U of W passes trimmed-down preliminary budget

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/05/2016 (3440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Winnipeg’s board of regents has approved a preliminary operating budget of more than $142 million.

It includes leaving almost $5 million in jobs empty, cuts to planned spending, and paying into pension shortfalls going back more than a decade.

But the preliminary budget could get harsher if the Pallister government does not provide at least a 2.5 per cent increase in grants over last year.

University officials said Tuesday the projections are based on what has become a traditional 2.5 per cent increase in operating grants, and a legislated cap on tuition increases at the rate of provincial growth — currently about 1.2 per cent a year.

The Tories have warned they don’t know what they can afford to spend until they get a good look at the province’s finances — and they’ve said repeatedly they expect the deficit to be much deeper than the former NDP government acknowledged.

New Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart said Tuesday he can’t tell school boards, universities and colleges when there will be any word on the grants they’re getting for the next school year.

“If the upcoming provincial budget results in changes to our assumptions, University of Winnipeg administrators will bring forward an amended budget for board approval in the summer or fall,” officials said in a news release Tuesday.

The presumed tuition increase would be close to $80 for an undergraduate arts or science student carrying a maximum course load.

Domestic enrolment is expected to remain consistent while international enrolment is projected to increase by five per cent, the university said Tuesday. The U of W has 10,000 students, of whom 600 are international.

The university said the budget maintains the number of faculty members and continues funding key investments initiated last year to enhance student wellness and support academic and research excellence including: three new counselling positions added to the campus wellness team, and a dedicated position to assist faculty in obtaining external research funding and to identify new sources of grant revenue.

“The University of Winnipeg continues to invest in indigenization initiatives, as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including a mandatory Indigenous course requirement that comes into effect in fall 2016, and strengthening of indigenous language programs,” the university said.

Over the past eight years, the U of W said, it has streamlined administrative operations and cut more than $15 million in annual expenses. It now expects to eliminate the pension deficit by 2018-2019.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca