UNBC Waits for Funding Decision for WIDC Program
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 @ 5:58 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The contract for the design build of the Wood Innovation and Design Centre has been awarded, but there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure there is an engineering program offered on the WIDC premises.
The project has two distinct components, “I will be delighted to see construction of the building” says UNBC President Dr. George Iwama, “but, now who I’m after, its about our operating funds.”
He suspects the annual operating cost for a Masters degree program at WIDC (less than an under grad program because there is no need for “classrooms”) would be in the $1.6 million dollar range. That’s only a fraction of the $5-$6 million budget that would be needed for an undergraduate program in engineering but is enough to “find those wood innovation scientists and attract those engineers to Prince George and locate them in the Wood Innovation and Design Centre.” He says there are meetings scheduled with the Provincial Government “So we can finalize whether we can afford this or not.”
He says the decision doesn’t have to be made before the election, “After the election, whoever picks up the torch, our question will remain the same today or a month from now.” He says the costs won’t change, and the University’s inability to incur more costs has not changed “We just can’t afford to take on another cost centre right now, given our history of budget constraints. I appreciate the Province’s challenges as well, but there we are, we have to do what we can with what we have.”
Dr. Iwama says the University’s proposed working budget would cover the hiring of five professors, and provide funding for 20 graduate students and post doctorate fellows “With a Masters program, this isn’t about educating the undergraduates, which unfortunately is what all of our industries need right now, but we don’t have the money for that right now, neither in capital nor operating, so we’re going to start with a Master’s program where we can hire five professors to start with.”
He says the initial objectives of the program will be help industry with some of the opportunities and challenges. He says even if the Province made the funding available tomorrow, it will take some time to put all the elements in place for the first professors to arrive. The Province has hoped to have the WIDC completed in time for the Canada Winter Games, and Dr. Iwama says ideally the doors could be open to work on some projects around September 2015 as European colleagues have offered to “loan” UNBC some experts to help get things up and running.
Comments
Am I reading this right? It seems Dr. Iwama would like to see more Engineering undergraduates up on the hill. I am getting the feeling the WIDC is headed for the big boondoggle pile. Do we need that?
So what else is new. Its so easy to make political promises but the funding is another story.
Cheers
“The Province has hoped to have the WIDC completed in time for the Canada Winter Games”
That is the same hope that the group who are proposing to build a hotel/condo next to the library had/have.
Sometimes hope is just not good enough.
The WIDC is a boondoggle.
Speaking of the hotel/condo development, it’s been pretty quiet on that front. How are the condo sales going? You would figure if things were going well, the proponents would be trumpeting their success from the rooftops.
Good for Dr. Iwama for being crystal clear around the operating costs .. too often the leaders at UNBC and CNC have been too willing to grab the capital dollars for a building or two and have been left with empty classrooms because there were no operating dollars attached to actually deliver the programs. (i.e. empty classrooms in the new Trades buildings in both Prince George and Quesnel)
I wish Dr. Iwama well. Got love the line,
âAfter the election, whoever picks up the torch, our question will remain the same today or a month from now.â Sounds like he expects major shakeups come election time.
Assuming WIDC building is not aborted after finishing the 1st 2-3 layers of construction, it will cost an additional $1.6 Million “each year” to have it open and running.
What he is saying is that UNBC does not have the faculty members to support this second NRES engineering graduate program in UNBC. I guess with some creative thinking and motivation, UNBC can open non-NRES engineering programs with existing resources in UNBC and Canada, and not requiring hiring 5 additional faculty members from Europe in NRES (Natural Resources and Environmental studies) for WIDC.
QUESTION: When UNBC opens up to more “Diversification” in offering non-NRES Engineering?
QUESTION: I and others have non-NRES Engineering proposals for UNBC. When and where Dr Iwama is available to discuss them? “Show me the ….”
There is an election coming in a month. This 25 million dollar vote buy is not going over well with a lot of people and is buried under controversy.
Seems it might be wise to just leave it alone until after the election and visit again?
And besides, with all the money(millions) Clark is throwing around right now…how much can there be left considering the province is supposed to be broke?
What I wonder is why this is all happening now?…why not last year?
Clark also blew 10 million on a Bollywood splash…that money might have come in very handy for the WIDC, would it not?
Too many unknowns on this project!
Waiting shouldn’t be a problem…after all…Clark says the B.C. Liberals ARE going to win!
Andy: “There is an election coming in a month. This 25 million dollar vote buy is not going over well with a lot of people and is buried under controversy.”
Even the NDP say they won’t stop it when they’re elected.
It’s one thing to come up with capital funds and yet another to do a complete cost benefit analysis from concept to end use and include projected ongoing operating cost. Dr. Iwama is no fool, he has been raising public awareness and speaking frankly of the need for the province to include operating cost if UNBC’s engineering program
is to be included in the downtown WIDC; this is a critical piece and must be included….without the involvement of academics (engineers) what then is the purpose of WIDC? Could maybe serve as an athlete’s village
During the 2015 games then convert to student housing if a wood innovation & design centre doesn’t work out….just saying maybe….
It really irks me when land use is ok’d , building permits are issued, and in some cases such as WIDC, public dollars are committed, then the site sits empty, sometimes for years and often because of poor planning and the absence of any long term cost benefit analysis and business case that supports the project, development, program, plan or policy from concept to end use.
Also don’t forget that Dr Iwama’s 5 year term ends next year in the summer and he has around 6 months to turn things around in UNBC before the decision of UNBC’s board on “renewal of his contract”.
Lot of catching up and repairs to do in the next few months ….
Andyfreeze wrote: “What I wonder is why this is all happening now?…why not last year?”
To me that is an easy question to answer.
1.the “vision” went public far too soon
2.a physical icon was attached to it at too early a stage
3.the notion of âmine is bigger than yoursâ was promoted from the start which really has no merit in quality programs, especially when they do not exist yet
4.too few people with expert knowledge were involved at a âvisionâ stage
5.too many partners were involved who came away with expectations which could not be delivered in the short to intermediate terms
As a result of those and other similar points, the eventual discussions brought forward realities such as the real cost of starting and operating a new engineering faculty/program, building a 10 storey wood building which is not yet allowed by building code, determining the relation among such potential partners as Emily Carr Industrial Design, CNC, FPInnovations, UNBC, UNBC, etc. etc.
Of course the City really does not care whether what is built will act to enhance the streetscape. They are too primitive in their knowledge of what makes a downtown development act as a catalyst.
The Smart growth on the ground study which gives some direction to that has long been placed on the shelf, is gathering dust, and is crying out for a new study shortly ⦠;-).
“UNBC waits for” the next BC government’s decision whether it will keep the UNBC board as it is (i.e. after election).
But what do “we wait for” to hear from Dr Iwama in the next few weeks before the BC election? and in the next few months before the UNBC board’s decision?
Is it WIDC?
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