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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Northern college students will soon be privy to a world of education outside the confines of their own post-secondary institutions.

Three Northern colleges and four southern universities have signed a five-year memorandum of understanding that will increase the opportunities for Northern students to further their studies.

The MOU was signed Wednesday between Aurora, Nunavut and Yukon Arctic Colleges and Dalhousie University, University of Alberta, University of Ottawa and University of Laval. The four southern universities are part of a consortium, referred to as CALDO, that delivers degree programs to more than 140,000 students and engages in more than $1.25 billion of research activities annually. There are 160 research centres and 85 institutes forming the CALDO consortium.

"The opportunity to work collaboratively and expand opportunities for students and researchers is exciting," said Aurora College president Sarah Wright Cardinal.

The memorandum is being touted as a means of initiating joint research ventures in the North and of increasing transfer opportunities both to and from the southern institutions.

"For example, a student could take two years of their program and study at home in the NWT and take the final two years and study at one of these universities," said Cardinal. Faculty will also be able to participate in exchanges, she said.

The MOU also opens the door for the Northern colleges to expand their programming, Cardinal said.

Linda Pemik, senior academic officer with Nunavut Arctic College, said small colleges simply don't have the budgets to be able to provide the variety of programming larger universities do.

"We have 10, 15 different types of programming but not everybody wants to be a teacher ... not everybody wants to be a nurse," Pemik said.

"We only have two degree programs ... We have different programs that go to the diploma level but this will just increase the number of degree completion options that people will have from a variety of programs."

Pemik said the majority of college students in Nunavut prefer to obtain their education as close to home as possible. The cost of relocating to southern Canada can be tremendous, she said.

"So the further they can get along that path within the territory or even within their own communities, the happier they are. But since we can't take them all the way down the path in every area, this just makes more options."

Pemik said the signatories to the memorandum had also discussed the possibility of increasing online options for students to complete programming from home.

The colleges entered into discussions with CALDO in fall 2011, said Cardinal.

"It wasn't a very long process because there was interest around the table," she said.

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