Canadore College hosted a virtual meeting this morning with its employees to update everyone on the plan to navigate these uncertain times.
“We have been forced to change rapidly,” said Canadore President George Burton. “We all hope the new normal is more a resumption of what we’re used to, which is on-campus activity. Since day one, our priority has been the safety of our students and employees, and the stability of our workforce for as long as possible.”
“We came into this global challenge as a college in relatively good shape which is going to help us,” said Shawn Chorney, Vice-President of Enrolment Management, Indigenous and Student Services. “Our returning student number is solid. It didn’t fall off. Students didn’t put their hands up and say: I’m out. So, we have a returning student cohort, so far, that is on par with what we expected in our enrolment.”
Officials say the college is working through plans for the 900 students who will have to return to the school to complete practical components of their courses. North Bay campuses have deferred the first-year domestic student intake, while the cancelled entirely when it comes to international students.
However, at Canadore’s Toronto partner, Stanford International College of Business and Technology, the international spring intake is underway.
“Our confirmations coming into the Fall domestically are up, for most programs,” said Chorney. “There are certain specific sectors, like aviation, that are tracking down right now. They are highly linked to the health of the industry and the aviation sector was growing coming into it but is often a focus of airline struggles and so on. Although that is only a sliver and a component part of that one sector as an example, it does impact consumer confidence, student confidence in coming to study.”
While looking forward to the fall of 2020 and attempting to resume full operations, officials say the college is proceeding with caution until actual enrolment numbers are known.
“We have slowed or suspended our infrastructure spending for the upcoming year,” said Burton. “We have approved funding for infrastructure to accommodate the delivery of programs in the Fall.”
Burton added that the college received funding in the early days of the pandemic, which helped offset immediate costs.
