Sault College axes brand-new program, at least for now

Sault College President Tim Meyer is calling it a formality.

But Sault College has pulled the switch on its brand-new Signals and Communications Technician Program, at least for the time being.

"It's just a formality and we’re really not worried about it at all," Meyer told SooToday.com after his board of directors decided last night to suspend the fledgling program's second year.

Announced with great fanfare last fall by Keith Heller, CN's senior vice president for Eastern Canada, the new rail tech program shares a common first year with Sault College's existing electronic/electrical engineering technician/technology programs.

Students enrolled in those programs qualify for direct entry into the rail program's second year.

"Since the college only recently received confirmation that the program would receive grant funding, the marketing effort did not produce a sufficient number of students who wished to register for second year," said the college's advocacy and innovation committee in a report distributed to board members.

"It is therefore not feasible to offer the second year of the program this fall," the committee said.

Just six students express interest

To offer second-year signals and communications next year, the college needs a minimum of 15 students signed up for it by the end of August 2005.

Currently, 64 students are registered in the common first year program.

Just six of those students have indicated an interest in the rail program.

However, Meyer points out that students from other Ontario community colleges are also eligible.

"This is still the only program of its kind in Eastern Ontario," Meyer said.

"There is thousands of dollars worth of equipment donated from CN Rail sitting down there. They basically cleaned out their training program and moved it here."

Province delays approval

Meyer believes more students are interested in the program, but they indicated electrical or electronics as their program of choice this past summer because of a Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities delay in announcing approval of the program.

The approval, which finally came down on June 22, was too late for students to apply to the Ontario Student Assistance Program before school started.

As a result, the college's advocacy and innovation committee recommended that board suspend the program for the 2004/2005 school year.

Meyer said approval for the course was unusually long in coming, (the application was submitted April 19) but wouldn’t speculate on the reason it was late.

Now that signals and communications has been approved, Meyer expects the second year to meet its quota of students very quickly.