Amended CIP begins governance process

Today, the amended 2013 Comprehensive Institutional Plan has been submitted to the Academic Planning Committee of General Faculties Council as the first step in required governance consultation and approval processes which will culminate with final consideration by the Board of Governors at the June 3 meeting.  If approved, it will be presented to the Ministry of Enterprise and Advanced Education by the middle of June.

This year’s original CIP was submitted to the Board on March 15.  However, because of the announcement of the 7.2 per cent cut to our base operating grant that was announced just a week earlier, the Board formally withdrew the document pending revisions.  The original CIP contained a budget chapter developed based on a 2012 provincial commitment of a two per cent increase to the Campus Alberta grant; instead, the grant was reduced by $43 million. The net effect of the 7.2 per cent cut and loss of the anticipated 2 per cent increase is a $55 million reduction in anticipated provincial funding. Of course, this drastic change in funding meant the original budget was no longer feasible.  We were pleased that the Government agreed to extend the deadline to allow us time to make significant changes to the budget and risk sections of the document.

As you know, it will not be easy to manage such a major reduction to the operating budget – either in the short term or the long term – and for that reason, we will be asking government for permission to run a deficit budget this year. The dramatic cut in funding, coupled with restrictions on tuition and continued low interest rates, means the university intends to run a $44.7 million deficit in 2013-14.  Our aim is to cut $28 million through a combination of faculty, central administrative unit, and differential line-item cuts.  Such decisions have been difficult and the cuts will have an impact across the university, including on libraries, IT evergreening, scholarships and bursaries, and student assistance.  This is a beginning and we know that to fully balance the budget the university must undergo fundamental changes over the next few years.

The amended CIP clearly articulates that we need time to institute these changes in a way that ensures the quality of our teaching and research programs; maintains our capacity to recruit and retain the highest quality faculty, staff, and students; minimizes job losses; and sustains our commitment to priorities, outlined in both Dare to Discover and Dare to Deliver. We envision a three-year process that includes a phased approach to the changes, allowing us to make decisions and implement changes using our established collegial governance systems.

Although our financial circumstances have changed in the last few months, I firmly believe that we remain committed to being a leader among national and international public comprehensive, research-intensive post-secondary institutions. We must continue to fulfill our mandate of providing excellence in education and research, so that the province can continue to benefit as our graduates enter the workforce and as we develop needed innovations.

For these reasons, the University of Alberta remains committed to the primary short- and long-term plans developed in the CIP prior to March 15th, and the original document has largely been unchanged. Those plans are based on input from the faculties as submitted to my office (Office of the Provost and Vice-President [Academic]), as well as input from each of the vice presidential portfolios, and thus is composed of broadly developed institutional priorities that continue to guide decision-making across the university.

If you are interested in seeing the whole document, you can find the amended CIP here. For more information on governance processes please see Change@UAlberta. 

Thank you,
Martin Ferguson-Pell
Acting Provost and Vice-President (Academic)

The Role Philanthropy Plays in Advancing our Goals

To the University Community:

As the University of Alberta works to manage its significant financial challenges, many members of our community have asked what we are doing to assure additional philanthropic support in the weeks, months, and years ahead. (Budget principle #5: The university remains committed to the priorities identified in “Dare to Deliver” while focusing on research excellence, increasing the number of international students, increasing the number and quality of graduate students, strengthening university advancement, and delivering social impact through discovery, scholarship and innovation.)

Building from a solid foundation of previous fundraising achievements, the university has been strengthening its fundraising efforts in a number of ways, including by producing a new case for philanthropy "Together We Can", creating new ways to engage our global network of 250,000 alumni, and working with academic leaders to identify opportunities that will inspire philanthropy.

Our core strategy is to engage our alumni. While we still intend to increase support from corporations and foundations, the majority of philanthropic support in Canada and globally comes from individuals. Our alumni know us best, they have a vested interest in our continued success, and surveys have shown that they are positively inclined to give back to their alma mater.

Our alumni are responding to our nascent efforts. In addition to a marked increase in alumni donors, the number of alumni engaged as volunteers has increased by 23 per cent over last year. The Alumni Association has established a goal of recruiting 2015 volunteers as mentors, student recruiters, chapter organizers and for other activities by its centenary in 2015. Engaged alumni become generous alumni.

