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Senate offers feedback on enrolment plan
University senators have sunk their teeth into the meaty subject of an emerging comprehensive U of S enrolment plan – and they have provided guidance to senior administration on how to proceed from here.
At the spring meeting of Senate April 28, Vice-President Academic Michael Atkinson gave senators an overview and details of the draft enrolment plan, and asked for feedback on a number of issues. They broke into 10 small discussion groups and reported their feelings to him:
- Currently the U of S undergrad enrolment is 92 per cent from Saskatchewan, five per cent from Alberta and B.C., and three per cent from elsewhere. Many senators said it would be good to recruit more from outside the province, to avoid being insular.
- Senators think academically talented students should be recruited, but the University shouldn’t become elitist. Currently about half of Saskatchewan high school students with 95 per cent or higher mars attend the U of S.
- The University should enhance its co-operative work/study programs, to give students practical knowledge and future job contacts, and to expose employers to University students and programs.
- It is the role of the University to ensure high-quality programs and excellence, so if raising tuition is necessary, it should be done. If accessibility becomes an issue, it is up to the provincial government to ensure access, by providing funding for scholarships and bursaries.
- More and better scholarships are needed if the U of S is to remain competitive for students in the increasingly competitive environment.
- More staff and resources should be devoted to student recruitment, giving students more personal contacts with people from campus, and making students realize that the U of S wants them to attend here. Students should be involved in recruitment as mentors for prospective students.
- Senators feel there needs to be a greater sensitivity for Aboriginal students in all aspects of University programs and life. There should be an effort to create a partnership with the student and the Aboriginal community, perhaps involving elders and other Aboriginal students as peers and role-models during recruitment.
- Some senators felt the new Canadian Light Source synchrotron should be used as a lure to attract more graduate students to the U of S.
- Senators supported the idea in the draft enrolment plan that the U of S must increase its graduate student enrolment.
Atkinson told Senators an enrolment plan is desirable because it will give clear targets for the size and composition of student body the U of S wants, as well as the academic experience students should have, and a recruitment and retention plan at College & University levels.
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