S.03-84

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Memorandum ?

Se,

(,Oco

TO:

Senate ?

FROM: ?

Chris Giacomantonio

Student Senator

RE:

Government Funding Policy

?

DATE: ?

September

19,

2003

I wish to bring forward the following motions and rationale concerning the impact that

the government's cuts have had on accessibility and on the quality of education at

Simon Fraser University before the attention of Senate.

Motion:

Whereas Senate recognizes that provincial ancLfçJrl government

underfunding to post-secondary education in Gsr1 is contributing to

decreasing quality of and accessibility to post-secondary education in

Ec_d

.

and

Whereas it is desirable that provincial and federal government increase

funding to post-secondary education immediately; therefore, be it

resolved

THAT Senate dnounees the chronic provineial and federal government

undRiiunding-ef-poct secondary education in-€ana4a and calls on all

levels of government to make funding of post-secondary education a

priority immediately.

Rationale:

Public funding of post-secondary education in British Columbia and Canada has

been steadily decreasing for several years, and it appears that it will continue to

decrease for the near future. SFU's

Tuition Briefing

(Spring 2002) notes that "the

Provincial Government's base operating grant per full-time equivalent student (FTE),

measured in constant dollars, has decreased by 3.5 percent while the number of FTE

at Simon Fraser University has increased by 12 percent." The Confederation of

University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA/BC) warns that "The

changes in funding, increased enrollment, and inflation have the combined effect of

cutting funding per university student by 3.7% in 2003/04 and another 7.2% in

2004/05" (Operating Grants Up Next Year, But. . . Per Student Funding to Hit 30-Year

Low in 2005106,

March 21, 2003).

Nearly all stakeholders agree that decreasing public funding of post-secondary

• ?

education has had a negative impact on the quality and accessibility of post-

secondary education, both at Simon Fraser University and also in the larger context.

CUFAJBC states that "deteriorating government funding will inevitably result in longer wait

lists, more crowded classrooms, and other cuts in program quality and student services."

fl

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Similarly, The University President's Council (TUPC) has among its goals the "restoration

of university core budgets to close the funding gap between BC

universities and comparable institutions located elsewhere in Canada" and

"the need for capital funding to meet student demand and to facilitate world

class research excellence."

(Creating Opportunity Together,

June 2001).

Nevertheless, the government has ignored the concerns of the various stakeholder

groups. Simon Fraser University's budget letter promises severe decreases in

operating budget funding over the next three years. It appears as though the

government is not listening to the concerns of the universities. For this reason, it is

recommended that Senate declare publicly that government policies are

not

improving accessibility for students and are

not

improving the quality of post-

secondary education.

S

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