Let’s Talk Budget

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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
million; 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
decision. 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 impending stress of having to balance an
educational career, 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, reverbera-
tions from the budge cuts have been fought in
an uphill battle. While steps have been taken
towards repairing the damages, CNCSU says
further improvements are still needed. On
April 20th, the CNCSU presented their bud-
get requests to the board for the 2018/19 year.
There are five key areas Harman Dandiwal
(organizer of CNCSU) benchmarked for addi-

tional funding: course offerings, campus acces-
sibility, campus events, mental health services,
and consent culture training.

The first issue presented was a signifi-
cant lack of seating within high demand pro-
grams such as information technology, human
resource management, and business manage-
ment. Students apply to CNC from all over the
world. A document handed out to board mem-
bers alongside CNCSU’s presentation states
“lack of course availability is a key factor in
determining 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 challenging. If students are
unable to find seats within CNC, they look for
education elsewhere—essentially undermin-
ing 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 cam-
puses (such as Quesnel) face challenges