EDMONTON – Students, professors and support staff formed a united front Tuesday at the University of Alberta to protest budget cuts.
They said mandate letters from the government “threaten” academic independence, turning universities into businesses.
The unusual alliance — leaders of graduate students, undergrads (33,000 at U of A), about 700 researchers (post-docs) and 4,400 professors and support staff — called on the government to call off its agenda of “radical change” which is “destabilizing the whole system.”
Meanwhile, most top leaders at the U of A, including the president, vice-president and deans, have agreed to take five days in personal leave without pay. It amounts to a 1.92 per cent salary cut for next year, though all academic staff, including the executive, is due to get a 1.65 per cent salary increase in July, says the announcement on the U of A website.
Also, university president Indira Samarasekera has not taken a salary increase for the past three years in order to ease the budget crunch, the website noted.
While the University of Calgary and MacEwan University implemented a salary freeze on top positions, that’s not possible at U of A because those top managers are all within the contract negotiated with the Alberta Academic Staff Association. The U of A executive wants to honour that agreement, so came up with this alternative with voluntary days off. The offer is open to all staff.
The U of A has to cut $42 million, about seven per cent of its spending, under last month’s provincial budget.
The budget cuts and mandate letters are under fire from more than 7,600 U of A graduate students. They have warned that the mandate letters send a “negative signal” about academic independence, said Ashlyn Bernier, president of the U of A Graduate Students Association. “Just the idea that government could dictate some research will discourage some students from applying.”
The graduate student association sent a letter to Advanced Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk, calling for more consultation if he wants to proceed with plans to reforming post-secondary education.
The letter also raises concerns about the loss of U of A’s identify under Campus Alberta and loss of diversity in programming.
Many of the 700 post-doctoral researchers will likely find themselves out of jobs when the budget cuts kick in and current contracts run out, said Ravi Gaikwad, president of the post doctor fellows association.
In the legislature, Lukaszuk tabled documents, previously reported in the Journal, showing that discussions focusing on closer collaboration under Campus Alberta have been ongoing since November with college and university presidents.
Lukaszuk said no institution should be surprised at the call for closer collaboration under Campus Alberta, nor the proposed mandate letters. That has been the plan for years, he said.
Wildrose education critic Bruce McCallister the government has ignored the need for consultation. “They didn’t invite the stakeholders and that’s obviously the giant frustration if you want to redefine how research should play out in our province.”
“In the house, I asked the minister — ‘What is so wrong you have to take the hatchet and redefine what they do?’ I never got an answer. ”
New Democrat critic Rachel Notley said Lukaszuk’s mistake is trying to reform the system while imposing severe budget cuts.
“You don’t negotiate change and then announced a seven-per-cent budget cut. That creates a crisis.” he said.
Liberal Leader Raj Sherman said he Campus Alberta model looks like a centralized model imposed on health care, a model that is costly and doesn’t work.
Lukaszuk will meet Thursday with the presidents of all 26 institutions to discuss the draft mandate letters.
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