Dear Colleagues,
I know that many of you are now reading this from home — I want to once again express my deep gratitude for all that you are doing to sustain exceptional teaching, learning and research at the University of Alberta amid this crisis. I am so impressed with the response our community has made to the COVID-19 pandemic, and all that you continue to achieve remotely.
Just as you have continued to teach courses, deliver services remotely, and carry on your work from a distance, many have been hard at work on moving ahead our university budget. Today, the Board of Governors met remotely and approved the revised 2020–21 institutional budget. As you are aware, on February 27, 2020, the University of Alberta received a 11% cut to our provincial funding in the Government of Alberta’s 2020 budget. Added to a 6.9% cut for 2019–20, the total reduction we now face is $110.3 million over two years.
As required by provincial legislation, we must submit a balanced budget to the provincial government. Let me share key elements of the approved budget with you in brief:
Focus on academic activities: As I have said before, our commitment to high-quality education and research is our priority. To that end, there will be an average 12.8% reduction to administrative units, and an average reduction of 8.3% to faculties. The reduction to the faculties has been offset by an average 7% increase to tuition. Administrative units will not have their reductions offset by tuition revenues. This will help to reduce the impact on students’ learning experience and frontline services while challenging us to focus on reducing administrative costs. When the budget is rolled out on April 1, each faculty will receive a differential cut as per the implementation of the new budget model.
Student Aid: We recognize that an average 7% tuition increase is significant for students, and we expect many will be unable to meet this financial challenge without assistance. As a result, the university will increase student financial aid significantly. For 2020–21,15% of the net increase to domestic tuition will be dedicated to student financial support, and we will continue to direct 7.55% of all international tuition to support international students. We are also expanding efforts on growing philanthropic support for student awards and bursaries.
Next Steps: We know that this budget requires us to make major changes. I have also been clear about the impact this budget will have on our workforce, with a reduction of approximately 1000 positions in this current year and the next. As we deal with the reduction in funding and resulting loss of positions, fundamental restructuring will be required and the senior leadership team is exploring all options and beginning to implement plans. These include:
- Tightening hiring constraints significantly (a near total hiring freeze)
- Closing low enrolment programs (30 closed during 2019–20 and more to follow)
- Improving efficiency and effectiveness in administrative processes, using information from the first set of data from our participation in an international administrative benchmarking program
- Academic restructuring
- Heightening restrictions on non-essential travel and hosting costs
- Vacating leased space
- Re-examining supplier and services contracts for savings
- Deferring energy management program investments for 20–21
- Closing one or more library locations
- Decommissioning and demolishing buildings that no longer meet current teaching and research needs
The development and approval of the institutional budget is an important initial step and I want to thank all of you, but most especially the senior leadership teams in faculties and academic support units who are addressing the challenges within faculties and units, and making difficult decisions with a firm focus on the core mission and the continued long-term well-being of teaching and research at the U of A. This collective effort and shared goal is the reason why the U of A continues to be resilient and strong even in adversity.
David H. Turpin
President and Vice-Chancellor