A committee of Ministers and corresponding committee of Deputy Ministers provide expert advice to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and the Associate Deputy Minister of Post-Secondary Education Renewal on key transformation issues.

Career and Education Advisors work with students in Grades 9-12 and with youth aged 18-24 to support informed decision making regarding their education and career paths. These groups represent a significant portion of the NWT’s future workforce and their success is critical to the NWT’s economic success.

The new Student Information System (SIS), a GNWT investment in Aurora College, collects and provides accurate and accessible data ensuring the Aurora College Team can meet the demands of a modern post-secondary institution both during and after its transformation into a polytechnic university.

One of the Working Groups formed during phase 1 of transformation developed a new policy and processes to review and make decisions around programming. These will continue to evolve as other related transformation work is completed and be led by Aurora College.

During phase 1 of transformation, the GNWT will release an Implementation Plan that lays all of the tasks required to transform Aurora College into a polytechnic university, ensuring that the right changes are made in the right order and at the right time.

One of the four pillars in the 2020-2023 Aurora Strategic Plan is Learning Centred.  The College Team are committed to providing learners with programs and services that are adaptive and can be tailored to help students meet their academic and personal goals. Work to strengthen Aurora College as a learning-centred institution will result in tangible improvement to the student experience and improved student outcomes.

The 2020-2021 Corporate Plan for Aurora College is released using a new model.  The model will continue to develop over the next few years and will move the College's corporate planning closer to that of a polytechnic university.

A skills matrix ensures that Board of Governor members have the necessary competencies and, as a whole, the Board comprises the necessary skills and experience to provide strategic direction and oversight of Aurora College and the polytechnic university.  The matrix approach has been developed and the specific competencies will continue to be defined over time, following the legislative process to amend the Aurora College Act. 

The working groups established during phase 1 will do a gap analysis on current policies and use itto inform the amendment of current policies and the development of new policies throughout the transformation process.

The institution supports students through the strategic use of technology and social media -- both in the recruitment and retention of students.

A Student Experience Model sets minimum standards that a typical student should experience when applying to, studying at, and graduating from Aurora College. The services and instructional elements of Community Learning Centres will also be considered as part of a Student Experience Model. This will support the development of the Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) Plan. This work was done by Aurora College as part of their efforts to enhance internal policies as they move towards a polytechnic university. 

Working Groups established during phase 1 of transformation, reviewed policies related to records management to ensure all Aurora College policies related to records management are up to date and meet current standards.

Developing a Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) plan will help the College focus its efforts where they are needed most in order to help all Aurora College students achieve success while at the institution and beyond. A SEM plan coordinates the College's core business functions such as student recruitment, student services, and academic program planning to make enrollment growth and stability something that can be predicted and is planned. This work is not a milestone committment, but important to enhancing the instution and preparing for transformation. 

Student Recruitment Ambassadors may add to the success of recruitment activities with first hand experience. The added value of ambassadors will be identified in the Recruitment, Marketing and Communications Strategy 2021-2024.

A new arm's length governance system for Aurora College will be established through Legislated amendments to the Aurora College Act. 

Building on other engagements with NWT Education Authorities the College, ECE and Education Authorities will explore ways of addressing low post-secondary completion rates and poor transition rates between the secondary and post-secondary systems. To track progress of the extensive work being done in this area, visit:  https://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/en/progress-tracker 

Aurora College has created a program development team that continue to undertake projects related to program review including the Bachelor of Education Program. These efforts will support the phase 2 milestone commitment to reinstante the Bachelor of Education program. 

A student resources quick guide, supported by a section on the Aurora College website ,will provide students with an understanding of the services available to them, how to access those services and the standards by which they can expect responses from the service providers. The transformational aspect of this project has been completed and it will be operationalized through the implementation of the Strategic Enrolment Management Plan.

The Program Development Team led by Aurora College has reviewed the program policies that address the creation, suspension and termination of programs at the institution. These  are now in place and aligned with the institution's vision, mission, goals and areas of teaching and research specialization. These efforts will support the phase 2 milestone commitment to reinstante programs in the areas of teaching and research. 

Through a working group created during phase 1 of transformation, the Board of Governors' recruitment process was developed. This process will provide a guide by which the public can apply to be a member of the Aurora College Board of Governors. The new process will include competency requirements to ensure an effective and efficient Board that is able to lead the institution through the changes required to become a polytechnic university.

The Polytechnic Facilities Master Plan, which is a phase 2 critical milestone, will propose how the institution will address which programs should be delivered at which Community Learning Centre, strengthen connections to Aurora College campuses and to the secondary school system.

Programs requiring the use of internet bandwidth are understood and plans are in place to increase capacity as and where needed. This is being considered in the IT needs assessment currently underway as part of the Facilities Master Plan work that is a milestone for phase 2 of transformation. 

The Polytechnic Facilities Master Plan, which is a phase 2 critical milestone, will propose enhanced access to recreational facilities in campus communities, enhancing post-secondary experience for our students.  

A Board of Governors operating manual that outlines the roles and responsibilities of Board members, as well as accountabilities and reporting requirements is developed by ACT and provided to Aurora College for implemetation. Once established, it will be the responsibility of the Board to update or make changes to the manual. Reinstating the Aurora College Board of Governors is a critical milestone for phase 2 of transformation. 

One of the Working Groups established during phase 1 of transformation will schedule and conduct ongoing policy reviews as part of ongoing operations.

A coherent set of Service Standards that can be applied across all facets of the institution will be drafted and provided to Aurora College for finalizing and implementation.  This will serve as a baseline for many of the institutions key performance indicators (KPIs) to be featured in future Aurora College Corporate Plans. This will be a requirement in order to complete transformation. 

Building on the Polytechnic University Facilities Master Plan, a comprehensive plan for community learning centres will be developed.  This will include an analysis of different models of community program delivery, which includes the articulation of the types and levels of programing to be delivered at the various community learning centres. It is critical that the polytechnic university maintain close connections between campuses, community learning centres and to the secondary school system. This is sometimes referred to as “student pathways”. Effective student pathways ensure equitable access and provide learning opportunities that make sense for Northerners.

A 2023-2026 Strategic Plan will overlap Aurora College and the polytechnic university.  It will guide Aurora College for the second phase of the transformation and the polytechnic university through its initial years.  A 5-year strategic planning cycle for the polytechnic university will begin in 2026.

*The finalized Aurora College/polytechnic university 3-year strategic plan is for 2024-2027, not 2023-2026.

A new comprehensive Recruitment, Marketing and Communication Strategy is completed and is aligned with the institution's 5-Year Academic Plan, 2023-2026 Strategic Plan and the Strategic Enrolment Management plan.  This plan will support the final stages of transformation to a polytechnic university.