Expanding the university’s philanthropic support requires long-term, sustained commitment and investment -- the minimum cycle for major donations is 18 –24 months.  It also requires collaboration and cooperation throughout the campus community, especially in the stewardship of donors.

The environment should favour our work.  The Alberta economy is vibrant and among the best in the world.  In fiscal 2011-12, the university established a record for donations and donors, with almost 20,000 individuals contributing to a total of $162.7 million raised. For 2012-13 we will have the second-highest fund-raising total in university history, surpassing our target of $110 million.

There is no doubt that increased philanthropic support is critical to our ability to become a top global public university.  Over time, we must build our philanthropic community to the size and scale necessary for stabilizing and broadening our financial foundation. We look forward to continuing to work with many of you to win the support the University of Alberta needs and deserves.

-- O’Neil Outar
Vice-President, Advancement

Draft Budget Principles

I presented a draft of the budget principles at the University of Alberta Board of Governors meeting this morning. The principles will guide the decision-making process as the university balances its budget.

I would like to share these draft principles with you here.

The senior administrative team worked diligently to prepare these in a short period of time, a task made more difficult given the budget challenges we face. These draft principles will now go through the university’s bi-cameral governance process for input and eventual approval. We have provided a breakdown of the approval process for the budget principles at Change@UAlberta. (http://change.ualberta.ca/process)

Student, faculty, staff and board participation is integral to this process. Despite the time constraints, I remain committed to frequent, open and thoughtful communication with you. And I ask the same of you: please continue to put your thoughts into IdeaScale, attend the various governance meetings, and, when it is published, read the Comprehensive Institutional Plan (CIP). I expect the CIP to be ready next week and will alert you through this blog when it's available.

Our budgetary decision-making will be guided by the following:

• We will preserve the strength of our institution and its vision of excellence while achieving a sustainable budget.
• The university will honour its mission and its vision as a comprehensive academic research intensive university with national and international impact.
• Resource allocation will favour those academic programs with demonstrable excellence in research and undergraduate, professional and graduate education.
• Jobs losses will be minimized.
• The university remains committed to the priorities identified in “Dare to Deliver” while focusing on research excellence, increasing the number of international students, increasing the number and quality of graduate students, strengthening university advancement, and delivering social impact through discovery, scholarship and innovation.
• The university will continue to develop new resources in support of its mission.
• The university will continue to identify efficiencies wherever possible to maximize use of resources.

Thank you again for your ongoing support. I will continue to need it in the coming months as many difficult decisions lie ahead. We remain united so that we emerge from this difficult time with our areas of strength and excellence intact.

Indira

Economic Diversity and University Research

This morning I had the opportunity to speak with many of Canada’s leading entrepreneurs at the Edmonton Real Estate Forum. I was asked to share my thoughts on what makes Edmonton a globally competitive city and to uncover the story behind its success.

I would like to share some of those thoughts with you.

The simple answer to the question of Edmonton’s economic success is that we are the capital of a province rich in natural resources. Alberta is home to the world’s largest deposit of heavy oil. We are the world’s third largest natural gas producer and we have 37 million tonnes of coal reserves. Alberta also boasts fertile agricultural land and rich forestry resources.

However, the reason for our success is not so straightforward.  Alberta’s vast natural resources are a gift, but unwrapping these gifts requires enormous long-term planning, investment, and talent.  The Province of Alberta’s continued investment in brainpower has allowed us to reap the benefits of our resources.

Nearly 40 years ago, businesses debated the viability of the heavy oil industry.  Nonetheless, Alberta’s leaders took a risk and created the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority with $100 million. That investment has contributed directly to today’s powerful economy.  Alberta has consistently invested in research since the founding of the University of Alberta in 1906. Many of the most transformative developments in agriculture, energy, and forestry originated at the U of A. 

In his book "The New Geography of Jobs," Enrico Moretti puts U.S. cities into three categories:

• "Brain hubs” - cities with a highly-educated labour force and good innovation jobs, such as San Francisco and Seattle
• Cities in decline - cities dominated by traditional manufacturing jobs, such as Detroit
• Cities in the middle - cities that could go either way depending on the investments they make in talent  

Edmonton is a city in the middle.  We must learn from Detroit. In the mid-nineteen hundreds, Detroit was an innovator at the centre of a mighty auto industry cluster. When that sector declined, the city was set back on its heels and is still struggling to recover. The city's economy was so tightly tied to the auto industry that it simply could not adjust in time to avoid a devastating economic setback. That is the danger that Edmonton -- and in fact Alberta -- faces. A foundation in auto technologies can translate to innovation in fields such as robotics, new media, or design. But cities and the industries on which they are built must think generations ahead, not simply through the next boom or bust. 

