Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (July 08/05) - Aurora Campus in Inuvik is finally getting a dormitory, though construction won't begin until next year according to Education, Culture and Employment Minister Charles Dent.

"Hopefully, we'd be looking at getting started (on construction) sometime in 2006," he said, adding that a request for proposals would be out by the end of this month.

Originally, the new college facility, which opened to students and staff last September, was supposed to have an adjoining 30-bed dormitory for single students.

However, due to budget constraints, that portion of the $16 million project had to be scrapped. It is estimated that the project would have surpassed the $20 million mark had the dorm been built at that time. Despite the fact that architectural drawings by campus designer Gino Pin - who also designed the Legislative Assembly in Yellowknife - included a dormitory component, Dent says the request for proposal will be of the 'design and build' variety.

"Our stance is, we think we can get more beds for the buck," Dent explained. "You never know unless we test the waters."

Aurora Campus director Miki O'Kane couldn't be happier that the wheels are finally in motion for an adjoining dorm, which is expected to be ready for the 2007/2008 school year.

"This past year the attrition rate was the worst it's ever been among those in single student accommodations," she said, noting there was a 56 per cent drop out rate in that demographic. O'Kane attributes this primarily to the lack of an on-site, single student residence.

"The old building had a residence and single students told us in the past how good it was having staff around during off-hours," she said, adding that the transition from high school to post-secondary, combined with moving into a larger community, can be hard to deal with for many young students.

In the interim, Aurora Campus has been using 50 units in the 'blueberry patch', including 10 three-bedroom dwellings for single students and 30 residences for students with families.

"Those are a fair distance from campus, which makes it harder to provide a safety net," O'Kane said.

It also makes it more difficult to enforce the no-alcohol policy in place at all of the college's buildings.