Q&A: New University of Moncton president lays out goals

The University of Moncton's new president says he's hoping to increase enrolment and attract more francophone students.

Denis Prud'homme, a specialist in family medicine and the research and scientific director at the Montfort Hospital in Ottawa,will step into the five-year term onJuly 1.

The University of Moncton, which has satellitecampuses in Edmundston and Shippagan,has a full-time undergraduate enrolment of about 4,055 and a graduate enrolment of about 410, according to Universities Canada. It also has more than 500 part-time undergraduate and graduate students.

The CBC's Jonna Brewer sat down with Prud'homme to discuss his plans for the University of Moncton.

Q: Interim president Jacques Paul Couturier has said the university may have to make difficult choices in its 2020-21 budget, if there isn't a large increase in funding from the provincial government.What difficult choices will you be considering?

A: For me it's quite early to be able to give my point of view on that. I always say that I'm doing administration like I manage patients, so I will be giving some recommendations.

For me, it is very important to take care to know better the files and the data, as well as be part of the discussion to be able to share my point of view. But I have plenty of confidence that the acting president as well as its team will make the best decision in the interests of the university as well as the students.

Q: What about the other two campuses, in Edmundston and Shippagan? Where do they fit in in your vision?

A: It's very important for me that the university improve access to higher education to francophone entities and across the province, and the fact [there are] satellite campuses in Edmundston and Shippagan is very important for their communities.

And we know thatuniversity campuses play an important economic role in terms of work and research and innovation with industries in their communities, so I think this structure is quite important for the university.

Q: What will you do to try to boost enrolment at the university?

A: We have to know how the future students learn about universities, which is mainly on social media. We have to better understandtheir expectations.

We also have to adapt our teaching based on the tools we use to learn. With the University of Moncton, I think we also need to make sure that all the francophone students that met the program inclusion criteria, that [there's space for them] and [that we provide] those programs with the necessary resources to support them.

We have also to do probably a better job in student experience, especially in the first year when the transition is very difficult and also try to keep up and retain some of our students to do their graduate studies at Moncton.

We also have to continue on the international side, by attracting students from abroad and also probably doing a better job to interest students who are francophone students outside of Moncton, New Brunswick and working with colleagues to find other ways to target students to increase enrolment.

Q: You're an outsider from the region, does that give you an advantage coming into this position?

A: Coming as an outsider, we have to make a big balance to know the community, take the time to know the community, the government and so on. But coming from outside, we come with a fresh look. For me, I was in Quebec City before I moved to Ottawa, and I'm living in Ontario, even though I am a Quebecer. So I've lived for 20 years as a francophone Ontarian.

I've learned quickly the challenges and adapted to the community very well. I saw [the University of Moncton] is a very welcoming community during the time I was there for my interview. I'm quite happy to join the team there and I'm sure we'll be able to do great things.

You can listen to the full interview withDenis Prud'hommehere: