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Angela Espinoza News Editor

Mi news @theotherpress.ca

he Douglas College Board will be having their 2014/15 budget vote on May 15. The vote directly follows the March 26 budget consultation, where stu- dents were able to openly voice their opinions on how they felt the college’s budget was being used. Students have been heard, but some of the results have the potential to be mixed at best. “This budget encompasses everything that supports all the courses, the faculty, and the ser- vices,” says the Douglas College Students’ Union (DSU) college relations and membership outreach coordinator, Tracy Ho. On average, student fees for domestic students are raised by a limited two per cent each year. International student fees, which do not havea limit, face possibly being raised more each year. Ho states that in the coming year, international student fees will be raised by roughly two per cent as well, but in the past have been raised by as much as seven per cent. “One of the main things that they [the students] have spoken about—both at the

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: consultation and with their

: conversations with the students’ : union—is that when they make

: the decision to come to Douglas : College, they’re not told and

: they don’t know that there’s

: a possibility for their tuition

: fees to increase,” says Ho. “And

: it’s actually not something

: that you find readily on the

: website, it doesn’t clearly state

: that in any of the materials

: that get sent to students, and

: so alot of the international

: students struggle with the

: fees going up year after year.”

In previous years, more

: Money was provided to

: post-secondary institutions on : behalf of the BC government. : However, as that amount has

: greatly decreased over time,

: raising tuition fees consis-

: tently has become necessary,

: which ultimately impacts all

: students. However, as both

: Hoand the DSU’s outgoing

: internal relations coordinator : Jesse Stamberg state, the

: rising costs of tuition have

: not been necessarily going

: back to the students.

“The technology in the

: classroom is just not up to date,

: the Wi-Fi is always at full capac- : ity, huge waits at the quick-print : : stations that actually take quite : a bit of time,” were just some of

: the issues Ho pointed out. In

: addition, Ho says, “The food

: service [at the David Lam cam- : pus]... doesn’t necessarily meet : all... dietary or religious needs, : and it’s also quite expensive.”

“We hear students say

: they’re not seeing or feeling : tangible increases to the

: number of services and the

: quality of services,” says Ho.

Stamberg meanwhile points

: out Douglas College’s accumu- : lated $50-60-million surplus

: which goes untouched each

: year ina capital budget. The

: surplus is likely to be used fora : potential deficit, as most other : BC post-secondary institu-

: tions are currently facing, but : Stamberg suggests Douglas

: College’s deficit may not come : about for a number of years.

“The money held by

: post-secondary institutions [in : capital budgets] in BC is treated : as government surplus, and the : institutions are not allowed to

: spend it down without gov-

: ernment approvalas it has an

: impact on the optics of the pro- : vincial budget,” says Stamberg.

“With yearly surpluses the

: college annually lauds their : contribution of $1-million to : bursaries,” says Stamberg. “The

$1-million is not distributed

: to students in need, but rather : it goes into an endowment of : which only the interest goes to

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: students. The interest is rela-

: tively small, within the $2,000

: to $3,000 range. It seems to be :amisrepresentation to say that : $1-million goes into bursaries

: annually when a small fraction : of that money actually makes it into students’ hands annually.”

However, the bigger blow

: to students this year will be

: the cuts, despite the college’s : surplus. Stamberg states that : both EASL 100- and 200-level : courses will be phased out, in : addition to Douglas cutting

: its badminton, baseball, and

: softball teams—all of which

: our $32.75 per semester ath- letics fees initially covered.

“Citizenship and

: Immigration Canada has changed the funding model for : domestic... EASL programs,”

: says Stamberg, “therefore

: there is no guaranteed

: funding for Douglas College

: EASL programs for domestic students after 2014/15. They

: [the college] currently have

: enough transitional funding

: from the provincial government : to have a bridge year to get

: students hopefully through.

: There is the impending

: elimination of domestic EASL

: programs at Douglas College

: if funding is not restored.

“Statistics show that an

: increasing number of students

By Joel McCarthy

: who enter the college in EASL : 100-200 programs progress

: through the levels and even-

: tually enter for credit college

: programs [and/or] classes. By : cutting the funding to basic

: EASL, students will choose to : go to other [post-secondary

: institutions] that still offer

: [those courses] and progress

: into programs and credit

: courses [elsewhere]

”

As for the sports team

: cuts: “The DSU is seriously

: concerned about the cutting

: of athletic programs, which

: students voted to fund through : the DSU Athletic Fee,” says

: Stamberg. “We suspect that

: the [money] saved by cutting

: sports activates for students will : be absorbed into wages for the

: proposed campus life manager : and the athletics manager

: positions. We question why a

: director of campus life [who]

: was hired less than six months

: ago... is now being promoted to : director of student affairs and

: services with two managers

: under him. We want to see

: more activities for students and : less middle-management.”

Douglas College has

: saved roughly $5.6-million

: annually for the past 11 years, : bringing the 2013 capital budget total to $61-million.