LET’S GIVE IT
- ANOTHER YEAR |

The University of Northern B. C.
drops back and regroups |

‘The "projected date for
having a fully operational
university in the north has
been set back a year.

In statement Wednesday R.
Murray Sadler, president of the
Interim Board of Governors for
the University of Northern
B.C., said the board has
decided it is not realistic to .
expect the university to be in |
full operation by September |
1993, the date set by the board
last year. "The Council has
concluded that the. targeted
date cannot be met without
serious danger to the quality of
its programs and its general
development as a University in
and for all of Northern British
Columbia," he said.

- Margaret Dediluke, the
Terrace representative on the
board of governors, said after the
announcement that although the
decision will delay the university's
full campus operation, some
courses will still be offered this
fall through Northwest Commu-
nity College and other regional
colleges in the north, and the
number of course offerings will be
expanded next year as in the
original plan. Construction work
on the main campus in Prince

£

Sadler: 1993 not realistic.

George, a $137 million project,

will also go ahead according to

plan.

Concerns expressed about the
inclusion of regional programs
and the ability of people outside
Prince George to influence the
course of the university's affairs
were expressed in meetings held
throughout the north last month,
and Dediluke said those concerns
formed part of the basis for the
decision to set back the date. "The

Terrace Review — March 20,1992

board of governors. has. taken
public input very seriously...
This decision answers some of
the concerns of this region," she
said. "It was a difficult deci-
sion, but the best decision."

According to Sadler, the
extra time is needed:

_ to prepare proper programs;
*to have programs accredited
by professional agencies;

*to consult and coordinate
efforts with the community
colleges and communities
throughout the north;
*to recruit and appoint quality
faculty and bring them
together as a team;
*to plan for required instruc-
tional space, proper equipment,
library resources and other
facilities throughout the north.
"It would be irresponsible to
risk compromising the quality of
the university's development just

‘for the sake of maintaining a

target date," Sadler said. Univer-
sity president Geoffrey Weller
said, ".. it is important that it
begins in-an atmosphere of qual-
ity rather than urgency."

The change of plans, Sadler
said, has the support of the Min-
ister of Advanced Education.

Dediluke sees the decision as

Sess
ey

SUES NNN RS,

pastas