Budget continued from page 1

 

That means, on the income side, Douglas
College is very sensitive to changes in the
Ministry grant, because it makes up three-
quarters of the operating revenue. And
that’s also why the College is looking to
tuition fee increases to boost revenue.
One impact of limited provincial funding
is that the college must increase student
tuition fees approximately 9% beginning
September 1993.

On the expenditure side, the largest por-
tion of the operating revenue - 64
percent - goes to instruction. Eight per-
cent goes to instructional support, which
generally means the Deans and Depart-
ment Chairs, professional development
coordination, education leave and staff
employee development. Twenty-eight
percent goes to general support, which in-
cludes areas such as the Library, Student
Services, the Registrar’s Office, the Public
Information Office, Instructional Media
Services, business functions, and

Facilities Services. Costs for Systems and
Computing and Printing are spread across
all areas.

With the College spending 64% on instruc-
tion, changes in instructor's salaries have
a significant impact. In fact, total wages
and benefits for all College employees
make up 82.5% of the College budget.

Greenwood points out that instructional
costs are stable and accounted for in the
93-94 budget.

"This year, we have to provide for modest
salaried lifts and increments, pay equity,
increased benefit costs, and inflation on
non-salaried items such as utilities and
supplies. We do have to spend more
money on courses at the Thomas Haney
Centre to generate an additional 30 FTE
in business and academic arts, money
which the Ministry has provided. On the
reverse side, we'll need to significantly in-
crease tuition fees, because the Ministry
has provided no increase toward the ris-
ing cost in salaries, benefits and other
inflationary factors. The tuition fee in-
crease and the Action Plan from last
January will enable the College to main-
tain the status quo in other areas."

In other words, Douglas College will pro-
vide approximately the same number of
seats at the New Westminster campus.
Some programs have been cut this year;
Arts Management intake has stopped, and
Musical Instrument Construction/Repair
will not continue next fall. Course offer-
ings in Community Programs & Services
are being restructured for fall too. The
College as a whole is reducing spending
where possible while trying to maintain

levels of instruction and services. All ms)
sions have participated in the cuts, which
really began with the Action Plan of
January 1992.

For Douglas College, then, the financial
picture is mixed. Bad news in the Minis-
try grant was the axing of the increment
for inflation increase and the increment
to cover salary raises. On the other hand,
Canada’s inflation rate isn’t what it used
to be, and the Douglas College Faculty
Association contract runs until March 31,
1994, so the situation is fairly stable.
Either way, says Greenwood, belt-tighten-
ing will continue past this year.

"These pressures will be with us beyond
1993/94, and our challenge is to continue
with the same overall high quality of
service with minimal impact to employ-

ees. The new Pinetree Way campus

coming on stream provides us with many
opportunities that most other colleges

and institutions don’t have the benefit @®

"It will help us make a dent in providing
access to the hundreds and hundreds of
students we turn away each semester." A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Nations Awareness
The concourse was alive with
First Nations activities organ-
ized by the Douglas College
Student Society in the week
prior to March 21, the Interna-
tional Day to Fight Racism.
The Medeek Ceremony, seen
above, teaches children to
respect the gifts of nature. The

legend belongs to the House Q
of Hakbagkwootuk in the
Gitksan Nation.