Dal鈥檚 annual operating budget process is getting closer to its end.
Each year, the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) makes recommendations on how Dal鈥檚 revenue 鈥� largely from the government grant and student tuition 鈥� will be spent to cover expenses in the coming year.
At the next two Board of Governors meetings, Board members will vote to approve key components of the BAC budget plan. First, at Tuesday鈥檚 meeting, will be the vote on tuition and fees for 2013-14, which have to be approved now so they can apply during the summer term. Then at its June meeting the Board will vote to approve the overall operating budget.
Carolyn Watters, vice-president academic and provost, and chair of the BAC, reached out to Dal News to share some thoughts about issues that arose through the BAC consultations this year and some ideas on continuing to improve the consultation process going forward.
The process thus far
The BAC issued two reports this year. Its January report identified the revenues and expenses as projected in late December, and its February report outlined a model that would provide a balanced budget, including tuition and fee recommendations.
Dal News: (Jan. 17)
Full report: (Jan. 10)
Dal News: (Feb. 15)
Dal News: (Feb. 28)
Report: (Feb. 27)
Full report: (Feb. 27)
Following the release of each report, the BAC answered questions and collected feedback from the Dal community. This year, for the first time, Dr. Watters and BAC members met with key groups across the university following the BAC鈥檚 first report, hosting a live webinar with students, providing a session with DSU council and inviting suggestions and feedback by email. Then in March, Dr. Watters and members of the BAC hosted a number of in-person consultations about the budget recommendations across campus: three sessions for students (two in Halifax, one in Truro) and meetings with the DSU council and other societies who asked for her time. Feedback was also invited by email from students, staff and faculty.
鈥淲e had lots of great feedback from those who came out to our sessions and through email, and we鈥檙e continuing to reflect on how we can work with the student associations to improve how students can share their ideas and contribute to the process,鈥� says Dr. Watters.
Responding to feedback and issues
Dr. Watters says key BAC recommendations 鈥� like not raising tuition beyond 3% in exempted areas like medicine, law and dentistry, or the decision to make use of reserve funds to limit budget cuts this year 鈥� reflect what its members heard from students and the rest of the Dal community.
鈥淲e know tuition increases and budget cuts aren鈥檛 anyone鈥檚 first choice in balancing an operating budget, and in an ideal funding world neither would be necessary,鈥� says Dr. Watters. 鈥淧rovincial government funding for universities has been cut by a combined 10% over the past three years and costs continue to rise. Our challenge is to address that reality in a way that limits the impact on the classroom and services to our students.鈥�
Aware of the government鈥檚 stated plan to pull 10% from university grants over the past three years, the Deans and units have prepared budgets for each of those years that included 3% cuts to their projections. For the past several years, the BAC model has had to apply budget reductions across the university: every Faculty and operating unit has been asked to find savings, from the President鈥檚 Office through the Faculties and operational units. Because of the decentralized budget management at Dalhousie, each unit decides how to find those savings.
One piece of feedback Dr. Watters heard from students was a desire for more detail on just what鈥檚 involved in a 3.5% reduction: particularly, how the individual Faculties will be managing that cut. The BAC has compiled a summary from the Faculties (). Next year this information will be shared with the community much earlier in the process.
Another common theme for students was clarity on the multi-year cost of their education up front, including tuition, ancillary and auxiliary fees. The BAC has asked the Registrar鈥檚 Office to include projected estimates, where known, for tuition and fees in a student鈥檚 package of acceptance to the university.
Other topics
Students asked a range of questions at the consultations about a number of other areas of the budget:
Recruitment: Students were keen to know how the university plans to keep its enrolment numbers strong to support the budget. 鈥淲hile the specific details of our full recruitment plan are confidential for competitive reasons, there are a number of key pillars,鈥� says Dr. Watters. 鈥淲e鈥檙e targeting western Canada and international markets as key growth areas, as well as focusing efforts on certain academic programs with growth potential like engineering, arts and ocean sciences 鈥� though not to the exclusion of our other programs. We鈥檒l also be looking to make more strategic use of our scholarships and bursaries.鈥�
Advocacy: Students wanted to know about Dal鈥檚 priorities in its efforts to acquire funding from the province. You can learn more about the subject in .
Buildings: The university has a number of building projects underway, and there were questions about how those impact the operating budget. 鈥淔unding for new buildings comes from a variety of sources, and doesn鈥檛 hugely impact the operating budget,鈥� says Dr. Watters. 鈥淲e heard quite often the concern that support for infrastructure is at the expense of support for academics, but I cannot imagine coping with the additional 25% students coming to Dal over the past 10 years with the classrooms, labs, and buildings on the campus at that time. The building projects are chosen carefully by the Board in response to pressing current needs to support academic programs, students and faculty. Many buildings, like residences, are self-financing and other buildings are funded largely by government grants, donors and in some cases mortgages. Roughly 1.2% of our operating budget is spent on debt servicing for academic, teaching and research facilities 鈥� we feel that鈥檚 good value for the money.鈥�
Preparation: 鈥淚 think a lot of people were surprised to see that $17.6 number being shared in January,鈥� says Dr. Watters. 鈥淏ut every year, at that stage in our budget process, we share the potential difference in revenue and expected expenses 鈥� when your costs go up and your revenues are cut, this is what happens. This year鈥檚 number was larger, certainly, than last year but not a surprise. The budget planning with our Faculties and units is based on a 3% reduction, so limiting the cut to 3.5% keeps things well in line with our planning.鈥�
鈥淭here are no easy choices in budget season,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭he more feedback we get and the earlier we can identify issues that are confusing, the more insight we have into how to balance interests in making those decisions. So we welcome student comments and feedback and we consider each suggestion the best we can.鈥