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Despite senate rulings, there’s no money to restart cancelled Thorneloe programs, president says

Theatre arts, motion picture arts programs will no longer operate, Dr. John Gibaut says
210119_John_Gibaut
Thorneloe University president John Gibaut. (Supplied)

Rulings by the Laurentian University senate on two programs cancelled by Thorneloe University don’t change the fact  the school has no money to continue offering them, the institution’s president, John Gibaut, said last week.

On April 23, Thorneloe University announced it was closing its theatre arts and motion picture arts programs over a lack of funding, and because the programs are the least attended of the programs offered by the school. 

Like Huntington University and the University of Sudbury, Thorneloe is a federated university of Laurentian University. Students who attend Thorneloe earn Laurentian degrees.

Meeting May 19 on the decision, the Laurentian University Senate voted in favour of a resolution that in essence seeks to overturn Thorneloe’s decision to close the programs. The first resolution will have the senate reiterate that Thorneloe University’s theatre and motion picture arts programs be allowed to continue until 2026, when it will be reviewed. The second resolution will propel the senate to enter into negotiations with Laurentian to have the programs and staff at all federated universities brought into its Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Health, with an immediate freeze on the closing of the theatre and motion picture arts programs.

That’s all well and good, but there is still no money, Thorneloe said in a news release.

“While Thorneloe acknowledges the jurisdictional parameters of the Laurentian University Senate to close an academic program for academic reasons, the Senate decision did not take into account the financial reality that Thorneloe University faces, resulting in part due to a significant change in the way Laurentian University funds the federated universities.”

Gibaut explained the funding changes to Sudbury.com reporter Heidi Ulrichsen on May 1. You can read that story here.

“Thorneloe University, as an independent institution with its own autonomy, is solely responsible for the financial costs and operation of the programs which fall under the department of Theatre Arts and Motion Picture Arts. For that reason, the April 23, 2020 decision of the Thorneloe Board of Governors will stand, and programs and resources under the department of Theatre Arts and Motion Picture Arts will no longer operate at Thorneloe, effective June 30, 2020.”

After the LU senate met and in spite of the motions it passed, Thorneloe’s board met and unanimously reaffirmed the motion to close the department of Theatre Arts and Motion Picture Arts. 

“Closure, in this sense, means closure in the human resources sense of the word,” said Brian Koivu, chair of the Thorneloe University board. “We are not able to staff these programs because of financial constraints.”


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