with some significant challenges for the college as a whole, especially in terms of cuts to $9 million available for student grants.
“That amount has gone from $9 million to $3.8 million, and is expected to decrease by 15 per cent for at least the next three years,” Schneider said. “That’s the reality of what kind of resources students have access to.”
Furthermore, she said, there was a seven-per-cent decrease in the provincial operating grant, and although some of that money has come back it remains a challenge.
“We heard from the community you were disappointed, understandably, that there were less students coming here, classes were cancelled, staff were fired and those kinds of things,” she said.
There are some new programs available through the college, although some are by necessity reliant more on distance education-style programming instead of straight face-to-face classes.
That is not to say there are no face-to-face classes. Link explained one of the big successes this year is the introduction of a healthcare aide program that is offered in conjunction with R.F. Staples — it is a dual credit program meaning students can get both high-school and post-secondary credit for their work.
In addition there are some partnerships with other institutions to provide classes to NorQuest students in a hybrid format.
There would be some students at the Westlock campus taking part in courses with students in other campuses through online classrooms.
“We’ve tried hard to focus on which programs will be in demand for both students and employers at the end of the program,” Link said.
She acknowledged the town provides a “good deal” on the rent for the space, and said she would provide council with more specific information about what programs are offered specifically and what how many students come through the facility.
