U of M’s contract with National Defence set to expire

Canadian Forces program may not be funded by National Defence for much longer

Chelsea Moore Staff

As of March 2006, the University of Manitoba’s Canadian Forces exclusive contract with National Defence will end. However, there is still some confusion as to what will happen next.

This contract funded a program called the Canadian Forces University Program, which is unique to the U of M, except for its French component at Téléuniversité in Quebec. The program was established in 1973 to provide more academic flexibility for those in the armed forces.

Kenn Doerksen, the director of the program, is uncertain as to why National Defence will not renew the contract as it currently stands.

“It’s hard for us to know,” he said. “We’ve been talking to them for over a year, and they just refuse to really tell us why they’re doing this.”

Due to the travel that is required of the military personnel, the program includes a reduced residency provision, which permits armed forces members to combine their university credits from different universities, and reduces the number of courses they must take at the U of M.

“They basically tried to make it sound like we were such a good program that other universities are copying us, although that’s not really true, and that therefore students should be able to go wherever they want and still get these same privileges,” noted Doerksen.

In a letter addressed to the dean of continuing education, the Canadian Defence Academy stated that “it has become impossible to justify a contractual arrangement with a single institution,” because many universities besides the U of M are beginning to offer services that are also valuable to the Canadian Forces.

“We’re not unhappy with the service [the University of] Manitoba is giving us,” said Jim Barrett, the director of Learning Management at the Department of National Defence. “We were delighted with it, in fact . . . but the contract has come to an end.”

Barrett added that an “informal survey” was conducted, and it revealed that other universities claim that they provide some of the “most important” services that U of M offers in the their current contract. This demonstrates that other universities are now willing to offer the same services at no cost, according to Barrett.

“We simply can’t spend taxpayers’ money to acquire what is normally provided as a matter of course,” added Barrett.

However, according to Doerksen, the U of M offers services that are not being delivered by other universities.

“There is no other university that has a dedicated program approved by senate, with a dedicated staff, with dedicated benefits for folks in the military, and stated up front,” he said.

The program also offers a support office to assist the students with various administrative problems they might encounter, authorizes course withdrawal with full refund of tuition if they must leave school without prior notice, and recognizes up to six credit hours of an assessed evaluation of military training.

“There’s virtually no other university that’s doing all the things that we’re doing, and although some of them do accept some of the benefits, none of them are providing a support office,” noted Doerksen.

National Defence was funding the program with roughly $250,000 a year, which covered the salaries of four workers, the rent of office space and other minor costs.

As a result of the contract, this funding is no longer secured. However, the university will continue funding the program.

“We found some extra funding from within the division, and we’re going to try to keep it open for a year at least, keep a support office for two of our staff, and allow them to continue providing the same benefits,” said Doerksen.

However, Doerksen expressed concern about where the money will come from after the year is over.

According to Barrett, further funding for the Canadian Forces Program has not yet been ruled out. Rather, a “replacement contract” is in the works that may or may not be awarded to the U of M, depending on the “contracting process.”

“There will be a new contract, and I hope Manitoba will bid on it,” noted Barrett. “I would guess because of the vast experience Manitoba has that the odds would be good.”

Barrett added that the contract changed little over the last 30 years, despite the changing needs of the program. A new contract will address these changes all at once.

Manitoba and other universities will be able to place a bid on the contract when it is ready, according to government policy.

Doerksen said that the new contract will be very different.

“There is not another contract for this program,” noted Doerksen. He explained that the new contract will only cover evaluating credit for military training and service, “about one tenth of what we do.”

- With files from Regan Sarmatiuk