As businesses and schools across Saskatchewan continue to rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic, and according to some, the University of Regina finds itself in a dire state.
Britt Hall, faculty association president at the U of R, is expressing her concerns about the school’s budget and the difficult circumstances it finds itself in.
“We are in a complex time where we are recovering from this really significant period in the university’s history,” Hall said.
Hall said the university is preparing for a five to seven per cent cut in each of the next three years because of damage done over the course of the pandemic and an inability to recover in terms of revenues and tuition. Challenges are in large part due to the lack of international enrolment since COVID-19 was first discovered.
To help combat the cuts, Hall said all faculty units have been asked to find savings of up to seven per cent.
“While the upper administration has said there will be no cuts to programs, that doesn’t mean it won’t impact the type of work that our members at the University of Regina do,” Hall explained.
The cuts would likely mean a reduction in sessional teaching contracts and an increased workload for full-time faculty members.
“This might trickle down to mean that the instructor’s workload is heavy enough that it increases their mental health load, and it also may really decrease their ability to do the other work we do at the U of R which means things like research and scholarships (are left behind),” she said.
Hall wants the province to revisit its funding agreement with the school, which is currently in the third year of a four-year deal.
The Sask. NDP echoes a similar sentiment.
Leader Nicole Sarauer and Advanced Education Critic Jennifer Bowes, along with the University of Regina Faculty Association, are calling on Premier Scott Moe and the Sask. Party government to provide funding and stop cuts to the university.
According to a press release from the Sask. NDP, tuition at the U of R has climbed year after year to some of the highest levels in Canada with enrolments declining as many prospective students have been priced out of Saskatchewan universities.
“We have some of the highest tuition prices in Canada and the lowest minimum wage in the country. The Sask. Party government is essentially pricing students out of the classroom and driving them out of the province,” said Bowes. “Premier Moe needs to start treating education as an investment, not as a cost.”
For the NDP, having more students at Saskatchewan universities is one way of keeping workers in the province.
“We need thousands of skilled workers in our health-care system, in our natural resources sector, and in new sectors like renewables and technology,” official opposition house leader Nicole Sarauer said.
“Universities like the U of R play an important role in driving future job creation and this government needs to get serious about harnessing their full potential.”
Advanced education minister Gord Wyant has expressed hesitation towards revisiting the current funding agreement with the U of R but said he will be in communication with the university as it finalizes its budget in the coming weeks.
“There are certainly some issues at the University of Regina but we are confident through conversations with the president and leadership team that we will meet those financial challenges.”
Wyant said one of the main issues in bringing in students has been the backlog of international students waiting for a visa to attend school as the international student population brings in a lot of money for the university.
“We are waiting to see how that is going to play out, but (the U of R) has not finished their budget analyses. We are looking forward to having conversations with them once they have done that.”
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