Memorial University of Newfoundland is struggling to reconcile its desire to offer students global learning experiences with the high cost of running its overseas campus in the quaint historic town of Harlow, England.
The small Harlow campus, whose buildings all date back to at least the 19th century, offers special academic programming and provides a base for faculty members and graduate students to conduct research in the U.K. But with an annual operating cost of $1 million, and an existing deferred maintenance expense of $2 million, Memorial is undergoing a period of soul-searching about the future of its overseas foothold.
And Memorial is not alone. For decades, Canadian universities have operated satellites in foreign countries. Sometimes there is a desire to increase revenue streams, especially in the face of static provincial funding. On other occasions, it's a way to deliver education in regions like the Middle East, where geopolitical issues make it difficult or impossible for students to travel to Canada. And, once every blue moon, a benefactor will donate a facility, as when Canadian chemist, entrepreneur and Queen's University alumnus Alfred Bader gave a 15th century English castle to his Kingston alma mater.
But most Canadian schools trying to establish foreign campuses face challenges: Recruiting and retaining faculty to teach; finding students who can afford to go overseas to study, even for one semester; and maintaining facilities in aging buildings.
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