Laurentian University’s music program was among the 69 programs cut by the university last month amid the university’s insolvency restructuring.
Now Sudbury.com has learned that Cambrian College has also suspended the intake of first-year students into its music performance program.
Students who wish to begin music studies at the post-secondary level in Northern Ontario this fall now only have the option of Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie.
Cambrian spokesperson Dan Lessard explains that only 10 students have registered to enter the program’s first year this fall.
“There’s just insufficient numbers of students coming into the first year of the program to warrant us starting a whole new three-year cycle of the program,” he said.
Enrolment trends for the program have been going downward for the last few years, the spokesperson added.
Lessard said the students entering the program’s second and third years in the fall will be able to finish out their music diplomas.
He also said this doesn’t necessarily mean Cambrian’s program will be phased out.
“What we do now is we work with faculty and program leadership to look at how we can ensure the sustainability of the program moving forward,” Lessard said.
It’s too soon to say if the decision will have any job implications, he said.
The situation with the music program at Cambrian is part of the college’s normal processes, where programs are assessed each year to ensure the demand is there.
He said Cambrian is also suspending first-year intake into another program for the same reason — mechanical technician and machining, which only has three students who have indicated they wish to enter the program’s first year.
Cambrian’s decision to suspend first-year intake into its music program is not in any way related to what’s happened to Laurentian’s music program, Lessard said.
“I can tell you the two are not related,” he said. “They’re completely separate. Our decision is not in any way, shape or form tied to what’s happening at Laurentian. This is based on our own processes here and that review of programs we do every year.”
