The Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) has released its recommendations for the 2012-13 university budget, including student fees.
In its , issued at the end of January, the BAC indicated that the 3 per cent cut in provincial funding would result in a shortfall of $6.9 million, even if the university were to raise tuition fees by the 3 per cent allowed by the province this year. This meant the university would need to consider a combination of cuts and further fee increases in select programs to balance the budget. (The province exempted medicine, law, dentistry and international fees from its fee cap.)
Carolyn Watters, vice-president academic and provost, and chair of the Budget Advisory Committee, explains that the university considers both budget cuts and fee increases extremely carefully.
鈥淲e have to balance our budget, but we have to make sure that, in doing so, we鈥檙e protecting the quality of our education and conscious of the impact that these changes have on our students,鈥� says Dr. Watters. 鈥淚 feel our committee has struck a good balance with our recommendations, but we鈥檙e also eager to hear what students have to say in our forthcoming consultations.鈥�
The major recommendations from the [PDF] include:
- A 3 per cent tuition increase in all programs (except where noted below) and the international differential fee. (Note: fees in MSc Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy will be frozen at 2006-07 levels.)
- Tuition fees in Law, MD and DDS (including MD/MSc Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery) to increase by a total of 5 per cent, 6 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
- Several other proposed changes to auxiliary fees and residence costs. ( for a complete summary.)
In addition to the fees, the recommends a budget reduction of 2.75 per cent for all Faculties and 2.2 per cent for other budget units across the university.
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Consultation sessions start next week
In the past, tuition and fee recommendations often didn鈥檛 arrive in students鈥� inboxes until late April. This year, though, the university is following new consultation guidelines designed to ensure that students have the opportunity to review the recommendations and provide feedback before the final decision goes before the Board of Governors next month.
鈥淲e want to hear students鈥� ideas about the fees 鈥撀爓hat they should be used for, what impact they could have on our programs,鈥� says Dr. Watters. 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e having a discussion about how we can best maintain and improve the quality and competitiveness of our programs, it鈥檚 vitally important that we hear directly from our students.鈥�
Students can email comments to pat.macintosh@dal.ca, or attend one of several in-person consultation sessions scheduled to start next week. Two of these are designed for all students, while the other four will be tailored to specific groups of students: medicine, dentistry, law and international. Dr. Watters adds that these sessions will go ahead regardless of whether a faculty strike takes place next week.
The feedback will be collected and considered as part of the final recommendations that will be made to the Board of Governors next month.
Consultation schedule
All students
Tuesday, March 13
5-6:30 p.m.
Architecture and Planning Building, HA 19 Auditorium
Wednesday, March 14
5-6:30 p.m.
Rowe Management Building, room 3089
International students
Tuesday, March 13
4-5 p.m.
Killam Library, Room 2600 LINC
Dentistry students
Tuesday, March 13
12-1 p.m.
Tupper Building, Theatre D
Law students
Thursday, March 15
2-3 p.m.
Weldon Law Building, Room 204
Medicine students (note date change from Wednesday's email)
Tuesday, March 20
3-4 p.m.
Room 103, Chapter House