Edmonton has an innovation hub focused on energy.  We know we need to diversify, but how?

The answer lies in the three characteristics of “brain hubs”:

• A highly skilled, well-educated workforce
• The presence of specialized service providers
• Knowledge spill-overs from the presence of a great university

Innovation hubs are not only about science and technology. Successful innovation is as much about art and design as technology. It’s about understanding how people want and need to communicate with each other. Graduates in the humanities and social sciences are in the thick of it. We need to keep investing in these kinds of thinkers to ensure Edmonton achieves its full potential.

Another ingredient usually present in brain hubs: the star factor. Sociologist Lynne Goodman Zucker and economist Michael Darby discovered that the presence of an academic superstar is key. The U of A is actively working to identify, attract and support these superstars. It’s a risky investment—yes—but the potential benefits are enormous.

Think of the transformative work done by just some of our stars: Dr. Jillian Buriak, Dr. Rob Burrell, Dr. Patricia Clements, Dr. Pat Demers, Dr. Michael Houghton, Dr. David Schindler, Dr. James Shapiro, Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, to name but a few.

Each of these researchers is an innovator and leader in their field. The seeds of economic transformation are here; it is up to the City and the Province to ensure we have an environment where they can flourish. Edmonton’s future prosperity hinges on our ability to harness human capital to its fullest so that we are able to embrace, manage, and anticipate change. We cannot do this without investing in post-secondary education. 

Indira

Renaissance Committee Q&A May 13

Reminder: Renaissance Committee Q&A - May 13, 2013.

A Question and Answer session is scheduled from 2–3 p.m. on Monday, May 13 in Education South 129. We invite all members of our campus to come to hear an update on the committee's activities, ask questions, and give committee members the benefit of your thinking. Please know that if you cannot attend, information and suggestions can always be sent to our email address rencom@ualberta.ca or via our website at www.renaissance.ualberta.ca.

Sincerely,
The Renaissance Committee

Notices on Change@UAlberta

In an effort to keep the community informed of the on-going changes on campus, Change@UAlberta is collecting and archiving notices regarding institutional changes at the U of A. The university is a large and complex organization and many decisions will be made over the coming weeks. We will endeavour to keep this list as up-to-date as possible. However, we rely on faculties, departments and units to notify us of any changes within their area that would be of interest to the whole community.
If your faculty has any notices that it would like added to this site, please send a PDF of your notice to change@ualberta.ca.

We have also added a short IdeaScale tutorial for those who are interested in joining the discussion but are not yet sure how it works.

Provost Update on Budget Letters

As many of you will now know, I sent out budget letters to the deans yesterday afternoon. These letters contained information relating to the already anticipated and announced across-the-board 1.5% cut, plus travel expenses reductions of at least 25%. The letters also confirmed commitments to fund previously approved initiatives in 2013-2014.

 

In some cases, the letters also contained details about additional cuts—and in those cases, I spoke directly to the deans involved before sending the letter. To be clear, these targeted faculty-specific cuts are over-and-above the 1.5% cut and are not the same across all faculties. As has been communicated on a number of occasions since President Samarasekera’s State of the University address, the university can no longer deal with its financial difficulties with across-the-board cuts. Differential cuts are now necessary to preserve and protect quality and to ensure that we can continue to support priorities. This is the approach that has been favoured by the deans, along with many others. I would like to thank the deans for their support and understanding in this process.

 

These differential budget choices were not easy to make, but the university faces a major financial shortfall and we must take action now to significantly reduce operating expenditures. Although we had to work quickly to develop a revised 2013-2014 budget, we strove throughout the process to make cuts to base funding that have the potential to be covered by other sources of funding; to make choices that would result in the least amount of job loss; and to cut where further efficiencies may be possible. At the same time, we tried to achieve savings without causing serious damage to the institution in the short term, and so also made differential cuts to some faculties’ soft funding.

 

Even with our best efforts, we recognize that there will be lay-offs, services will be reduced, and other losses will be felt throughout the institution.

 

We will not be communicating to the whole community the details specific to each faculty. Should you have questions or concerns relating to your whole faculty, please speak to your supervisors, chairs, and deans for information.

