On Wednesday, June 5th, Trent University announced that Provost and Vice-President Academic, Dr. Michael Khan, had been reappointed to the position for a second five-year term.

The announcement comes well ahead of the VP’s second term, which officially begins on August 1, 2025.

Having first come to Trent in August of 2020, Khan is credited by his peers and Trent Communications with developing Trent’s most recent integrative Academic Plan, as well as bolstering the university’s academic infrastructure, investments, and overall “strategic growth and expansion,” including international student recruitment.

In the June 5th press release announcing Khan’s reappointment, Trent University President and Vice Chancellor, Leo Groarke, is quoted as saying that “Michael has been instrumental in steering Trent University towards new heights of academic excellence and innovation.”

Particular achievements which Groarke notes include “developing a robust Academic Plan, launching new interdisciplinary programs, and fostering a collaborative environment that has significantly contributed to our enrolment growth and institutional reputation.”

Trent’s enrolment has been growing consistently year-over-year for the duration of Khan’s tenure. 

According to reports from a May 10th meeting of Trent University’s Board of Governors (BoG), enrollment grew to 13,275.2 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the 2023/2024 academic year—an 11.8% increase from the previous year’s 11,844 FTEs, and a 3.2% surplus from the budgeted 12,860.9 FTEs which were approved in March of 2023. 

This kind of inflationary enrolment has been a trademark of Khan’s tenure at Trent. Despite the tempered expectations of the pandemic, Trent nonetheless managed to increase enrolment in the 2020/21 academic year by 6.9%.

Given that just two years before the pandemic Trent had only 8,960 FTEs enrolled, the picture on the whole is one of pronounced, consistent, and ever-increasing enrolment.

This has been seen particularly—as Groarke himself notes—in the international student sector. Previous statements to Arthur from the university note that approximately 20% of the university’s total enrolment was owed to international students in 2024—just shy of 2,800 students.

This reflects the goals of an institution vested in the pursuit of furthering international enrolment. In a March 2023 BoG meeting, the university detailed aims to increase international enrolment between 30% and 40% at both its Symons and Durham campuses between 2023 and 2024.

These plans would seemingly be complicated by the January 22nd announcement by the federal government on a cap on the number of international student visas issued, though Trent has to this point shown little intention of responding to the federal edict with what they themselves might call “momentous change.”

Indeed, Khan’s reappointment is just the latest in a series of decisions from the university which seem more or less a declaration of their intent to stay the course.

On March 12, 2024, the university announced the reappointment of Marilyn Burns to her position of vice-president of Communications and Enrolment. 

Groarke announced Burns reappointment, calling her “a driving force behind Trent’s rising reputation, impressive strides in recruitment, and…renewed commitment to its collegiate system.”

Burns first joined Trent in 2001, serving a more than 20-year career in various administrative positions. Her reappointment—like Khan’s—marks her second five-year term with Trent.

If one is to take their respective terms as an indication of what to expect from Trent in future, then (and indeed, why should they not?), it would seem that Trent intends to maintain the same priorities as ever: ever-increasing enrolment with a focus on international students, and continuing to polish its existing reputation.

The press release for Burn’s reappointment highlights both of these points, noting that enrolment has increased a whopping 53% under her supervision since 2014, and that her portfolio has made significant contributions “to Trent's esteemed standings in the annual Maclean’s University Rankings.”

While, granted, one prominent member of Trent University administration—Leo Groarke himself—is poised to vacate the position of President this year, his replacement is none other than current VP Research and Innovation, Cathy Bruce, who has been with the university for more than twenty years.

The next several years promise a number of significant challenges in the post-secondary education sector, as schools continue to deal with increasing costs, fickle federal funding, and the continuing fallout of the international student visa cap—whose full effects have yet to be determined.

The people that Trent has decided to place in charge of its operations for the next half-decade are known entities with a significant body of experience between them. Their methods thus far are also well documented: bolster Trent’s image and increase enrolment to offset potential shortfalls.

Whether this conservative approach will be sufficient for the university to weather the next five years remains subject to future determination. Regardless, if asked what to expect from Trent  in the next five years, the safe answer would seem to be “more of the same.”

With files from Sebastian Johnston-Lindsay