The Keyano College president and CEO, Kevin Nagel, has resigned and the resignation is at least in part over budget cuts and financial struggles. Nagel took the position of president at the college in 2011, and the decision to resign was made after careful consideration. The Board of Governors received Nagel’s resignation last Monday. A press release by Kara Flynn, the board chair, stated “The Board of Governors would like to thank Dr. Nagel for his contributions to the College and the wider region. (We) wish Dr. Nagel well in his future endeavours.” The college has seen declining revenues as oil prices have dropped in recent years, because industry training services n longer have the same demand that they did just a few years ago and fewer people training for lucrative oil industry jobs.

Forecasts for revenue at Keyano College have declined by 20% over the last two years. During a recent Friday Board of Governors meeting the school discussed goals and set a spending reduction. The goal is to cut spending back to $68 million instead of the amount of $81 million that was spent last year. Nagel quickly came to the defense of the financial approach that the college has taken when he gave an interview to Today, an interview that occurred just a few days before Nagel tendered his resignation. In the middle of 2015 Keyano College let 21 staff go and cut out 12 programs that were previously offered because of the struggling economy and low oil prices, and further cuts have been needed so the college can stay financially stable.