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INUVIK
Not only children and youth are going back to school this Sept. – 150 adults started classes at Aurora College last week.

Aurora College will have a busy year, with 150 students attending this school year, more than the average of around 130. The Inuvik campus will soon be home to the School of Business and Leadership. - Samantha Stokell/NNSL photo

Approximately 20 to 30 more students than the average year are at the Inuvik campus of Aurora College this year, taking courses ranging from office or business administration, environment and natural resource technology, to education, trades and developmental studies.

"We're looking forward to it being a successful year," said Doug Robertson, campus director. "We're really looking forward to setting up the School of Business and Leadership."

Aurora College is restructuring its programs with the school of education based in Fort Smith, the school of health and social services based in Yellowknife and now the school of business and Leadership based in Inuvik. This should benefit the students by providing academic leadership for their courses.

"There will be someone who can co-ordinate things and ensure standards," Robertson said. "We offer office administration and business administration around the territory, but there is no overall leader. This will benefit us."

With this re-organization and the offering of degree courses for the first time in education and business, it seems the college is taking baby steps toward becoming a university.

"There's a lot of talk lately about a university in the North," Robertson said. "Our president is discussing the potential of a university of the North with presidents of other colleges in the territories."

Although the Fort Smith campus has offered a Bachelor of Education for years, this is the first year the Inuvik campus has offered it. Students will take the first three years in Inuvik before moving to Fort Smith for the final year.

"It's a kind of initiative of the department of education to groom some local teachers," Robertson said. "It's a partnership with the Beaufort Delta Education Council, to train some community-based teachers."

The school is also in its second year of its aboriginal language instruction course, which goes hand-in-hand with the bachelor of education. The language teachers are currently at a language immersion camp at the Gwich'in Territorial Campground until Sept. 15.

"It's really interesting program because we have so many languages, Gwich'in and three dialects of Inuvialuktun," Robertson said. "It's a nice way to kick off the school year."

For the first time the campus is also offering post-diploma degree courses from Athabasca University. Nine students will take the four courses, partly through an instructor at the Inuvik campus and also via webcast from the other campuses.

The student population this year is a mix of students from Inuvik and out of town. The age also varies, although Robertson has noticed more and more students attending directly from high school.

The learning centre, located on Mackenzie Road, has 60 students working to upgrade their studies. Some are developmental studies, while others are specific to nursing, social work or teaching.

Anyone interested in additional learning can also take any of the continuing education courses, such as Spanish, Mediterranean cooking, how to use a digital camera, drawing and painting or wilderness first aid and other professional courses.

For more information contact Anne Church, continuing education co-ordinator, at Aurora College in Inuvik.

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