 

Thank you,

 

Martin Ferguson-Pell, Acting-Provost and Vice-President (Academic)

 

Presidential Priorities from the Board

Today, Board Chair Doug Goss posted a message to the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Alberta publicizing three statements of support which were unanimously affirmed at the Board Retreat in mid-April. You can read the message here.

Throughout my presidency, our community has enjoyed the support of the Board, but to receive this public re-affirmation of that support now is critical. The Board stands united with us—and has empowered us—during this period of change. There is a lot of work ahead of us; being able to do this work with the endorsement of the Board will ease some of potential challenges we no doubt will encounter.

At the retreat, the Board also charged me with some immediate responsibilities that I want to share with you because I cannot achieve them alone. First, the Board has asked that I clarify the decision-making authority, roles, and responsibilities of various governance bodies with a view to ensuring that they are functioning as effectively as possible. I have already begun working with the executive of General Faculties Council on this, and will be launching a president’s review of the terms of reference of all GFC sub-committees to be completed by summer’s end.  The Board has also asked that I ensure that the best processes are in place for the recruitment, retention, and rewarding of excellent faculty.

In addition to these reviews of governance processes, the Board has charged me to identify and set in action plans to address the university’s critical pressure points. This will involve my leading the development of a set of decision-making principles for balancing the budget, as well as a process for determining the institution’s areas of excellence.

The senior team has prepared a set of principles for balancing the budget and we will post those after they are presented to the Board on May 10. I have also made an initial decision related to identifying areas of excellence. I have asked the Provost’s Office to revamp the unit review process to elevate it to the faculty level, rather than unit level. I will provide more detail on this as plans develop.

I want to thank the Board for its continued support. Let me also thank the community in advance for working with me to fulfill the responsibilities given to me by the Board. A collective, united effort is essential if we hope to emerge from this difficult period with the U of A’s areas of strength and excellence intact.

Indira

Change Notice

(le français suit)

I know that our community has many questions about possible program changes at the University of Alberta in light of the cuts to post-secondary funding recently announced by the Government of Alberta.

 

At this time, I can report on two programs affecting intake in the Fall 2013. The first is a small diploma program in techniques d'administration des affaires (business administration) is offered out of the Centre collegiale de l'Alberta, a division of our French-language faculty, Campus Saint-Jean. Applications and admissions to this program have been suspended. There are no students currently registered in this diploma program. Applicants have been informed and all application fees will be refunded.
 

We made this decision in consultation with the acting-dean of Campus Saint-Jean and the Ministry of Enterprise and Advanced Education for the following reason: applications to this new program were very low, indicating that the program was not in demand. This is the third term that the program has been open to applications, and the third time that we have not received a sufficient number of applications to mount the program. As a result, we made the decision to suspend applications and admissions and did so now to give applicants sufficient time to pursue other educational opportunities for Fall 2013.

 

In addition to this change, a program in medical acupuncture offered through Continuous Professional Learning in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry has been cancelled as of June 2013. The Medical Acupuncture Program was a non-credit, part-time program open to licensed physicians, surgeons, dentists, physiotherapist, occupation therapists and chiropractors. The decision to cancel this program was not the result of budgetary constraints but due to the faculty’s strategic focus on maintaining the programs required by its accrediting agencies and this program falls outside of those parameters.

 

We will continue to communicate decisions relating to program suspensions with the community as we are able. I recognize that living with uncertainty about future program changes is difficult. However, let me assure students that your continued success remains our focus. In the event of future program changes, we will work closely with all students registered in any affected programs to ensure that you receive the support you need as you work to complete your degree programs. .

Martin Ferguson-Pell

Acting-Provost and Vice-President (Academic)

 

=====

 

Notre communauté a plusieurs questions sur les programmes de l’Université de l’Alberta qui pourraient être touchés par la réduction du financement postsecondaire récemment annoncée par le Gouvernement de l’Alberta. 

 

Pour l’instant, je peux commenter sur deux programmes qui devaient être offerts à l’automne 2013. Le premier est un programme menant à un diplôme en technique d’administration des affaires offert par le Centre collégial de l’Alberta, division de notre faculté de langue française. Les demandes d’inscription et d’admission à ce programme au campus Saint-Jean sont immédiatement mises en suspens. Aucun étudiant n’est actuellement admis à ce programme. Les étudiants qui ont soumis une demande d’inscription ont été avertis et les frais d’inscription ont été remboursés. 

