Nunavut Arctic College criticized for abruptly cancelling program, evicting students
Qanak Collective questions whether enough is being done to help students succeed
Some Nunavummiut are questioning Nunavut Arctic College's decision to cancel its Inuit Studies program with little notice, shortly after the program's students returned for classes in Iqaluit after holiday break.
Six students had been taking Inuit Studies at the Nunatta Campus in Iqaluit. Four who were on academic probation had their student status terminated without notice. They were given a week to vacate their student housing units.
The other two students had passed their courses but the college said the program could not continue with such a small enrolment. They were given the option to transfer to other courses.
"The college is undermining its own credibility in making this decision," said David Wilman, a long time Iqaluit resident and former senior manager at the college.
"I can't understand how a college that cares for its students and puts students first, as any college should, could treat students like this."
Wilman said he thinks students should be "raising hell" and demanding to know who made the decision to cancel the program.
For Nunavummiut, Wilman said, the decision to leave family and community to go to college is a difficult one. It's been made more difficult by the uncertainty created by the college's recent actions.
Wilman is not the only one raising concerns. A group of politically active Inuit, called the Qanak Collective, published an open letter to the college on Wednesday with a number of questions about how these types of decisions are made.
"What is going on within the Arctic College?" said Romani Makkik, a member of the collective.
"Student services, the registrar's office, do they provide the services that students need? Writing skills, time management, finance management, anything to help the students feel like they are grounded in the program both personally and academically?"
If a high percentage of students are failing to graduate from Arctic College, it is a symptom of an educational system that is failing to accommodate student needs, said Makkik.
The Qanak letter questions what it calls "systemic barriers within the education system" and calls on the college to reinstate the Inuit Studies Program for this year, and apologize to the students.