(Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

BUILDING BRIDGES

U of S holds start of annual leaders’ summit in P.A.

Aug 23, 2023 | 6:00 AM

The University of Saskatchewan said its relationship with the City of Prince Albert continues to grow which made it the perfect spot for its annual leaders summit.

The event is normally held in Waskesiu as a kind of retreat for school leaders including the President, Vice-President, Deans, and senior leaders.

But as current President Peter Stoicheff explains they wanted to highlight the growth of its Prince Albert campus, so they decided to move the first part of the summit to the city.

“We had been delivering some academic programs here, nursing primarily, but several others as well. I would say that the facilities we had weren’t very good. We needed something better,” he said, noting that these discussions happened during a university luncheon around eight years ago.

“We committed to having a much better, bigger, more sort of stable presence here and that led to us being able to purchase the old warehouse or building and creating our campus here, which is really important for us.”

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Despite the university’s main campus being in Saskatoon, Stoicheff noted the school has made many inroads to offer its programs to students in other communities.

“We are the University of Saskatchewan, not just the University of Saskatoon,” he said. “People from far beyond Saskatoon have access to a University of Saskatchewan education and it seemed like the most meaningful place where we could begin to make good on that would be in P.A.”

Stoicheff went on to say that the university is proud of its presence in Prince Albert and the support it’s received from city council and local businesses as well as university alumni who live in the area.

He also took time to talk about what expanding to different campuses has meant for the school, including seeing a rise in the number of Indigenous students enrolling in their programs.

“These things are really important to us, but, in essence, we’re just really proud of the relationship that we have with Prince Albert,” Stoicheff said.

The leaders’ summit will move from Prince Albert to Waskesiu and wrap up Thursday evening.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

@princealbertnow