U of S argues for funding increase ahead of budget
School emphasizes its role in boosting economy in both Saskatoon, province
SASKATOON As Finance Minister Donna Harpauer prepares to deliver the provincial budget, the University of Saskatchewan is again making the case for sustainable funding from the government.
In his annual state of the university speech, U of S president Peter Stoicheff said the institution has made significant contributions to the local and provincial economies in spite of “financially challenging circumstances.”
While the university is budgeting for a zero per cent funding increase, he hopes the Saskatchewan Party government will come through with “a package of support that allows us to be of value to the province,” Stoicheff said.
“Here’s what I would expect — and I’m sure that the budget’s been put to bed by now — but that the province would recognize the value that the university has to the province … and that it would want to invest in it commensurately,” he said.
The unpopular 2017-18 budget cut $18 million from the university ’s $312 million operating grant and, in a move subsequently reversed, eliminated an additional $20 million earmarked for the College of Medicine.
That reduction forced the university to slash a total of $12.2 million from academic programs and services, shutter its International Centre for Northern Governance and Development and offer buyouts to some unionized staff.
Stoicheff declined to get into specific figures, but said the university needs “adequate and sustainable” funding for its medical school, which has twice been placed on probation and will learn the results of its most recent accreditation test this summer.
“I think the (accreditation) visit was very positive but finances remain a question for the accreditation committee — a question that can be answered, but a question nonetheless,” he said.
In his address to the General Academic Assembly, Stoicheff emphasized that the university has made significant contributions to the local and provincial economies in spite of financial challenges.
He cited multiple examples, including the production of medical isotopes, new crop varieties and agricultural research, and the institution’s ability to commercialize research, leading to the establishment of 70 new businesses.
A recent report commissioned by the university concluded that its economic impact in 2015-16 was $1.3 billion — about 1.6 per cent of the province’s gross domestic product, compared to typical estimates of about 0.5 per cent of GDP.
Stoicheff also emphasized the importance of the University Plan 2025, which has yet to be approved by the board of governors but is aimed at ensuring the institution becomes even more important to the city and the province.
“Around 44, 45 per cent of the jobs in this province either do or will require a university-level education ( but) the numbers of people who have a university-level education are approximately half of that or slightly above it,” he said.
Harpauer will deliver her first budget as finance minister on Tuesday. It is expected to be the second instalment in a three-year plan to eliminate a deficit the government pegged at just under $600 million in its latest financial update.