April 2021: Record enrolment, federal support, PSE Review and building global citizens
Our spring semester has concluded, which means our students are taking a well-deserved break. Faculty and students have spent a full year teaching and learning remotely, and I am so proud of all they have accomplished.
In particular, I want to applaud the tenacity of our new students. Challenging is an understatement for what they have experienced, yet 86.7 per cent who began university in September 2019 chose to return to continue their studies last fall.
It’s the highest retention rate of this group in the past 10 years. This follows record enrolment in fall 2020 with 19,429 students.
This tenacity bodes well for what they can accomplish going forward.
Memorial is committed to helping our students succeed and reach their potential – and for students to succeed, universities need to be strong.
That’s why I welcomed the investments in students announced in the federal budget on April 19. Support for the Student Work Placement Program to increase work-integrated learning opportunities and the doubling of the Canada Student Grants program are just two examples of programming that will enable student success.
It’s also why Memorial is thrilled to be a partner with the City of St. John’s and the provincial government in hosting the 2025 Canada Summer Games.
The athletes’ village will be on the St. John’s campus and five sports are slated to be played at Memorial. Over the next several years this will mean upgrades at the Aquarena and the Field House that will continue to benefit the university and our students for years to come.
The Public Post-Secondary Education Review report was released yesterday. I appreciate the work of the committee members and all those who shared their voice. We will take the time necessary to study it, making sure Memorial continues to meet the needs of our students.
As our draft strategic plan says, Memorial must contribute to a socially resilient, economically prosperous, culturally vibrant, inclusive and sustainable province – we must build global citizens for tomorrow’s needs.
We look forward to sharing the final plan with you later this spring.