Universities, colleges prepare to face three years of cuts
Alberta post-secondary institutions are anticipating three consecutive years of cuts to public funding, according to an internal university email obtained by Postmedia.
Departments at Calgary’s Mount Royal University are planning for a 10-per-cent cut the first year, another 10-per-cent cut the second year and five-per-cent the third year, according to an email sent by Brad Clark, chair of journalism and broadcast media studies at the university.
“The post-secondary sector in our province is anticipating major cuts following the release of the Alberta government’s budget on Oct. 24,” Clark said in a Wednesday email to the department’s advisory committee. “Our department, like others at Mount Royal University, will be affected by those reductions.”
Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said in a Thursday interview no funding numbers have been finalized for next week’s provincial budget. Those numbers didn’t come from him, he said.
Clark confirmed Thursday he did author the email, and that the 10-, 10- and five-per-cent cut numbers are being discussed informally in the post-secondary community based on the recommendations of the Mackinnon blue ribbon panel report. The Mackinnon panel, which was tasked with reviewing Alberta’s spending, recommended lifting a four-year tuition freeze and reducing the amount of public funding to post-secondary institutions to levels closer to B.C. or Ontario.
The Opposition NDP has said tuition in Alberta could spike if the government follows the panel’s recommendations.
Nicolaides has not yet said whether or not the government will lift the tuition freeze.
Clark said he’s not “panicking” about funding for his department, as tuition increases could help offset some of the lost public revenue.
“Maybe it forces us to get creative around how we offer some of our curriculum,” he said. “Maybe we’re due for that anyway.”
In a statement Thursday, Mount Royal president and vice-chancellor Tim Rahilly said the sector’s discussion about the implications of the Mackinnon report are just speculation.
“We look forward to the clarity next week will provide and will work with our campus to arrive at a balanced budget that prioritizes the academic mission,” his statement said.
NDP: COULD BE BIGGEST POST-SECONDARY CUT EVER
NDP advanced education critic David Eggen said Thursday he has heard of other institutions working with similar figures for anticipated cuts.
“If the government goes through with this, it represents the largest cut to post-secondary education in the history of this province, at the very time when we need to invest in post-secondary education,” Eggen said.
Alberta has the youngest population in Canada and a bulge of school-age children who will soon make their way into post-secondary education and training, he said. Alberta will need more training seats to accommodate the demographic shift, he said, and such a large cut would “kneecap” the ability of schools to expand.
“This is exactly the wrong cut at the wrong time,” he said.
Nicolaides said Thursday his department is looking at how it can get better value for its money. He has been talking with post-secondary leaders to hear their ideas about other potential sources of funding, he said.
His press secretary, Laurie Chandler, also said in an email that public funding to post-secondary institutions has grown 106 per cent in the last decade while enrolment went up 21 per cent.