NWT government formalizes tracking of territory’s higher ed system

The Government of the Northwest Territories has introduced a new Post-Secondary Education Accountability Framework, outlining performance measures and a reporting structure for postsecondary institutions in the region. Announced on July 4, the framework applies to any institution authorized under the territories’ education act.

“There was no formalized reporting mechanism for postsecondary education in NWT and then, with the introduction of the Post-Secondary Education Act [in December 2022], we wanted to bring in some more reporting aspects so that we can track how the system is doing,” said Dan Round, manager of advanced education and strategic initiatives for the NWT government. They looked at other jurisdictions across Canada and their own quality assurance process to identify indicators, which include application data, acceptance rates, enrolment, student outcomes, demographics, improvement initiatives and student and employee satisfaction. Institutions will be required to report annually.

Among the objectives noted in the framework is the growth of the NWT postsecondary education system. “We want to make sure that we’re keeping on top of the new opportunities for education and educational models. Online could be a big boost to the NWT. We have such a spread-out population, so making sure that we understand the needs and requirements to make those successful,” said Mr. Round. “Education taken in the North should be recognized and accepted as the same as anywhere,” he said.

There are currently no universities based in NWT. The largest provider of postsecondary education in the territory is Aurora College, which had 383 full-time and 1,246 part-time students in 2022-2023. The college offers a range of programs, some of which have transfer agreements with universities in other parts of Canada, and includes one university-level program, a bachelor of science in nursing through a degree-granting partnership with the University of Victoria. The NWT government has committed to transforming the college into a polytechnic university, with the transition originally scheduled to be completed in 2025. However, the college’s leadership announced in May 2024 that the transition would be delayed, citing funding issues. Collège Nordique, a French-language institution, is also in the process of becoming accredited by the territory.

Students can access additional university-level courses within the territory thanks to arrangements between local partners and universities in other provinces. One such institution is the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, an Indigenous land-based organization that delivers courses accredited by the University of British Columbia. Students can take stand-alone courses and receive credits towards a postsecondary degree, or they can work towards the Dechinta certificate in land and community based research.

Kelsey Wrightson, executive director of Dechinta, said they worked with the NWT government on the development of the postsecondary legislation as well as the accountability framework. “I think it’s really important that postsecondary institutions are able to tell the story of the work that they do and the impacts that they have in communities,” she said. “[The framework] is asking for us to talk about who we serve, where the students come from, how our programming is opening up employment and education pathways, and I think those are really important stories to be able to tell and to demonstrate why northern institutions are the best for serving northern students,” she said.

Other universities offering courses in NWT include Trent University, which provides an Indigenous environmental studies and sciences diploma for Dene students in collaboration with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and Memorial University, which offers courses through their Marine Institute. Vancouver Island University plans to offer a rural and remote bachelor of education in collaboration with a local partner. Rachel Moll, associate dean of VIU’s faculty of education, said they are working on a contract and hope to launch the program in January 2025. Reporting on the types of data included in the accountability framework won’t be new to them, she said. “We get reviewed by the BC Teachers’ Council,” she said. “Universities track [qualitative and quantitative data] and we report it during program assessment review processes.”

Providing northerners access to quality higher education

In October 2020, the Minister of Northern Affairs appointed a task force to look at ways to improve postsecondary education in northern Canada. Their report was published in March 2022 and included 37 calls to action. At the time, task force member Ashlee Cunsolo said in the accompanying news release, “For generations, students in the North have often had to leave home to access postsecondary education, creating major personal, cultural, and financial barriers and challenges. Local access to postsecondary education, whether in person, on the land, or online, has transformative potentials to support people in achieving their educational goals, at home.”

Dr. Wrightson served on the task force and said that while the new accountability framework is separate, it’s related. “The framework is a tool for postsecondary institutions in the Northwest Territories to demonstrate and be accountable for the services that they are providing, the workplace that they’re providing and the educational environment that they’re providing,” she said. “That’s certainly something that the task force was calling for – ensuring that northerners have access to very high-quality education and that northern communities have access to high quality research and research training as well.”

The NWT government has historically collected data from educational partners, but the framework is intended to help standardize the reporting. “We’re now trying to get the same information from all of our partners so that we can see how it’s all working together,” said Mr. Round. They plan to phase in the framework, with core aspects being reported on for the upcoming academic year and full reporting within three years. There is currently no impact on funding, but that could change in the future. “Performance-based is always a possibility, but right now we’re just trying to make sure that we’re getting reporting on our system and understanding what is working, and, if something isn’t working, what we need to do to try and improve,” he said.

Dr. Wrightson said she hopes the accountability framework will help create more educational and employment opportunities in the NWT. “Speaking from Dechinta, we want to be able to continue to answer calls from students to be able to participate in our programming,” Dr. Wrightson said. “I hope that the accountability framework will provide a piece of the data that will enable us to get long-term and equitable funding to be able to do that,” she said.