Photo: Okanagan College

By Vernon Matters Staff

Enrolment decline forces layoffs

Staff, program cuts at OK College, leadership questioned

Aug 20, 2025 | 11:06 AM

Okanagan College is cutting more staff ahead of the fall semester due to a projected loss of 600–700 international students. It’s a situation that has the faculty association questioning the leadership at the college.

In an online message Tuesday, college President Neil Fassina said, in part, four teaching positions would be eliminated, and the Modern Languages department will close.

“Earlier this year, OC launched a voluntary early retirement incentive program (ERIP) as a way to mitigate potential layoffs in portfolios and departments impacted by the decline in international student enrolment,” Fassina said.

“Through ERIP and other strategies, the number of potential layoffs to instructional employees has been reduced significantly. As of this week, four faculty/instructors have received layoff notices. This is not a final number. There are still difficult decisions to be made, and we know that there will continue to be changes in the coming weeks and months.”

The message added there has been restructuring and changes as well in student support services, and to exempt (non-union) roles. These have included changes in several portfolios and departments across the college and have had direct impacts on approximately 20 positions.

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As for the Modern Language Dept specifically Okanagan College told Vernon Matters, in part, that student demand for these courses has declined, with annual enrolment dropping by approximately 50 per cent in the past three years, compared to what it was a decade ago.

Faculty non-confidence

In response, the Okanagan College Faculty Association said the latest cuts go too far.

“Okanagan College, a public community college, has a responsibility to provide broad, inclusive access to education — including opportunities to study languages like French and Spanish,” OCFA President Caroline Gilchrist, said as part of a media release.

“Cutting these programs limits students’ potential and undermines the College’s role in preparing them for further academic study or success in the job market.”

Gilchrist said in a recent OCFA no confidence vote, the majority of faculty said they have no confidence in the leadership of President Fassina.

Faculty have been pushing for the last two years for such a vote, according to Gilchrist, for many reasons – one of the main ones being lack of transparency.

Two years ago, Fassina told the CBC the college was not vulnerable to a decrease in International student enrolment, saying they could “scale up or scale down without it actually causing kind of a catastrophic change to the way we run our operation.”

Board confidence

In June, Okanagan College Board of Governors renewed the contract of Dr. Neil Fassina as president and appointed him to the role on a permanent basis.

In a statement to Vernon Matters, the college said, in part, the decision to extend President Fassina’s contract a year early and to appoint him to the role permanently reflects the Board’s ongoing confidence in his leadership, abilities and commitment.