Changes to come at FNUC after $12 million in funding restored

On June 2, the federal government approved another $4 million federal grant to the First Nations University of Canada(FNUC), and shortly afterward FNUC officials met with Saskatchewan chiefs to approve concrete plans to restructure.

Just as the $3 million granted to FNUC on March 31, these funds come with a stipulation– they must go through the University of Regina and used solely on FNUC academic programming from September 2010 to March 31, 2011.

“Today’s agreement could not have been reached without the contributions of all partners, particularly Chief Guy Lonechild whose leadership has been instrumental in breathing new life into the First Nations University of Canada,” stated
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Minister Chuck Strahl in a press release. “I am encouraged by the university’s progress so far and look forward to seeing it become increasingly stable, both with regards to its finances and in its governance.”

On June 10, Saskatchewan chiefs gathered for an assembly in Regina approved amendments to the governance structure that university officials have been meeting to discuss in the last few months and that the federal government has been calling for since pulling $7 million last February. At the time, the Province had also pulled $5.2 in funding to FNUC, bringing the total to $12.2 million in lost core funding.

“I am pleased that most of this $12 million in funding has been restored which will allow the First Nations University to offer courses for the 2010/2011 academic year,” said FSIN Chief Guy Lonechild to band chiefs. “Today, we are here to bring a formal resolution to the governance issues outlined in the memorandum understanding.”

Chiefs voted to approve the amendments effective July 31, which include reducing the board of governors from 21 members to nine, appointing board members based on skills and experience, implementing best practices in board governance, and allowing for national representation.

The only abstention came from George Gordon First Nation Chief and former FSIN Vice Chief, Glen Pratt, who said he did not agree with a specific section which to him, appeared to be continued political involvement. He suggested a change so that political involvement would be completely removed from FNUC’s governance and administration.

Dorothy Myo of the FSIN Education and Training Commission, responded by saying legislative process and ownership issues were behind the decision.

“You still want to be able to maintain a linkage in terms of having appointments done by the community and relying on them to use their best judgement to do that,” she said.

When asked by chiefs why the FNUC administration decided to sell the Saskatoon campus despite the $4 million in recently approved funds, FNUC President Shauneen Pete said the recovered monies cover academic programming but not operational costs.

“The sale of the Saskatoon property will provide us with restructuring dollars that are not coming from any other sources,” she said of the university’s only asset.

“We do not have any re-structuring dollars. The sale of the Saskatoon property will pay for that severance, for those individuals that are currently employed by us as we go through the process of downsizing,” she added.

Pete encouraged chiefs to send their students to FNUC and pointed to a new initiative of the university to recruit and retain more FNUC students to ensure its survival through the crisis.