The President of Thompson Rivers University is looking for more input as phase two of Envision TRU gets underway.

The project is looking to help shape the university’s direction for the next decade. Brett Fairbairn says what it’s really interested in is making sure its serving communities and meeting needs. “Is there a need for more students? Is there a need for more and different programs? In our region, in the Thompson-Cariboo region, we serve a lot of people already who are looking for education. Some of the gaps, I think are probably indigenous learners and other groups.”

Fairbairn is moving into phase two of Envision TRU as it looks to identify existing gaps. He says there are likely some holes to fill when it comes to indigenous learners and other groups. “We currently have something like 3000 indigenous students among our 30,000 or so total students. So it’s about 10% of our total and that’s a large number of students. We’re committed to supporting those students to succeed and to graduate in professions, in trades, in fields that make a positive impact.”

Fairbairn adds that it is looking at a wide range of topics including a need for more students or additional programs. “Also to talk, not just about the things that will always be important to us that we’ll never go backwards on, but also to think about what we want to do differently. And that’s what we’re starting to get into this fall. So we’ll ask people what was missing in those early conversations and what do we need to change up.”

You can find out more about how to participate in Envision TRU here. There are also two in person session set for this week. Those are on Tuesday evening in Merritt at the NVIT campus: Room U001 and on Wednesay evening in Kamloops at the Desert Gardens Community Centre. Fairbairn plans to present something to the board of directors in the new year and make it available to the public come the spring.