Year in Review: U of S president says international recruitment top priority in 2017

The University of Saskatchewan is aiming to recruit more out of country students in 2017.
 
U of S President Peter Stoicheff made the comments in a year-end interview with 650 CKOM on Dec. 20.

“It’s a win-win because it fits with the provincial government’s plan for growth,” he said.
 
“We have a high percentage of international students at the graduate level, but very low at the undergraduate level – something we’re working on.”
 
In 2015, the university had 2,500 international students.

Stoicheff noted one of the highlights of 2016 was more indigenous students graduated from the U of S this year than any other in the university’s history.

“That fits with our intentions to be the best place we can be for indigenous students and their communities,” he said.

More than 500 indigenous students graduated from the U of S in 2016.

Even though Stoicheff said he didn’t feel the university had a low point in 2016, he did touch on provincial funding cutbacks in November that cost the U of S $5 million in funding. 

“I feel the province knows how much good work we do,” he said. “If I had to pick a tender spot, the clawbacks did hurt us.”

The province said the cutbacks, which occurred across Saskatchewan, were due to a growing provincial debt.