I am writing to you in regards to the recent program suspensions that were announced at Fleming College. As a former Trent student and a current student at Fleming College, I am aware of how closely these two schools are tied, as many Trent graduates continue their studies at the Fleming Frost campus. I felt it was important to write to you and let you know what is happening at Fleming so you can write about it in the Arthur for Trent students to be aware of these program changes, which may affect their academic plans.

On April 24th, Fleming College announced that 29 programs are suspended, 14 of which are programs offered at the Frost campus. This announcement came after the college sent out acceptance letters in early March. As a result, many students have been left feeling disappointed and uncertain about our futures, as many of us have already made plans to return to Fleming in the fall. Many students, myself included, signed year-long leases and have turned down full-time jobs to be able to return to Fleming come the fall semester. This recent announcement has blindsided students and left many of us feeling stressed, as all the programs that were suspended at Frost are needed to be successful in our careers. This is aggravated as the open house for prospective students marketed all of the affected programs two days prior to the suspension.

Since president Maureen Adamson has stepped into her role, many students have been left feeling like Frost campus is the forgotten child of Fleming College. This is proven as the Frost campus sees virtually no advertising in comparison to the Peterborough campus, and even less funding goes to the Frost campus. It has been said that at the Sutherland Trades and Technology Centre, students are each given their own set of tools and a cube to work on building each year, with only copper wiring getting re-used. The heavy equipment programs at Frost campus only have one wrench to share for each class. Also, programs like environmental technicians are using surveying equipment that has not been calibrated in almost 15 years.

President Maureen stating that no current students are affected is a blatant lie. Many students take the technician-level diploma as a stepping stone to the technology diplomas. In their acceptance letters, technology programs are stated as the 5th semester of their prospective programs. Since the suspension, technician graduates are no longer able to complete these technology-level diplomas, leaving us, as students, unsure of how to complete our education. Many students are making the unfortunate decision to enter the workforce without technologist diplomas, thus narrowing career opportunities.

In the past, there have been multiple presidents, including one specifically for the Frost campus. This was done to protect the interests of the different campuses, as each campus will have its own goals that people from the other campus may not understand. This issue is exactly what we are currently seeing as President Maureen Adamson is continually investigating the Peterborough campus and seemingly trying to rebrand the college to be more centred around programs offered at the Sutherland campus. This program suspension is a major example of that, as 14 of the 29 programs that are suspended are programs offered at the Frost campus. Whereas the Coroubough, Haliburton, and Toronto campuses are completely untouched. This has left many students at the Frost campus feeling incredibly disappointed, as students at this campus have an immense sense of pride and identity in attending the Fleming College Frost Campus. However, many feel that the bureaucracy occurring at the highest levels of management is jeopardizing the college's reputation as the leading environmental campus in Canada. Also, many students feel that the president has little to no regard for the futures of the college or the students that had plans on returning. This sentiment has been echoed as the days go by and the president has yet to release any statements about these program suspensions. We ask for Trent students' help in trying to reinstate these  programs. Students at the Frost campus have started a petition ( https://chng.it/4W4jpjrB6H ) for anyone to sign to fight for the reinstatement of these programs, as the programs at Frost are related to jobs that are in high demand in the industry, yet they are still being suspended with no evidence or explanation as to why.