New budget signals new challenges

On April 26 the College received the
1994/95 budget from the Ministry of
Skills, Training and labour. While the
College expects to receive more details on
some new initiatives, Bursar Peter
Greenwood was able to provide the
following information.

“The news is mixed. It’s a good news-bad
news budget," Greenwood said after
analyzing the budget.

The good news ts that post-secondary
budgets in British Columbia have not been
severely slashed as has happened in most
other Canadian provinces. Furthermore,
Douglas College has received funding as
hoped and planned for to provide spaces
for an additional 230 Full Time Equivalent
students this coming year. These
additional spaces along with seats added
next year will eventually be moved to the
new Pinetree Way campus in the fall of
1996.

The challenge, Greenwood says, comes
from the fact that while funding has been
provided for 230 more students, Ministry
directives to Douglas College (and other
post-secondary institutions in the
province) mean that Douglas college must
produce an additional 70 Full Time
Equivalent student spaces through
innovation and increased productivity. As
well, there is no funding increase to cover
the rising costs of items such as supplies,
employee increments, and legislated
increases in payroll taxes such as WCB,
CPP and Pension. The Ministry has also

 

Bargaining
Update

On May 19 when this issue of
INside was being prepared for
printing, Director of Labour
Relations and Personnel Peter
Sanderson provided the following
information.

At the request of the Faculty
Association, contract negotiations
between the Association and the
College are now in recess until
September. The parties plan to
keep in touch over the summer,
Sanderson said.

As of May 19, negotiations
between the College and the
British Columbia Government
Employees’ Union were
continuing. &

 

 

 

reaffirmed earlier statements that no
funding increases were provided for salary
lifts.

The College will have to increase tuition
fees substantially in order to maintain
current student access levels. An increase
of 9.8% in tuition fees is required. The
Ministry has also announced major new
funding programs that will affect all BC
colleges. These include a matching capital
program, an innovations fund and $200
million for Skills Initiatives. The College
is waiting for specific details on the
programs (watch future issues of INside
for details from the Ministry).

The operating grant from the Ministry to
Douglas College will be $29 million for
1994/95. Last year the Ministry grant
made up 76% of the College’s operating
revenue, while 14% of total revenue came
from tuition fees, 6% from international
education fees, 2% from non-credit fees,
and 2% from miscellaneous and interest.
These percentages are expected to be
similar this year.

On the expenditure side, wages and
benefits for approximately 750 employees
make up over 82% of the College budget.
Supplies and items such as maintenance,
utilities, postage, cleaning and security
make up the remaining 18% of
expenditures. &

Pinetree continued

indoor gymnasium and athletic facilities,
and the Secondary School. Other facilities
to be shared include parking and offsite
playing fields.

A Field House/Community Centre Steering
Committee made up of representatives
from the College, School District, and City
of Coquitlam has also been at work. While
original plans for the Field
House/Community Centre would have
required $15 million, the current maximum
budget is estimated to be $9 million. Space
programmers have been asked to provide a
scaled-down design and the three partners
-- including Douglas College users -- are
being asked to determine which facilities
are priorities.

Over the next few months the three
partners will further develop joint
agreements regarding financing, ownership
and operations of the Field
House/Community Centre, parking
facilities and playing fields.

Finalizing Plans

To meet deadlines, prompt decisions will
be required now and over the summer. For
example, as architects are completing
drawings they may need to be in contact
with department representatives. Chairs
and Directors are asked to provide the
name of a contact person who can be easily
reached throughout the summer. A

 

Briefs

’® College teams biking for —

bursaries
How would you like to ride your bike

from Williams Lake to 100 Mile House to
Kamloops? The University College of the
Cariboo has issued a challenge to colleges
across B.C. to enter a team in the First
Annual B.C. College and Institute Bursary
Cyclathon. The Cyclathon is designed to
raise money for emergency student
bursary funds for each institution that
participates. The dates for the three-day,
three-leg event are June 11, 12 & 13. It’s
coming up soon, so if you’re interested in
organizing or participating in a Douglas
College team, call Barb Bessey at 5380.

@® Institute gets some green

stuff
The Institute of Urban Ecology at Douglas

College is every where this summer,

organizing volunteer clean-ups of ravines
throughout the Lower Mainland. They 9
also got a little recognition and a little

monetary help from the Tri-Cities Chapter

of Friends of the Environment Foundation

in the form of a $1,000 cheque for

supplies and expenses. The cheque was
presented at a ceremony on May 3. &

Task Force continued

 

Many recommendations that require more
resources were accepted in principle, but
Day says current fiscal realities mean that
those recommendations can only be \
accomplished by moving existing
resources.

"The ghost in the machine is resource
allocation. I’m not saying we can’t do
these. I am accepting them as
reallocations, but not as increases."

Day says that the Task Force should be
congratulated on the speed at which they
completed the job, the tact and clarity they
exercised, and at the forward-looking @
nature of the report itself.

He says their efforts will be rewarded with
evolutionary change that is consistent with
their recommendations, and that benefits
the entire College community.

"We walk down the road, we evolve,
which is what we want to achieve. The
Task Force did their job quickly, and did it
well." &

 

Upcoming
Summer Institutes

Institute 3 - June 6, Monday
On CoHaboration:
Working Through Differences

For more info call 527-5440