Budget provides for student and capital growth

The board of governors has approved a 2005-06 budget framework for the university that provides for student and capital growth and increased investment in student financial assistance.

The $240-million operating budget includes a provincial operating grant of $130.4 million—up $4.9 million over 2004-05. The framework assumes domestic undergraduate and graduate tuition will increase by two per cent, consistent with the previously announced provincial tuition cap.

Effective May 1, annual undergraduate arts and science tuition rises to $4,324.50 from $4,239, while annual domestic graduate tuition rises to $4,492.20 from $4,404.

“With this budget UVic will provide space for more students and support them with improved facilities and resources,” says President Dr. David Turpin. “We will also maintain our position as a leading Canadian university in terms of student financial assistance. This budget keeps UVic on course as a leading research institution and a university of choice for outstanding students, faculty and staff.”

The budget framework funds 16,400 undergraduate and graduate full-time equivalent (FTE) student positions, an increase of 550 FTEs, including 133 international students, over the 2004-05 academic year. It also includes approximately $2.5 million for direct classroom investment to provide for this growth. This will fund new faculty positions, additional course sections, teaching assistants, lab and technology instructors and instructional materials and technology.

One million dollars has also been allocated to the Island Medical Program, which welcomed its first students to campus in January.

Tuition for international undergraduate students will increase 12 per cent to $14,000 from $12,500, reflecting the final year in a three-year program to move international student tuition to a cost recovery position.

An additional $1 million in student financial assistance is being added to base budget to bring the total amount of assistance available to students to nearly $10.1 million, up over $5.2 million in the past four years.

The budget framework provides a $500,000 increase to the library’s acquisitions budget to meet the escalating costs of books and journals and $500,000 towards the operating costs for UVic’s new building projects. These include the Mearns Centre for Learning, science building, and social science and mathematics building.

The budget also calls for a reduction in domestic and international co-op fees to the levels at other B.C. institutions. The fee for domestic co-op placements will decrease from $638 to $600 a term and the fee for international co-op placements will decrease from $1,786 to $1,000. UVic’s co-op education program is recognized as one of the best in the country.

The budget framework provides for parking rates at UVic to increase in 2005-06 to more accurately reflect the true cost of parking services. The monthly charge for an annual general parking pass will rise to $21 from $15 with similar increases in all other categories.

The revenue generated from the parking rate increase will fund various transportation demand management (TDM) initiatives aimed at reducing vehicle traffic to campus and making capital improvements to provide alternatives to any increases to surface parking lots.

Some of the TDM initiatives include: subsidized monthly bus passes for employees and flexible parking passes to encourage drivers to try public transit; an online ride matching program to assist in matching students and employees for ride-sharing; an expansion of the car share co-op; and continued investment in facilities for cyclists, including showers and lockers in new buildings.

The framework calls for a three per cent increase in UVic child care costs and student residence increases ranging from 1.36 per cent (single room) to 4.9 per cent (three-bedroom townhouse).

A detailed budget document will be presented to the board in June.