A look into the 2017 to 2018 University budget
University of Guelph’s provost and vice-president of academics, Charlotte Yates, presented the initial framework for the 2017 to 2018 budget at a town hall event in Peter Clark Hall on March 8.
The event allowed students, staff, and faculty to ask questions about the overall direction the budget will take. Visual and auditory records from the event are on the Office of the Provost’s website.Yates noted that creating a budget is an inherently referential task. In order to budget successfully, the University must consider looking back on past predictions and comparing them to the results from last year’s budget.
Yates reported that enrolment levels exceeded expectations last fall, which resulted in a budget surplus of $9.3 million.
One major assumption made in this year’s budget is that the University will reach their enrolment targets, which translates to a slight increase in undergraduate enrolment and consistency in graduate enrolment.
If the budget passes, undergraduate regular tuition will increase by three per cent, the maximum allowed by the province. However, most graduate and doctoral programs will observe minimal increases.Conversely, the University will slightly increase last year’s budgeted student assistance funding, which totals an increase in $5 million over two fiscal years.
This budget proposal was developed during a series of town hall events that took place from January to March. Yates met with representatives from each college during that time as well.
This version of the budget will undergo revisions to include a higher degree of detail and transparency as it comes closer to being implemented.
Further, for the 2017 to 2018 budget to be adopted, it must be passed by the senate, the finance committee, and the board of governors. Those meetings will take place in April.
Photo courtesy of Public Domain CC0 2.