 

Nous avons pris cette décision en consultation avec le vice-doyen du campus Saint-Jean et le ministère Entreprise and Advanced Education (Ministère de l’entreprise et de l’éducation postsecondaire) pour les raisons suivantes. Le taux d’inscription à ce nouveau programme était très bas, ce qui indique que le programme n’était pas en demande. Il est offert depuis trois trimestres, et c’est le troisième trimestre où le taux d’inscription n’est pas suffisant pour justifier sa mise en œuvre. Par conséquent, nous avons pris la décision d’interrompre les demandes d’inscription et d’admission, et nous l’avons fait dès maintenant pour donner aux étudiants le temps de poursuivre d’autres options académiques pour l’automne 2013.

 

Outre ce changement, un programme médical d’acupuncture offert par le programme de Formation professionnelle continue de de la Faculté de médecine et de dentisterie a été annulé à compter de juin 2013. Ce programme professionnel sans crédit, à temps partiel, était offert aux médecins, chirurgiens, dentistes, physiothérapeutes, ergothérapeutes et chiropraticiens autorisés. La Faculté de médecine et de dentisterie a décidé d’annuler le programme, car il n’est pas conforme au plan stratégique de la faculté. 

 

Nous continuerons à communiquer à la communauté les décisions touchant aux programmes qui pourraient être supprimés au fur et à mesure que nous en sommes conscients. Je comprends que ce climat d’incertitude académique est difficile à vivre, mais je tiens à rassurer les étudiants que leur réussite reste toujours notre objectif premier. Advenant d’éventuels changements à nos programmes, nous travaillerons de près avec tous les étudiants inscrits à tout programme en cause, afin de garantir qu’ils reçoivent l’appui nécessaire pour les aider à satisfaire aux exigences de leur diplôme. 

 

Martin Ferguson-Pell

Le vice-recteur et vice-président (académique)

Myth-Busting

This morning I participated in the University of Alberta Senate plenary session. The Senate and I discussed the many challenges the university community is facing. I have asked the Senators for their help, especially in dispelling a few of the myths which are currently circulating. I’ve since been asked to share my thoughts more broadly, so that others can use them in conversations with their friends and neighbours. Here they are:

Myth 1: We do a bad job of transferring students.

Untrue.

This is completely unfounded. Our transfer program is the envy of schools across the continent. To date, the University of Alberta has negotiated more than 5,200 transfer agreements with its Campus Alberta partners, enabling more than 27,000 students to move from other Campus Alberta institutions to the U of A. More than one in four U of A students is a transfer student.

The Alberta Council on Admissions and Transfer (ACAT) surveyed students in 2010, and 90 per cent indicated they were satisfied that they got the credits they were due when they transferred.

Myth 2: We are inefficient

Untrue.

The people who work in administration are responsible for much of the essential day-to-day functioning of the university: research services, audit services, the registrar, risk management, payroll, human resources, animal care, libraries and much more. With these functions handled in administration, academic staff are able to focus on delivering on the core research and teaching activities of the university. Our administrative costs are monitored by the ministry of Enterprise and Advanced Education, which states that administration should be at 5 per cent of overall expenses. We are at 3.5 per cent. Even so, we are constantly seeking efficiencies, and will continue to do so.

Myth 3: We receive too much funding from government

Untrue.

Compared to top publicly funded research intensive universities in the US, such as UC Berkeley, we receive $9000 less per year per student. I would suggest that given that Alberta is the richest province in Canada, with the highest disposable income and the highest employment rate, we should expect to have the best funding for universities.

Truth: The real problem facing Alberta students is access

We have the lowest post-secondary participation rate in the country. In 2011, 6,000 qualified students could not find a place in Alberta’s post-secondary system. This is a significant problem, because Alberta needs an educated population. We know from past experience that cutting education is a mistake that cannot be easily undone. Countries like China, India, and Brazil are making huge investments in post-secondary education. Given the rise of such new competition, we need access to more funding so we can increase our enrollment and prepare Alberta for the future.

At the plenary session today, I reminded the Senators of our motto: Quaecumque vera or “whatsoever things are true.” Let us work together to tell those things which we know are true about the University of Alberta and the critical contribution we are making to Alberta.

Indira