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In 2015, The College of New Caledonia
(CNC) faced severe budget cuts. Many felt the
consequences of the institution losing $2.8 mil-
lion; entire programs were dissolved, which
resulted in 21 instructors and 17 operational
staff losing their positions. The community of
students at CNC also felt the impact of this deci-
sion. In addition to having to adjust to a smaller
selection of courses, students faced minimal
counselling services, fewer grants and risked
losing daycare services altogether. The impend-
ing stress of having to balance an educational ca-
reer, as well as the inevitable burdens of life, is
an issue The College of New Caledonia Students
Union (CNCSU) wanted to address immediately.

Over the last three years, reverberations
from the budge cuts have been fought in an up-
hill battle. While steps have been taken towards
repairing the damages, CNCSU says further im-
provements are still needed. On April 20th, the
CNCSU presented their budget requests to the
board for the 2018/19 year. There are five key
areas Harman Dandiwal (organizer of CNCSU)
benchmarked for additional funding: course
offerings, campus accessibility, campus events,

mental health services, and consent culture train-
ing.

The first issue presented was a significant
lack of seating within high demand programs
such as information technology, human resource
management, and business management. _Stu-
dents apply to CNC from all over the world.

A document handed out to board members
alongside CNCSU’s presentation states “lack of
course availability is a key factor in determin-
ing the speed with which students complete their
studies”. With an increase in waitlist lengths in
the past year, paired with a shortage of seats,
program completion is becoming more challeng-
ing. If students are unable to find seats within
CNC, they look for education elsewhere—essen-
tially undermining enrolment and guaranteeing
the undesired result: budget cuts.

Campus accessibility, or lack there of,
is the next suggestion in CNCSU’s docket. For
many students, a campus is the most effective
place to study. However, CNC satellite campuses
(such as Quesnel) face challenges