Ex-Aurora College research chair describes chaos, lack of planning behind the scenes

A past research chair for Aurora College says a mix of unpreparedness, unwillingness to offer support and overly bureaucratic processes at the college led him to quit the position after only a year. 

In early 2021, Julián Idrobo accepted a position at the college as research chair in Indigenous Approaches to Environmental Management. 

It was one of three research chair positions identified by the college to play a "significant role" in developing the eventual programming as the college turned into a polytechnic. 

According to Idrobo, the position was negotiated to be a "soft transition," meaning he could work remotely until he found a place to live. However, once his contract started, he said the terms changed and he was required to start working in person immediately at the Thebacha campus in Fort Smith.

He said he moved quickly with his family to Fort Smith in August 2021. 

"When I arrived at Fort Smith, physically there was no chair for me. There wasn't even an office, right? It was to that level of the lack of planning. But they wanted to rush me to that situation to get there," said Idrobo. 

He said he received no action or support after he asked for guidance in setting up programming. 

"I tried to develop connections with the environment and natural resources technical program, and there was no willingness, no space for me to teach anything, to teach methods."

Idrobo said he had funds to bring in a postdoctoral fellow to help build programming, but recruiting to Fort Smith was challenging.

"There wasn't a plan. There wasn't an idea of how we would get the chairs running."

His understanding of the role was to grow partnerships with Indigenous communities and develop new ideas for conducting research and following local knowledge.

A college newsletter from Spring 2022 described his position as one that would focus on environmental stewardship, alternatives to conservation, biocultural diversity and small-scale fisheries.

"Julián is keen to facilitate the development of research capacity and practice in the North and for the North," the newsletter stated. 

Idrobo attributes a lot of his experience to a lack of big-picture thinking on how his position would operate. 

"It was a very bureaucratic process in which they were very concerned [about checking off] their key performance indicators," he said. "But there wasn't really a reflection process of how we're going to do this."

Idrobo said he wanted to take the job to help contribute to local research and grow the knowledge economy within the territory. He still believes there is a lot of potential for it in the region, but he left the position in October 2022. Now, he works as a senior policy analyst with the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 

$10 million spent on polytechnic transformation, now on pause

CBC reached out to Aurora College's board of governors and its president, Angela James, for comment. No one was available by time of publication.

CBC also reached out to Caitlin Cleveland, minister of Education, Culture and Employment, who was also unavailable. A ministerial spokesperson said operations, including the transformation toward a polytechnic, falls under the purview of the college's board, not the minister. 

Julian Morse, MLA for Frame Lake, is also concerned about the college's lack of progress toward becoming a polytechnic. Morse said the N.W.T. is "playing catch-up," when compared to provinces or the Yukon.

He said he thinks transitioning to a polytechnic is a great idea, but he hasn't seen much progress to make it a reality. 

Earlier this year, the college announced a pause of the plan due to funding issues. The transition was originally supposed to be completed in May 2025. 

"It's definitely impacting my trust. It doesn't feel to me like we have an institution that is driving this change. It feels to me like the institution is very resistant to the change," Morse said.

In Aurora College's 2022-23 annual report, it states 67 of the 80 milestones needed for the transition have been achieved.

According to financial statements dated June 30, 2023, the college had spent $10.4 million in operation costs on polytechnic transformation, adding that "of this cost, $9,236,000 has been funded internally and $1,184,000 has been funded by the government."

Morse plans to ask about the transition at the current Legislative Assembly session. 

"What are they planning to do? Are they committed to this vision? And if they are, how are they going to see it through?" he said. "I think a lot of people believe in it and I think it's desperately needed here in the territory."