Western University's partnership with for-profit recruiter clears final hurdle

Andrew Lupton · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 2:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 hours ago

Western University's Board of Governors has voted to determination guardant with a concern with an Australian institution to make a new, privately funded introduction programme for planetary first-year students. 

The committee voted 13-4 with 1 abstention successful favour of Western partnering with Navitas to make a privately tally planetary college that volition run nether the Western banner.

The determination amounts to a ratification of a overmuch person ballot successful the Senate to o.k. the partnership. 

In making her lawsuit to the committee successful favour of the partnership, Provost Florentine Strzelczyk said the caller assemblage is needed to boost recruitment of planetary students "who wouldn't different find a mode to Western." 

Because planetary students wage overmuch higher tuition, recruiting them has go a precedence astatine a clip erstwhile home tuition is capped and operating costs support rising.

The assemblage has said the students successful the caller assemblage would not typically suffice for nonstop admission, successful astir cases due to the fact that they deficiency the prerequisites successful their location country. 

Once they walk archetypal year, the students could participate regular second-year studies.

Strzelczyk presented gross projections for the caller college, showing gross maturation to $120 cardinal by 2033-34 year.

"This volition not regenerate what we do. It would augment and amplify the exemplary of nationalist education," she told the board. 

University President Alan Shepard said that different universities have made important investments successful planetary recruitment successful caller years, while Western has fallen behind.

The assemblage has a extremity of reaching 20 per cent planetary enrollment, but is presently sitting astatine conscionable 7.5 per cent.

"It's not each astir cash," said Shepard. "If you privation to beryllium a large university, you person to pull students from astir the globe." 

Jane Toswell is 1 of the committee members who voted against the Navitas partnership. 

"We're changing a cardinal diagnostic of the assemblage by outsourcing our teaching for a circumstantial cohort of students," she said. "There's a existent consciousness of anxiousness and unhappiness astir this."

The draught of the projected partnership, however, says Western would proceed to person afloat oversight implicit unit hiring, which would beryllium done successful compliance with existing corporate bargaining agreements. 

Toswell besides asked if, erstwhile the declaration with Navitas is negotiated, it tin viewed by the committee members. Shepard said that mightiness beryllium imaginable but would apt person to hap successful camera. 

Toswell enactment guardant a question to person the ballot happen by rotation call, successful which each committee member, 1 by one, would authorities their ballot verbally. The committee voted that down. 

In summation to Toswell, committee members Arzie Chant, Beth MacDougall-Shackleton and Joel Welch voted against the Navitas partnership. 

MacDougall-Shackleton is the faculty's elected typical to the board.

"I was disquieted astir the deed to Western's reputation," she said successful explaining her vote. "The institutions successful Canada that person partnered with Navitas are not what we would see our spouse institutions. It's been precise divisive among module and students connected campus." 

MacDougall-Shackleton said the recorded ballot shouldn't person been an issue. 

"This is an unfastened league of the board, it's unfastened to the public," she said. "I consciousness arsenic though a recorded voted would person been appropriate. I'm evidently not ashamed of the mode I voted and putting my sanction beside it." 

Students utilized arsenic 'cash cows'

David Heap, a prof and activist, watched the treatment and the ballot that followed. Outside the meeting, he held up a motion that said, "No to risk, No to outsourcing, No to Navitas." 

"It's a disrespectful usage of planetary students arsenic currency cows for the university," said Heap. "Everybody values internationalization, but it's not due to bash that done a backstage equity firm. It's due to bash that by backing planetary acquisition properly." 

The assemblage plans to statesman admissions successful the caller assemblage by 2026-27 world year.