U of W raises tuition, cuts jobs

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This article was published 01/05/2018 (2791 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tuition increases, health-care clawbacks, wage freezes and job cuts are coming to the University of Winnipeg.

The university’s board of regents approved Monday night an operating budget of $143 million for 2018-19. As required by provincial legislation, the budget is balanced — but that’s come at a cost, after the institution’s funding was cut by 0.9 per cent in last month’s provincial budget.

The decrease in funding comes on the heels of an operating budget freeze last year, and forced the university to make some “tough choices,” according to a U of W spokeswoman.

The new operating budget “enhances student financial support, maintains academic core, reduces administration and support staff costs,” while addressing the restraints of the funding decrease, a statement from the downtown university said.

Tuition will rise by 6.6 per cent, which — after factoring in fee adjustments — will result in a 6.1 per cent increase for students ($265 for full course load).

The hike will also apply to international students, who already pay a significant surcharge over and above tuition costs for domestic students.

“(The university) recognizes that increasing tuition costs presents a challenge for some of our students. We are responding by restructuring our student financial support to better reach those who will be hardest hit by the Manitoba government’s reduction in post-secondary funding,” the university said Tuesday.

The university also announced it will cover health insurance for international students from September 2018 to April 2019, at an estimated cost of $450,000.

The move is in response to the provincial government’s decision to eliminate health coverage for those students “with very little notice,” forcing the university to step up to “allow our international students some time to transition to private insurance plans,” the U of W said.

Management positions will also take another hit this year, continuing a trend that’s resulted in 40 per cent of the university’s senior administrative jobs being eliminated since 2015, in an effort to keep operating costs low.

Replacement of faculty has also been scaled back, with five fewer positions (a decrease of 1.4 per cent) than last year. In addition, eight support staff positions have been cut, which follows the eight eliminated in 2017-18.

“Tuition levels in Manitoba are the third-lowest in the country. Manitoba will continue to be one of the most affordable places to go to university in the country, even with the new tuition increases,” the U of W said.

The University of Manitoba is expected to deliver its 2018-19 budget May 22. Like the U of W, the U of M will also look for ways to cover a one-year health insurance bridge for international students.

In addition, the U of M will also have to come up with $2.4 million for a labour board ruling, which ordered it to pay damages to its faculty for unfair labour practices related to a 2016 faculty strike.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe