A CONSORTIUM OF COLLABORATION: GOVERNMENT AND POST SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Universities in Canada and around the world are in a crisis of conflict. With higher tuition, dropping enrollments, increasing class sizes, constrained budgets, aging faculty, increasing salaries, systemic use of sessional and stipendiary instructors, and added demand for corollary revenues and bottom lines, universities are being stretched beyond their limits. Increasingly, the ivory towers have lost their gleam and are under constant pressure to publish or perish, react to grade inflation, increase revenues even as they produce knowledge, conduct quality research, and respond to a Net generation demanding employable credentials (Cote & Allahar, 2007). Thus, educational institutions are under siege. Many of these issues are not recent as we see scholars having raised the alarm bells even in the sixties (Coombs, 1985; Dore, 1976). Amidst the phenomenon of globalization, digital divide and the evolution of McCluhan’s "global village," the immediate indigenous communities remain alienated and marginalized. Educational institutions are moving from isolated ivory towers distanced from their immediate communities to responsive community participants. A wave of sweeping reforms has started to respond to communities and other stakeholders. This paper will briefly highlight some of the recent initiatives at the University (Global College; Aboriginal Governance Program; UWin Edge; Model School; Community Learning Centre), followed by a more detailed analysis of the Campus Manitoba provincial programming. This initiative responds to the needs of remote northern communities in Canada and remains a showcase for provincial government support for collaborative programming between various post-secondary institutions within the province.

All these initiatives attempt to bridge the chasm of disconnect between the university and the surrounding communities even as they open access to the remote and marginalized populations. As the first institution in Canada to become the headquarters for international aboriginal programming affiliated with the prestigious MacArthur Foundation network, the University will be using the latest technologies from Cisco (TelePresence and WebEx systems) to connect across the country and the around the world. Online/Distance Education using asynchronous and synchronous deliveries will complement state of the art studios to allow collaborative technologies provide access to both urban bureaucrats and remote communities. The paper will identify some theoretical constructs and foundations of learning before presenting actual case studies involving projects and initiatives at the institutional level. It will also highlight some of the challenges faced by such emerging technologies along with cultural, political, and economic realities that impinge upon community development.