Laurentian University blames province for Barrie campus exit

Morning North9:55Laurentian University pulling out of Barrie

Laurentian University has announced that it will be closing it's satellite campus in Barrie. The campus has been there for 15 years. University president Dominic Giroux spoke to us about the decision to pull out of Barrie.

The president of Laurentian University in Sudbury says the decision to pull out of its Barrie campus is a direct result of how the provincial government treats Laurentian.

Late Friday, Dominic Giroux announced Laurentian would no longer be accepting students at its satellite campus at Georgian College in Barrie, and will wind down operations there by 2019.

For years, Laurentian has been asking the province to build a stand-alone campus in Barrie. But the province refused to give the university the space it says it needs, andinsistedthat the first two years of Laurentian's arts degree would be taught by Georgian College.

Giroux said that's not acceptable.

"A high school graduate in Barrie, who pays university tuition [for a] four-year university degrees, should be taught by university faculty," he said.

"I wish the province would treat Laurentian University like any other university."

Current students in Barrie are being given several options to complete their degrees, including free residence at the Sudbury campus.

Twenty-three full time faculty will be offered relocation to Sudbury.

5th university to leave Barrie

Meanwhile, the Laurentian University Faculty Association is calling the government's approach over the last ten years a "fiasco."

Union spokesperson Jean-Charles Cachon said operating out of the college was complex and awkward.

"People there were asking for services and no one was there to provide them," he said about the reason why Laurentian chose to offer services in the first place.

"The reality is that Laurentian is the fifth university to leave the Barrie region."

He noted "it's been very difficult for Laurentian to live under the constraints that have been imposed by the province, but also by circumstances. Laurentian did not go into Barrie for the pleasure of it Barrie is a fast growing city and it's likely this discussion will have to be visited again, either by Laurentian or another university."

Laurentian's Barrie campus has been in operation for 15 years, andhas696 students.