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By Patty Pitts
The University of Victoria’s Board of Governors has approved a 2009/2010 budget framework that funds program growth at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, increases student financial aid, and cushions the impact of the deteriorating world economy on disbursements from the university’s endowment fund.
The 2009/10 budget framework is based on an operating budget of $297 million. This includes an interim provincial grant of $177.7 million, increased by over $14 million from last year. The framework provides for an increase of 274 full-time-equivalent (FTE) undergraduate student positions and 126 FTE graduate positions for a total funded FTE university enrolment of 16,402 and incorporates $4.2 million in spending reductions that were required to balance the deficit budget approved last year.
New or expanded undergraduate programs addressing climate change, technology and society, and public administration will be among those launched in response to emerging social and educational needs. New graduate student programs, including new PhDs in business and anthropology and expanded master’s programs in nursing, social work and education, recognize increasing demand for post-graduate education and the key role that PhD and master’s students play in a knowledge and innovation-based economy.
The framework provides an additional $882,000 in student financial aid to maintain UVic’s position among the top 20 per cent of Canadian universities in this area. Another $300,000 is allocated to UVic’s library to ensure that subscriptions and periodicals remain current. A further $3.4 million will be allocated to priorities that do not have on-going commitments, including potentially reduced payouts from the university’s endowment funds due to global market losses.
“This budget framework maintains the quality of our programs and our commitment to student support, while, at the same time, it reflects the current climate of economic uncertainty,” says UVic President David Turpin. “A higher than anticipated provincial government grant will greatly assist us to ensure that most of the benefits distributed through our endowment fund will be maintained for 2009/10 despite losses due to the worldwide economic downturn.”
“Although UVic is not immune to the world’s market fluctuations when it comes to our investments, through prudent financial management we have been able to avoid some of its worst effects,” says Associate Vice-President Financial Planning and Operations Kristi Simpson. “We are still assessing the precise impact on our 2009 endowment disbursements through the University of Victoria Foundation, which will approve its budget later this year.”
The framework contains a 2-per-cent increase in tuition fees, in keeping with the BC Consumer Price Index inflation rate. This increase brings annual domestic arts and science undergraduate tuition to $4,673 from $4,581. Domestic graduate annual tuition rises to $4,853 from $4,664 effective May 1, 2009.
The UVic budget framework also includes modest increases in child care, housing and parking fees. A portion of parking fee revenue will be used to expand the employee subsidized bus pass program, create an emergency ride home program and build new motorcycle shelters. These initiatives build on the success of UVic’s transportation demand management plan which has resulted in a 12-per-cent drop in single-occupancy vehicles traveling to and from campus since 2006.
The framework also provides for financing of 106 dormitory-style residence rooms to be built on campus by September 2010 to increase the supply of affordable, conveniently located housing for students.
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