EDMONTON – Premier Alison Redford has invited University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera to join a delegation to China next month, but her participation is raising some eyebrows.
The premier will lead the trip to drum up business in the Pacific Rim. She will also be joined by the presidents of the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.
“Right now, It looks so bad, just because we’re in the midst of budget cuts and she’s … taking a trip and students aren’t going to look at that in a favourable manner,” a female U of A student told Global News. “This trip is probably unnecessary.”
The University presidents will be there at the premier’s invitation. According to U of A spokesperson Jamie Hanlon, Samarasekera “will participate in several meetings with the premier but will not be accompanying her for the entire mission. This focus of this trip is to seek partnerships and develop other revenue-generating opportunities.
The trip comes on the heels of major budget cuts that have been announced at the U of A.
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On Friday, Samarasekera announced that, in order to balance the school’s budget by April 1, 2015 – a date given by the ministry of Advanced Education – it must cut core academic expenses by seven per cent in 2014-2015, core support by eight per cent in that year, and plan for two more years of cuts of two per cent after that.
“She should be putting like all her time into the University,” said another student, “and there’s obviously a lot of problems at the University that she needs to be dealing with and not going to China.”
Another U of A student added, “It’s money that should be spent elsewhere, and not going, travelling when it’s not needed at the beginning of the semester. I think they should be spending the money elsewhere, like in the University and not on travel.”
However, another student said, “Personally I feel that $14,000 is a reasonable amount, just because of hearing her reason for going on the trip.”
In an interview with Global News on Thursday, Samarasekera explained the decision to go on the China trip.
“Budget cuts are very hard, they are going to have a major impact, we’re doing everything in our power to reduce our expenditures, but the business of the university has to go on. Part of the business of the university is to ensure that we continue to attract students, we can attract resources, and we build relationships.”
Samarasekera described the trip as an investment, and said she wouldn’t have agreed to go unless she thought it would produce “many multiples” in terms of return on investment.
“For the expense that this is going to represent, I think the return on this expense is going to be very high.”
Following the March provincial budget, and its impact on the university, Samarasekera said her office would take a 5.5 per cent cut to “contribute to the overall budget cut,” and that would affect her international travel.
“I have said that I have significantly curtailed my travel,” she said on Thursday. “I made the point to say that I would only travel if there was an absolutely important strategic imperative, if there was an opportunity involved raising revenue for the university.”
She explained the September China trip “seemed like it was a really important strategic imperative.”
“This is probably the only international trip I’ll be making in this fiscal year, really, to advance the University of Alberta, and normally I make three or four trips, so I’m being very prudent in my international travel.”
In addition to the university presidents, Redford is to be accompanied by members of 15 small businesses, and three regional economic development associations.
International Relations Minister Cal Dallas called it an opportunity to “drill down” for details on what small-sized businesses need to do to expand or get a foothold in Asia.
“The upside is enticing, engaging (and) creating success stories with the small and medium-sized businesses that have the kinds of products and services that are in demand in China,” Dallas said in an interview Wednesday.
Redford is to deliver keynote remarks at the Foreign Direct Investment Policy Forum in Beijing and attend the World Economic Forum in Dalian on Sept. 11 and 12.
She will travel to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dalian and Harbin.
Teresa Woo-Paw, associate minister for international relations, is going as well to meet officials and industry leaders in Korea, Japan and China.
The cost of the trip is pegged at almost $105,000.
The delegation is to leave Sept. 6.
With files from Patricia Kozicka, Global News, and The Canadian Press
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