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Opinion  

TRU’s strong history points to a stronger future

TRU looking ahead

January has long been a time to look back and look ahead.

The month gets its name from the Roman god Janus, who is often depicted with two faces, one looking to the past and one to the future. Janus's dual gaze represents learning from past experiences while anticipating and preparing for what lies ahead.

Looking back, Kamloops civic leaders had a vision more than two decades ago to establish a world-class university here, a university with tenured faculty and one with graduate and professional programs that would attract students and faculty from around the world.

For a generation, TRU has achieved that vision. We are one of only six universities in B.C. where faculty have tenure. The university has built a law school and nine graduate programs, most recently, a master of arts degree in human rights and social justice, and a master of nursing-nurse-practitioner.

TRU has become a respected leader in international education. In 2023, the on-campus population of international students reached approximately 4,600 of the total 29,500 students. Both TRU and Kamloops have grown and are increasingly interdependent. The fates of both are linked, the university and the region, and that has an upside and downside.

That leads me to the future.

TRU is set to go through a challenging several years due to changes made by the federal government regarding international students. Budgets will remain very tight, and TRU will be called on to keep innovating through well-chosen investments of scarce resources. As well, what affects TRU will also affect Kamloops.

International students have helped build TRU as we know it today. Because of international students, TRU has more professors, more services, more and better buildings and labs and more programs with more options than we would otherwise have. Everyone has benefited from that, including Canadian students.

I suspect we have more Canadian students because of the programs and services built to scale with international students. And, of course, as the international students benefited from their education, there were more faculty, staff jobs and so on.

TRU’s international students changed Kamloops, building a different and stronger community. I greatly enjoy meeting our graduates, including international the graduates, when I visit businesses in the region, whether at mines and resource companies, manufacturing enterprises, digital startups or tourism businesses.

With our post-baccalaureate diploma programs and graduate degrees, TRU brought in outstanding students who worked hard and wanted to become part of our community. Since coming here, I have been impressed by their maturity, life experience and eagerness to join and participate. TRU’s international students are equal to our Canadian students in being bright and responsible, and they add a special diversity to our local culture.

As a result, both TRU and Kamloops may feel the loss as our international student numbers decline. In that regard, there is bad news and good news.

First, the empty part of the glass. Over the next few years, it looks certain the population of Kamloops will fall by about 2,000 people, everything being equal, due to the drop in international student numbers. That will mean fewer people working in regional businesses and purchasing local products and services.

But, even at the lowest point our glass will remain half-full. Our estimates show more than 2,000 international students will still attend TRU, even at the ebb in about 2027.

That is remarkable given the negative factors imposed by Canadian policy and international reputation. Continuing to attract more than 2,000 students will be a testament to the strength of the university our predecessors built and its international student recruitment and services.

I often hear people say TRU punches above its weight. Nowhere is this truer than attracting international students and supporting them to succeed. So, looking ahead, my prediction is in the next few years, people in Kamloops will be amazed by how many international students TRU continues to attract and graduate, even with everything seemingly stacked against us.

Thinking of Janus, as we look back on the vision that built TRU and the progress we’ve made, we can also look ahead with confidence because nothing is a better predictor of our future than our past, which shows us to be a strong, bold and innovative organization that knows our business.

Brett Fairbairn is the president and vice-chancellor of Thompson Rivers University. He can be reached by email at [email protected].



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