CUSB moving into new era with university designation

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This article was published 11/05/2011 (5426 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new designation for Collège universi­taire de Saint-Boniface will level the playing field with other universities in the province, says the chair of the school’s board of directors.

Late last month, Advanced Education and Literacy Minister Erin Selby introduced a bill at the Manitoba Legislative Assembly to change Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface into Université de Saint-Boniface.

The bill — which updates the current legislation governing the school — will not only alter the institute’s name, but also give it the tools to offer a wider array of programs and services to students.

Léo Robert, chair of CUSB’s board of governors, said he hopes the changes  will raise the institution’s profile.

“The name change is very important, not just for esthetics but because in French, ‘collège’ is normally used to refer to high schools,” he said.

With CUSB attracting more and more out-of-province and international students, Robert explained the school wants to clarify its mandate through the new name.

He added the new legislation reflects a series of changes the board requested in 2005.

At that time, the government was already set to update the law governing CUSB in order to reflect recommendations made by an auditor’s report.

The board decided to take the opportunity to recommend its own changes, and while Robert said the government in 2005 decided to only deal with the auditor’s recommendations, he’s happy to see the board’s wishes are now being addressed.

“The five principles that we asked for are being respected in the new law,” he said, adding the board is very pleased with this development.

The first two of those recommendations include the name change, as well as a specification that the board of governors always has 15 members.

The board also initially wanted the school’s affiliation with the University of Manitoba — which was co-founded by CUSB in 1877 — to be removed from the legislation, but has since asked that the affiliation remain enshrined.

Robert said the request was rooted in a desire to move away from a clause that currently restricts CUSB to affiliations with French universities in Canada — barring partnerships with universities outside of Canada, or even bilingual schools within the country.

In 2008, however, CUSB and U of M renewed their affiliation and Robert said his board realized the partnership between the two institutions is an important one for faculty and students.

The new legislation therefore retains the existing affiliation, but allows CUSB to form affiliations with any other school.

“The basic aim of those affiliations is to offer greater services and programs to our students,” Robert said. “The other important element for us, the board of governors, was to have the same rights, responsibilities and privileges as any other university.”

The last two principles enshrineCUSB’s senate in law, and also officially entrenches French as the language of work at the institution — as it stands now, students are able to request examinations in English.

Alexandre Quesnel, a vice president with CUSB’s student association, said because school is no longer is session, he’s not sure how much attention the new designation has received from the student body.

“Right now, I don’t think a lot of students know it is changing,” he said, adding “It will take some time to get used to.”

However, Quesnel said he thinks being officially recognized as a university will bring more prestige to the school and make it more competitive with other universities in Manitoba.

“A lot of people when they think about ‘college,’ they think about high school or Red River College,’ he said. “This will definitely bring more students.”

If the new legislation passes, Robert said he hopes it will take effect before the school year starts in September.

arielle.godbout@canstarnews.com