Laurentian University has announced it will offer six Indigenous Studies courses previously run by the University of Sudbury for the spring term.
On April 1, Laurentian announced it was terminating the more than 60-year-old federation agreement with the three federated universities operating on Laurentian’s campus, throwing the futures of students and employees working there into disarray.
Due to this decision, the University of Sudbury announced it would not be offering any courses as of the spring term.
But Laurentian sent out a press release Friday afternoon saying that it has signed an interim agreement with the University of Sudbury.
This agreement outlines negotiated terms that will be implemented by the parties following the disclaimer of the Federation Agreement by Laurentian on April 1 as part of Laurentian’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) process, with an effective date of May 1.
The parties agreed to very specific terms enabling Laurentian to teach six Indigenous Studies courses during the spring term, as per the recommendation of the Laurentian University Native Education Council (LUNEC) resolution dated April 12.
These six courses had previously been taught by the University of Sudbury.
The press release said Laurentian will continue to engage in consultation with LUNEC during the spring and summer terms in order to consider and determine how best to ensure the ongoing delivery of Indigenous education at Laurentian, as well as continue discussions with the University of Sudbury.
The agreement provides for the one-time delivery of these six distance-learning courses by sessional instructors for the spring term only.
“Moving beyond this spring, Laurentian University is committed to ensuring that the approximately 140 students who were registered in the Indigenous Studies program at the University of Sudbury have access to courses rooted in Indigenous perspectives already on offer through Laurentian’s Faculty of Arts, in a variety of disciplines,” the press release said. “Laurentian will continue to engage with LUNEC to explore ideas surrounding the development of an Indigenous Perspectives program that would complement the already well-established Bachelor of Indigenous Social Work and Master of Indigenous Relations programs.”
The situation with Indigenous Studies caused by the CCAA restructuring and the termination of the agreement with Laurentian and the federated universities has drawn criticism.
Tasha Beeds, an associate professor in the University of Sudbury’s Indigenous Studies program, called what Laurentian is doing “indigenisation.”
“There are Indigenous people employed at Laurentian, of course, but are they trained in the discipline of Indigenous Studies?” she told Sudbury.com earlier this month.
“That, to me, is the biggest issue. Laurentian can take Indigenous programs, they can take the classes, they can take the courses, they can take the Indigenous Studies program — but if you don't take the people who are trained, how are you going to deliver that program?”
Laurentian said Indigenous Studies students are encouraged to reach out to Joël Dickinson, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, at [email protected] to discuss the next steps in their academic path forward. New applicants to Laurentian can reach out to Liaison Services to plan their next steps at [email protected].