The University of British Columbia is making the deepest budget
cuts in more than a decade in order to produce a balanced budget
for the 1997/98 fiscal year.
The university will trim more than $8.6 million in spending, an
overall cut of 2.5 per cent, in a budget recently approved by its
Board of Governors.
With both provincial government grants and tuition fees frozen,
UBC has been forced to make the cuts to cover increased costs, accommodate
a significant number of new students, implement new programs and
satisfy other government-mandated requirements, said UBC President
David Strangway.
Since most of the university’s expenditures are salaries, the budget
cuts will mean fewer people teaching students and performing the
other functions that keep the university operating, he said.
“UBC and other provincial universities are under great economic
stress. This must be arrested for the benefit of our students and
the people of British Columbia,” said Strangway, whose term as president
ends July 31.
“This is the biggest cut we have had in more than a decade and
comes on top of a constant string of cuts. Nevertheless, we turn
over to our successors a university with no deficit and in a remarkably
vibrant state.”
Balancing the budget was made difficult by a number of factors,
including government clawbacks of $1.3 million, a recent 1.5 per
cent arbitration award for faculty salaries and a settlement for
management and professional staff salaries, both of which were retroactive
to July, 1996.
Enrolment has increased dramatically, too. In the past two years
alone the university has seen a nine per cent increase in undergraduate
enrolment with no additional funding from the provincial government.
UBC’s administrative costs are among the very lowest in Canada.
Tuition fees are among the lowest in the country and the university
spends or manages $120 million each year in student aid programs.
The university has also made significant gains in “productivity”
(based on the grant funding provided per graduating student) of
26 per cent in the past dozen years.
Yet in constant dollars, the provincial grant has grown by just
eight per cent, or 0.7 per cent annually, in the past 12 years.
Strangway warned that the provincial government will further compromise
the quality of education offered to B.C. students if it maintains
current funding levels and tuition freezes. And the province must
no longer require universities to accept more students without full-cost
increases to the provincial grant, he added.
He noted that the federal government has cancelled the final planned
cut in transfer payments to the provinces. This will provide a significant
increase in revenue to the province, which will be available for
post-secondary education in 1998/99.
Strangway said the provincial government should: provide grant
increases at least equal to the Vancouver inflation rate; unfreeze
tuition levels and allow UBC to implement its tuition policy, which
limits increases to the rate of inflation (provided the provincial
grant also increases at the inflation rate); and permit tuition
increases for students in professional programs.
“The provincial grant and tuition fees should rise with the rate
of inflation. If the grant increase is not forthcoming, then tuition
will have to rise to cover the shortfall. However, if that does
not occur, then there will be more massive cuts and a significant
loss to students in terms of the quality of their education,” Strangway
said.
The impact of this year’s cuts will vary from faculty to faculty,
but will include the loss of faculty members, teaching assistants,
secretarial and technical staff.
Also expected are increases in class size, reduction in courses
offerings and an increasing reliance on sessional lecturers. Arts
Dean Shirley Neuman said her faculty will be offering 600 fewer
credit hours despite a three per cent increase in enrolment.
Strangway said the university also has urgent capital needs that
must be met. A capital plan is in place to meet the most critical
space needs, and includes projects such as the Michael Smith Biotechnology
Building, the Creative Arts and Multimedia Building and the Chemical/Bio-Engineering
Building.
The projects involve a substantial replacement of very poor quality
space. Private fund raising and the federal and provincial governments
will each provide one-third of the funding.
Other budget highlights:
- the General Purpose Operating Fund (GPOF), representing revenues
from the provincial grant, tuition and other sources: $340,281,000 - one-time GPOF budget income: $1,115,000
- specific purpose budgets received through fees, grants or contracts:
$80 million. Endowment income is $26,283,000 - ancillary units, which operate on a fee for service basis without
subsidy from the GPOF: $160,930,000. These units include Food
Services, the Bookstore, Housing and Conferences, Parking and
Transportation, Athletics and Recreation, and others. - research grants and contracts won in open competition by faculty
members: $134,057,000 - capital, excluding major capital projects: $18.6 million
The annual budget results from a process of extensive review which
culminates in the publication of a document, unique among Canadian
universities, that shows all decisions in an open and accountable
manner.
The following chart compares provincial grants to public-sector-supported
agencies in B.C. since 1982. B.C.’s universities have suffered massive
decreases (on a per student basis ) in provincial operating grants
to B.C.’s universities since 1981/82, while other public-sector-supported
agencies have had massive increases in funding (or loss or productivity).
(Source: UBC Budget and Planning).
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