Nearly 11 per cent of students identify themselves as an Indigenous person at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), a new high, according to a report from the school.
There has been a 5.5 per cent increase in the number of Indigenous undergraduate students since last year, while the number of graduate students has grown by six per cent, according to Patti McDougall, vice-provost of teaching and learning at the university.
“More and more, U of S is moving to be the place that we want to be, which is more welcoming and culturally rich,” McDougall said.
McDougall said U of S has been focused on increasing Indigenous enrolment for at least the last decade through better recruitment techniques and encouraging students to declare their status as Indigenous.
She said the university has focused more on recruiting from schools operated by First Nations bands and has begun providing direct support for those who self-declare as Aboriginal to help complete their application and track its progress.
According to McDougall, each faculty is also responsible for its own initiative to attract Indigenous students. The college of arts and sciences, which has the highest number of Indigenous students within the school, provides students with enrichment opportunities through its Aboriginal Student Achievement Program.
“It is important for us not only to attract Aboriginal students to the U of S, but also to see them through to degree completion, because we need to play our part—as do others in Canada—in narrowing that education gap,” McDougall said.
Graeme Joseph, team leader of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit student success at the university’s Aboriginal Students’ Centre, said it’s especially important to increase the number of Indigenous students enrolled at post-secondary schools in Saskatchewan due to its rapidly growing Indigenous population.
Statistics Canada projects one in five Saskatchewanians will identify as Indigenous by 2036.
“This is not only for the benefit of Aboriginal people and communities and nations,” Joseph said. “This is really tied to the overall success of the province as a whole because within the next number of generations, Aboriginal people are going to make up so much of the larger population.”
According to Joseph, U of S plans to open a new $17 million student centre by the end of the month designed by Douglas Cardinal, an Indigenous architect who also designed the Canadian Museum of History, originally called the Canadian Museum of Civilization
McDougall said it’s important to remember the diversity of the Indigenous student population at U of S, as they come from urban but also more remote areas, and includes people who are First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.
“It’s not one big similar, common group,” McDougall said. “Like all students, people are coming to campus with different needs. I think we’re stronger for it if we can recognize our Aboriginal students come with different hopes and different needs, and then be able to deliver that.”
According to McDougall, 17 per cent of non-Indigenous adults in Saskatchewan have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to only 8 per cent of Indigenous adults..
She said the U of S aims to have Indigenous people represent 15 per cent of its undergraduate population and nine per cent Indigenous enrolment within the next few years, and to hire more Indigenous faculty and staff.
