UNBC Begins Three-Year Budget Planning
December 15, 2006
UNBC is implementing a new budget process to better position the
University for the future. This multi-year budget planning process will
clearly align spending with revenues as well as with the vision of how
UNBC can grow and improve. The process is starting now in anticipation
of having a 2007-08 budget ready for approval by the Board of Governors
at the end of March.
“For many years, individual departments and degree programs have had to make annual cuts in their operations to balance the university budget,” says UNBC President Don Cozzetto. “These units have made all of the cuts they can and no longer have the capacity to absorb annual cuts while still providing quality programs and services. The new, multi-year approach will involve the whole university community and be fully implemented over the next three years.”
The University’s budget forecasts have determined that increasing expenses relative to anticipated revenues will lead to larger annual shortfalls. In 2007-08, the shortfall is expected to be about $2 million.
“To date, university budgeting has focused on growth. The new focus is on sustainability,” says President Cozzetto. “We’re taking a comprehensive approach to our budgeting and involving our Board and the provincial government. We’re identifying new and expanded sources of revenue and aiming to make strategic cuts that will keep employee reductions to a minimum.”
The process is just starting. The Board of Governors will discuss the budget framework at the end of January, in anticipation of the proposed operating budget being submitted to the Board at the end of March for final approval.
The University’s budget challenges are nothing new and result from a combination of factors: its small size and northern location, the cost of campus expansion, rising construction costs, the financial impact of being “research-intensive,” high rates of inflation, increased numbers of faculty and staff, and generally flat student enrolment growth over the past five years.
Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622
“For many years, individual departments and degree programs have had to make annual cuts in their operations to balance the university budget,” says UNBC President Don Cozzetto. “These units have made all of the cuts they can and no longer have the capacity to absorb annual cuts while still providing quality programs and services. The new, multi-year approach will involve the whole university community and be fully implemented over the next three years.”
The University’s budget forecasts have determined that increasing expenses relative to anticipated revenues will lead to larger annual shortfalls. In 2007-08, the shortfall is expected to be about $2 million.
“To date, university budgeting has focused on growth. The new focus is on sustainability,” says President Cozzetto. “We’re taking a comprehensive approach to our budgeting and involving our Board and the provincial government. We’re identifying new and expanded sources of revenue and aiming to make strategic cuts that will keep employee reductions to a minimum.”
The process is just starting. The Board of Governors will discuss the budget framework at the end of January, in anticipation of the proposed operating budget being submitted to the Board at the end of March for final approval.
The University’s budget challenges are nothing new and result from a combination of factors: its small size and northern location, the cost of campus expansion, rising construction costs, the financial impact of being “research-intensive,” high rates of inflation, increased numbers of faculty and staff, and generally flat student enrolment growth over the past five years.
Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622
