Saskatchewan

Hundreds of faculty, staff and students urge U of R to seek emergency funding

Hundreds of faculty, staff and students at UofR have signed a letter petitioning the president and university leadership to pursue the provincial government for emergency funding.

People want university to act amid financial shortfalls

A metal sign indicates the location of the University of Regina
Some people say students can't keep up with tuition hikes. (Alexander Quon/CBC)

Hundreds of faculty, staff and students at the University of Regina have signed a petition to the university's president that calls for urgent action to address financial woes.

The letter details concerns within the university community about the school's budget shortfalls, as well as a 13.7 per cent funding decrease for post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan over the last four years.

"We cannot understand why the university has not made a request to the provincial government for an increase in our operating grant. This should be a top priority," the petition states.

The letter asks that university president Jeff Keshen and senior management make more of an effort to obtain emergency funding.

A spokesperson for the university said in an emailed statement that the institution is in constant contact with the provincial government in regards to funding. It also said that the president plans to meet with the organizers of the petition before addressing specific questions from the media.

Emily Eaton is one of the organizers and also a professor of geography and environmental studies at the university.  She said the institution has been addressing gaps in funding by hiking up tuition for domestic and international students. 

For example, a domestic student's tuition for the spring and summer semester has jumped from about $2,662 to $4,117 on average —  a 55 per cent increase — from 2013 to 2023. 

Zuhruf Zarooq said he signed the petition because of tuition increases.

"Increasing tuition isn't sustainable enough for [the] long-term," said Zarooq, who is the vice-president of student affairs for the University of Regina Students Union. 

He said freezing or lowering tuition could attract more students. Zarooq added that the high price tag of education especially isn't worth it if positions are being cut and the quality of education is being affected. 

Eaton noted it's not just students affected by the financial shortfalls.

"We don't have a lot of staff [in the faculty of arts] that aren't academic staff, but the ones that we do have, many of them have been laid off, many people are doing at least two jobs." 

Back in March, Brit Hall warned that they would have to cut sessional jobs, which would put more of the workload on professors, if the post-secondary institution didn't receive more money. 

Hall, who is the president of the University of Regina Faculty Association, referenced the government's $1-billion dollar budget surplus as a possible means of getting more money to universities. 

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Advanced Education, Briana Bolduc, confirmed the ministry is aware of the letter and said they connect regularly with the university to discuss funding matters.

"The Government of Saskatchewan is confident in the University of Regina's leadership in managing their budget and delivering high quality education to meet the needs of the students, the community and the labour market," said Bolduc in an email.

Calls to action

 The people who signed the petition want the university to:

  • Immediately advocate for emergency government funding for both operations and infrastructure;
  • Develop a clear, sustainable plan to attract domestic student enrolment and lower tuition for all students
  • Work with the province to substantively invest in international student success while they attend the U of R and post-graduation
  • Seek restoration of funding levels needed to ensure the U of R is an ideal place to secure employment and start a career
  • Develop a plan focused on retaining skilled academic and support staff, rather than the current plan that incentives faculty and staff to depart and laying off support staff
  • Work intensively with the campus community through this budgetary crisis to retain and advance the academic mission of our institution...transparently and clearly communicate with the public about layoffs, program reductions and fee increases 

With files from CBC's Blue Sky