A proposed merger between Cumberland College and Parkland College was discussed at last night’s (Mon) Melville City Council meeting.
Brian Hickie is a Board Member with Cumberland College and a former member of Melville City Council. He asked Council for a letter of support for the merger.
Currently, Cumberland College and Parkland College are operating in a coalition – under one President/CEO and one Board of Governors – which was agreed upon back in 2018. The coalition was a recommendation made by the Task Force on Regional College Efficiency.
Hickie explained the process began about 5 years ago when Cumberland was about to start the process of searching for a new CEO. The Ministry of Advanced Education said to the Board at Cumberland that Parkland College was also looking for a new CEO, and it would be more beneficial if the two Colleges considered hiring one person to be the Chief Executive Officer of both schools. Hickie added the Ministry said they’d eventually like to have all 7 regional colleges in the province become one, with Cumberland and Parkland being the start of that process.
He says the coalition has been working the last 3 years and are at the point where a formal merger is the next step.
Hickie acknowledged there has been some resistance against the proposal, with some at Cumberland thinking since Parkland College is a bigger school, this looks like a takeover.
“They’re pushing back and they made some noise to our MLA’s, and our MLA’s have said ‘Are you sure you guys have your act together?’.
“So the Board has been tasked with going out and getting letters of support, and we’re getting a really good response right across both our colleges, and the message is ‘The future is going to be different. What you’re doing is good and so let’s get on with this.’”
Hickie told Council the merger would, among other things, allow them to be stronger financially and more competitive in an evolving market. He added creating one regional college would help keep rural students closer to home.
“If we have a strong regional college system, we’re going to be able to maintain a big presence in rural Saskatchewan,” Hickie said.
He also told Councilors that provincial funding for regional colleges is starting to dry up, and keeping the status quo isn’t an option.
“If we merge, we can keep a higher level of funding. If we stay stuck in the past, we’re going to slowly start losing our programs because we can’t run certain programs with small groups of students.”
When asked by Acting City Manager Chris Bruce whether the merger would force employees to be centralized into one work location, Hickie replied that won’t happen; employees would be able to continue working where they are.
“If somebody says ‘Listen I can work for you, I can be your HR Manager but I live in Nipawin and I’m not moving’ that’s fine, you can do that job from Nipawin, and that goes for all our senior positions.” Hickie said.
His visit is part of a community outreach process with staff and community stakeholders to ensure there’s meaningful input into the merger, with a target date set for July 1, 2023.
When asked about the topic, Mayor Walter Streelasky says it may result in more opportunities for Melville residents.
“It may not be young people, it might be people that wish to choose a new career, and these might be offered in our community at Parkland College, and this would be an advantage to our citizens.” Streelasky said.
City Council will make a decision on supporting the merger at the next meeting on November 21st.