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Council tells MLAs budget falls short for U of S
University Council is unhappy with the recent provincial budget’s allotment for the U of S, and it has shown its displeasure.
At its April 19 meeting, Council unanimously passed a motion from Budget Committee Chair Bob Gander and Planning Committee Chair Jene Porter to tell the Legislative Assembly "that the teaching, research, and public service obligations of the University to the people of Saskatchewan cannot be met at current levels of public funding."
The motion’s preamble said "a decade of insufficient funding has systematically undermined the overall quality of the educational experience of its students," and underfunding "has created a sequence of crisis situations with regard to buildings and programs."
Councillor and former Budget Committee Chair Glen Beck voiced concern over the government’s provision of targeted funding for certain University functions this year, such as Computer Science programs. Councillors passed his motion asking the Budget and Planning Committees to look at the situation and report back to Council.
President Peter MacKinnon assured Beck that most of his budget discussions with the province related to "the core operating budget", and not targeted programs.
Beck worried that more targeted program funding could invite "end-runs" where competing interests on campus would go directly to government seeking funding. That, he said, would be "an absolute disaster".
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