It may not be happening as quickly as some might want, but Education Minister Darin King says there is much more to the process of granting Sir Wilfred Grenfell College more autonomy than amending legislation.

The notion of giving the Corner Brook campus of Memorial University more financial and administrative independence has been around for years. It was first thought the needed changes to the Memorial University Act were going to be made during the 2008 fall sitting of the House of Assembly.

The legislation has yet to be enacted, although the provincial government reaffirmed its commitment to making the change in last spring’s budget when it allocated $2.5 million to Grenfell to assist the college’s transition towards greater autonomy. In the 2008 budget, the province allocated $500,000 to begin the implementation of a new governance structure for increased autonomy for Grenfell College.

In addition to that $3-million infusion, the provincial government has cleared up Grenfell College’s deficit to the tune of about $1.5 million.

King said ensuring the institution is poised, from a budgetary and organizational perspective, to take on a more sovereign role can be complex.

“That includes everything from trying to nail down, in real money terms, how much extra money we’re going to have to put out there, what kind of staffing positions we’re going to need and what the structure of the president’s office right on down through will look like,” said King. “Once it becomes autonomous, it becomes its own institution and there are things that will have to occur that are not occurring there right now.”

The preparations also include ensuring there is a strong marketing plan and sound recruitment strategy which would attract students and conferences from all over the world to Grenfell.

“It’s not a black and white process and not as simple as some people, who may just be bystanders in this, would see it as,” said King. “It requires a lot of people, a lot of time, a lot of thought and we want to make sure, as a government, when we move forward with any changes at Grenfell, that we do it in a way that is well thought through and well planned and results in very positive changes for Grenfell and the community.”

The infusion of cash is meant to include the creation of new positions at Grenfell pertaining to the transition.

“Grenfell has submitted some proposals that jive with their long-term vision of moving towards autonomy and moving towards increasing their marketing and recruitment,” said King. “I don’t think the entire bulk of that money is spent right now, but there is a plan that will roll out over the next short period of time.”

Like the background work being done in advance of the changes coming to Grenfell, King said the legislation itself is still a work in progress too.

“We have to make sure, when we pass the legislation, we have good solid research done,” said the minister. “The day it becomes adopted, it becomes law. We certainly don’t want to adopt piece of legislation and make it a law that is, in actual fact, going to restrict or inhibit Grenfell’s ability to succeed. It’s a very important piece of work and we’re giving it due diligence and making sure, when we’re ready to bring it forward, it’s done right.”

Though he’d like to see it happen sooner rather than later, King said there is no particular timeline set for Grenfell’s enhanced autonomy to become a reality. He also said the delays have nothing at all to do with the ongoing search for a new president of Memorial University — a search King said he is not involved with directly.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a requirement that a new president be in place before autonomy at Grenfell moves forward, but it might very well happen that that’s the case,” he said. “We have not made any deliberate attempt to speed things up or slow things down on Grenfell to coincide with the hiring of a president at Memorial ... I’m not even aware of the timeline Memorial is working on. I have no idea when they are planning on announcing a new presidency.”