The interim president of BCIT is warning that there could be layoffs in order to make up for a budget shortfall.
In a message sent Monday afternoon, Chris Golding said that despite a lot of work on reducing expenses, the institute is facing a budget gap of $7 to $8 million — about 2.5% of the institute’s total budget.
Golding is asking all of the departments across BCIT to look for savings, as he anticipates the institute will continue to face budgetary challenges in the years ahead.
Part of the statement reads:
We understand your first question may naturally be, “Will there be layoffs?” Our first analysis indicates that we will have to eliminate positions. Some positions will be vacant, but others will unfortunately involve layoffs. How many positions and in which areas, we cannot define at this time. Reducing the number of positions is a last resort and that is why we are asking for your assistance in finding other solutions now.
Golding says that he regrets the timing of the message, but he didn’t want to wait until January.
BCIT issued a statement to the media Monday night after the initial report of potential layoffs:
BCIT is working on developing a balanced budget for 2014-15. We will be working on that budget and expect it to be formalized in early 2014. We have shared with our campus community that it will be a challenge and we would like their assistance in looking at all options to ensure it is balanced. Reducing the number of positions is a last resort.
While we recognize the timing is not good, we want to be transparent and share information as soon as possible to ensure we have input from the BCIT community. At this stage, nothing is formalized. As soon as the budget is complete, we will provide more information.
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