Yukon College Ross River campus continues to provide programming

March 3, 2015

ROSS RIVER - Since the January 18th closure of the school building in Ross River, Yukon College’s Dene Cho Kê’endį campus has continued to provide programming at multiple locations in the community, including the College’s Mobile Trades Training Trailer.

“We are grateful to the community, students, and staff, for their patience and understanding as we handle the unexpected closure of our Ross River campus,” said Dr. Deb Bartlette, Vice President Academic and Student Services at Yukon College.

“Until we hear different from Yukon government, we are treating this as a temporary situation. Our focus is on ensuring the delivery of key ongoing programs, such as the Heavy Equipment Mechanic training. Due to this unique situation we must temporarily scale back all other programs and services.”

13 students are registered in two Heavy Equipment Mechanic programs being delivered simultaneously using the Mobile Trades Training Trailer until the end of April. In the past six weeks campus staff have worked to find alternate locations for any non-Yukon College vocational and cultural classes that would have taken place at the campus. This has affected approximately 35-40 community members. Such classes include water delivery certification, trapping, Kaska language, and knitting. Next week, a Hunter Education and Ethics Development course will take place in the Ross River arena with 23 students registered and five on a waitlist.

Yukon College has provided two additional 12-foot by 48-foot mobile trailers to Yukon Education that are acting as temporary daily classrooms for 18 Grade 4, 5, 8, and 9 students until the end of the school year.

YC’s Ross River campus does not have a primary administrative office and classroom at the present time. This means that drop-in hours, community access to computer labs, and some events and activities traditionally hosted at the campus are not currently available.

College staff have considered six buildings in the community as potential office and/or classroom space, but each location presents challenges regarding occupancy, safety, and availability, making them unsuitable as short-term solutions.

On January 18th, Ross River School was closed in order to repair cracked walls and ensure the structural integrity of the facility. The school building also housed the Yukon College Dene Cho Kê’endį campus and the community library.