Nipissing University

Turning up the heat┬áOnce the smallest university in Ontario, Nipissing University is enjoying a growth spurt, expanding its offerings and its facilities, Andrew Pelis finds out. In the current environment, competition is rife at all levels of business. The same can be said of education, as universities across North America compete for the very best talent.Despite being known until recently as the smallest university in the province, Nipissing University, set in northeastern Ontario, has made giant strides in its quest to think big. The institution has won no less an accolade than the title ÔÇ£Hottest Young University in CanadaÔÇØ and has gained impressive results in national student satisfaction surveys. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results show that in most key categories, Nipissing places ahead of the Ontario universities group, as well as American universities in NipissingÔÇÖs peer group and the entire group of institutions who participated in NSSE.Vicky Paine-Mantha, vice president, finance and administration, joined Nipissing in 2005 and has seen dramatic transformation. ÔÇ£Growth has been the predominant change. Our academic focus is to concentrate on developing new niche graduate programs, strengthening our current undergraduate offerings and expanding these offerings into the new regional facilities, where we have invested heavily,ÔÇØ she states.So what has been the main driver for the paradigm shift? ÔÇ£Our profile and our focus on student happiness allowed us to do well in a lot of student satisfaction surveys, which in turn has its own appeal to other students. We looked at the findings of a number of national surveys, including the MacleanÔÇÖs survey, and identified areas where we could improve student life in terms of space and resources.ÔÇØ As the universityÔÇÖs reputation has grownÔÇöto a large extent through student word of mouthÔÇöso has the demand for its facilities. At a time when funding has not kept pace with post-secondary student participation, this has led to a serious dilemma, one that the university has aimed to solve through expansion, through partnerships with other educational institutions, and with some municipal assistance.In the fall of 2008, Nipissing proudly opened the doors to two new regional campuses, in Brantford and Muskoka. Both projects involved multimillion-dollar investments and were designed to enhance both student and community life, with major input from regional leaders.Nipissing University has been offering courses in Brantford since 2002, when the institution, in conjunction with Wilfrid Laurier University, signed an articulation agreement to offer a joint Laurier-Nipissing Concurrent Education program. Enrollment has increased from 30 to 650 in the ensuing years, and students have the opportunity to pursue concurrently an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary Studies and a Bachelor of Education degree in either the Primary/Junior or Junior/Intermediate division.ÔÇ£At the Brantford campus we had outgrown our current building,ÔÇØ explains Paine-Mantha. ÔÇ£The city already had plans to rejuvenate its downtown core and was very generous in supporting us with a grant and an interest-free loan to renovate an old, vacant public utilities building. Nipissing and Wilfrid Laurier have invested quite heavily in the Brantford area, and the impact of the institutions has changed the climate of the downtown core significantly. There continues to be heavy student demand, and the city has been excellent in providing support for our initiatives. I think itÔÇÖs a symbiotic relationshipÔÇöwhatÔÇÖs good for them is good for us and vice versa.ÔÇØSimilarly, in October 2008 the universityÔÇÖs new Muskoka campus in Bracebridge opened for business. The beautiful new two-story, 26,000-square-foot facility is built to LEED standards and can accommodate 675 students. ItÔÇÖs equipped with state-of-the-art wireless technology and includes a 100-seat lecture hall, 10 classrooms, a learning commons, a dedicated fine arts room, a science lab, two seminar rooms and the Lakehouse lounge, as well as offices and meeting rooms for faculty and staff.Additionally, in November 2007 the university concluded an ambitious $2.5 million project to convert a local monastery in North Bay. ÔÇ£We purchased the property from the Catholic diocese and tried to maintain the unique features of the building while modifying the inside to make it appropriate for the programming we wanted to deliver,ÔÇØ explains Paine-Mantha.Despite the positive demand, excellent survey results and extraordinary growth, Paine-ManthaÔÇÖs focus is to continue to manage growth needs in the face of economic restraint. ÔÇ£For Ontario universities there are significant financial challenges ahead, given what has been happening in the market. We have a mandate to provide quality education and to provide options to students wanting a post-secondary education, but the funding has not kept pace with the demands or expectations. There has been a continuing squeeze in terms of the amount of dollars per student available from government grants and the dollars we are able to apply to the academic and student services area from student tuition.ÔÇ£Sometimes being a relatively young organization is advantageous in these difficult financial times,ÔÇØ she continues, ÔÇ£as we are less entrenched in historical processes and still a size where mobilizing a whole employee and faculty group for input and feedback is still possible. So changing mindset and directions, when required, is a little more manageable and timely for us than it might be for some of the bigger and older institutions.ÔÇØThe university continues to innovate, and its investment in video conferencing and other technologies aims to increase opportunities for faculty to deliver their courses in a different way and for their students to undertake online learning from any university campus, which Paine-Mantha believes may prove popular, given the current economic situation. ÔÇ£For anybody in the classroom right now, technology is important. There has been a huge change in the way students learn and expect to access their education and learning materials.ÔÇØMeanwhile, progress continues with an estimated $30 million plan afoot to accommodate NipissingÔÇÖs physical and health education program growth by expanding the existing gymnasium complex and providing further space for physical and health research and student activity space. There is also an $8 million research wing slated to open in fall 2009 and a $25 million library learning commons project under way that should be complete in fall 2010.So what sets Nipissing University apart? Aside from the glorious countryside and healthy lifestyle, Paine-Mantha believes the secret is twofold. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs probably the friendliness of all involved in the student success process; right across the institution there is a willingness to help, whether it is staff or students. Additionally, between 2005 and 2011 we will have invested just short of $70 million to benefit students, faculty staff and the various communities as a whole.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Dan Finn┬á