Higher Education in Saskatchewan - History

History

Saskatchewan became a province on September 1, 1905. In 1907, the University Act created the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. The Methodist Church established Regina College in 1911; fifteen Bible colleges were also established in Saskatchewan between 1928 and 1945. In 1944, following the election of Tommy Douglas and the CCF party, Teachers' colleges were moved into the University, and Regina College became a second campus of the University.

In 1958, the Moose Jaw Normal School was converted into the Saskatchewan Technical Institute. The Central Saskatchewan Technical Institute opened in Saskatchewan in 1963, followed by the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Arts and Science in 1972. During this period, in 1964, the Liberals returned to power in Saskatchewan; between 1964 and 1961 they oversaw a program of "expansion and centralization of higher education". In 1972 the NDP (formerly the CCF) were re-elected, and in 1973 the community colleges act was passed. By 1981, there were sixteen regional colleges.

In 1974, the University of Regina became independent.

In 1976 the Saskatchewan Indian Institution of Technologies (SIIT) was established in academic partnership with the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST). In 1980 the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan created the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies. Over the next several years Aboriginal-controlled Institutions would expand to include the First Nations University of Canada, the Dumont Technical Institute, the Northern Teacher Education Program, and the Northern Professional Access College (NORTEP/NORPAC).

In 1982 the Progressive Conservative Party returned to power, abolishing the Universities Commission (established in 1974 by the NDP to coordinate the two Saskatchewan Universities) and establishing the Advanced Technology Training Centre in 1984. In January 1988, The Institute Act and the Regional Colleges Act amalgamated Saskatchewan's technical institutes, urban community colleges and the Advanced Technology Training Centre to form the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology

In response to the needs of rural residents, a Distance Education Program Review Committee was created in 1987 by 1989 the Saskatchewan Communications Network had been created to deliver "cultural, informational and educational programming and as an enabler for the regional film and television industry". In September 2011, the SCN re-branded itself and became a commercial entity. It currently has a combination of educational and popular program and no longer remains commercial-free.

Distance education was further expanded with the 2002 creation of Campus Saskatchewan in response to "identified common interests in expanding the use of technology enhanced learning".

From 1992 - 2007, the NDP were again in power in Saskatchewan. Their major policy paper on post-secondary education, Post-Secondary Education Accessibility and Affordability Review,(generally known as the McCall Report was published October 9, 2007. Less than a month later, the NDP were defeated by the Saskatchewan Party. The new Minister, the Honourable Rob Norris, has the following mandate, according to the SAEE website:

focuses on three strategic areas to meet its mandate of creating a vital, educated and skilled workforce that meets the labour demands of Saskatchewan employers. The approach is to retain educated and skilled workers in the province, develop a skilled workforce by providing education and training programs, and attract educated and skilled workers and their families from outside of the province and the country by promoting Saskatchewan’s opportunities.

Among the first of the new government’s actions was to introduce the $12 million Graduate Retention Program intended to address the mandated goal of retaining “educated and skilled workers” in Saskatchewan. It remains to be seen which, if any, of the recommendations of the McCall report will be implemented by the new government.