Tuition to Rise 2% at UNBC in September

Saturday, March 28, 2009 02:56 PM

Prince George, B.C.- The Board of Governors for the University of Northern British Columbia has approved a $65 million operating budget for the University that balances projected revenues with expenditures.

The budget includes an increase in provincial government funding of 7.7% compared to last year, bringing the total provincial grant to $46.1 million. This funding includes the provision to increase seats in the Nursing program as well as an increase in the number of students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees at the University. Federal funding, directed through the indirect costs of research program, has also increased by $200,000 in recognition of UNBC’s research performance.

“Our approach to developing the UNBC budget this year has been guided by a desire for stability and avoiding cutbacks and we feel that this budget accomplishes these objectives while providing some limited opportunities for investing in research, graduate students, and expanded regional delivery of courses,” says UNBC Interim President, Charles Jago. “Finances overall remain tight and the University was only able to fund about one-quarter of the $4 million in critical needs that were identified by departments during budget planning.”

There will be a 2% increase in tuition fees starting in September, 2009. A full-time student taking five courses per semester for two semesters will now be paying $4,449. Fees for parking and the student residence are also rising. Monthly parking permits are being increased by $10 per month and fees for residence are rising by 3%. The entire parking fee increase – the first parking fee increase since the opening of the Prince George campus in 1994 – will fund green initiatives at the University.

“Development of the budget is always challenging and requires choices to be made, but the Board is satisfied that this budget provides a solid foundation for the University’s immediate future,” says Dawn Martin of Terrace, Chair of the UNBC Board of Governors.

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Posted on Saturday, March 28, 2009 02:56 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Nowicki on March 30 2009 5:46 AM

Here is the link to SFU budget for the coming 2009/10 year which give a more specific picture:
http://www.sfu.ca/~kharding/budget.pdf

I read in a blog that the BC government has increased the FTE funding around 200 CDN per student for 2009/10 and instead decreased per student by around 300 and around 500 CDN for 2010 and 2011 respectively. In other words clawing
back in 2010 and 2011 what has given in the previous years.

Posted by: acrider54 on March 30 2009 5:55 AM

Of course

Posted by: Palopu on March 30 2009 9:17 AM

The increase this year is of course **Election based*** after the election if the Liberal win, then its back to basics.

I havent seen any indication yet as to how much money UNBC will have to pour into the Northern Sports Centre. My understanding was that the City and UNBC would be responsible for $300,000.00 per year each to fund this building, however I suspect the actual cost of running it will be in excess of that. Will the City pick up the tab, or will UNBC pick up its share?

Posted by: Nowicki on March 30 2009 7:47 PM

If UNBC makes its budget report online, we can see the details and whether the budget decisions and new hirings are justified in UNBC.

But the SFU report portrays a very dark picture. In page 5 it says to balance the budget "an $11.4 million reduction to expenses was taken througout the university." A major component of it is
"salary, benefits, through a voluntary exit plan, hiring freeze and layoffs", more or less the same stuff Cozzetto implemented in UNBC before his departure.
Page 5 says:

"As part of the measures to reduce expenses for 2008/09, the University [SFU] instituted a hiring freeze whereby vacant positions could not be filled except on an extrordinary basis. In Dec. 2008, as part of a LONG-TERM STRATEGY to manage future salary and benefit costs a faculty voluntary exit incentive plan was offered. 23 faculty accepted and the resulting annual recurring cost savings is $2.8 million. In addition, 13 vacant faculty positions have been eliminated. On the staff side, approximately 23 filled and 31 unfilled positions will be eliminated."

What is UNBC's long-term strategy? It seems Jago, before his expected departure, has unfrozen the hiring freeze and introduced some new hirings in UNBC,
some may not be even justified based on the enrolment trends in BC.

But the 2% increase in tution is also reported in SFU.