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Hrymak said the university will look into any concerns about the project.

“We will follow all governance and approval processes in senate and board of governors for any proposed agreement,” Hrymak said.

The Canadian Federation of Students, which represents more than 500,000 Canadian students, voiced several concerns over the possible deal.

“We believe it could subject international students to a lack of transparency, misleading recruitment tactics, high tuition fees, isolation from other students on campus, poor staffing practices, poor quality of education and a lack of resources,” said Sofia Descalzi, chairperson of the organization.

“We strongly believe that a high-quality, publicly-funded system of post-secondary education is the only way to ensure access, equity and transparency for all students in Canada, including international students.

John Ciriello, president of the union representing Western’s faculty, said it opposes the deal citing concerns about prioritizing “economics over academic standards.”

“My main issue with it is all of these outsourcing companies are actually trying to teach students without really knowing what they are doing. That is a major concern to me,” Ciriello said. “We have no real control over the academic standards. These are students who may or may not have the same ability of other students who normally meet the requirements to get into a program.”

Fellow Western senator and professor Sam Trosow said he hopes Western officials look at ways to bring a more “varied presence” of international students to the school without contracting it out.

“They are not just talking about getting help to do the recruitment, which I think they need,” he said. “They need to put more resources into their international recruitment; everyone agrees with that. Let’s decouple the demonstrated need for recruitment help from the actually delivery of the courses.”

hrivers@postmedia.com