Loyalist suspends three programs

By Joseph Quigley

BELLEVILLE – The first tremors of the Loyalist College budget shortfall are being felt.

The college has announced that the Graphic Design, Broadcast Engineering Technology and Advertising and Marketing Communications programs will not be accepting first-year students as of this fall. Students currently enrolled in them will be able to graduate.

Staff reductions to low-enrolment programs and some department restructurings were also announced Thursday.

This all comes as part of Loyalist’s efforts to balance the $4-million deficit in its 2015-16 budget.

The college has also decided to end Loyalist Certification Services, a business it owns and operates that offers certification for information-technology operations. It earned $16 million in net profits over its 13-year existence, but posted its first loss last year. The college’s news release said Loyalist could no longer subsidize the business.

QNet will have more on this in the coming days.