Concordia University has seen a decline in enrollment in the past couple of years. As a result, measures have been placed to cut 7.8 per cent of the university’s total costs, CTV reported. This news mostly covered its impact on staff; however, students should be concerned as well.
As for the Fall 2024 semester, tuition is expected to increase by 33 per cent for out-of-province students. The decline in enrollment in recent years has already led to financial loss. Tuition is now expected to double for some students, which is expected to lower the annual enrollment rate even more.
The news about tuition hikes for out-of-province students was already upsetting. I remember the moment when one of my professors made the announcement that made my classmates and I go in shock: course cuts would begin as of Winter 2024. We learned this information before news outlets published their articles about Concordia’s budget cuts. The professor urged us to register for our courses for the upcoming semester as soon as possible, as she explained that courses with low enrollment by Nov. 15 could be eliminated.
Course cuts will now be a means for the university to limit its annual budget. This will not only be problematic in terms of schedule-making, but it could affect the entire student body’s future tuition as well.
I learned through listening to class discussions in my classes that low enrollment in a class ultimately means that a course with let’s say a cap of 25 students would need to fill 80 per cent of its seats. The number, however, depends on the class size.
I still have a number of courses to take before I finish my degree—a few program-based courses and electives. Course cuts could derail my graduation plans, as I’m hoping to finish my degree by the end of this year. Should my courses get cut, I’ll have to extend my studies even longer. I’ve been a student at the university for many years and have worked hard to get myself on track for graduation. It’s been an important goal of mine over the past few years, especially because there was a period when I was unsure about continuing my studies. I persevered, however, and I’d like to see it through.
Every student is in a unique position. Some students begin their studies halfway through the year, while others drop their courses for personal reasons. Life is unpredictable as it is, so it’s worrisome that course offerings might now be increasingly unpredictable as well.
Course cuts affect everyone—students, professors, and staff alike. They might help the university’s budget, but they would be disastrous for the Concordia community. This begs the question: are course cuts worth it at the expense of our studies?
Slimming the budget, post-Voluntary Departure Program
The window for university staff to accept Concordia’s Voluntary Departure Program (VDP) and leave their positions early in exchange for financial packages recently closed. All in all, about 90 members took the offer—well behind the 180 spots available.
The VDP was one of many ways the university planned on cutting back on its costs in light of the continuing government cuts to education, estimated at $15.7 million for Concordia this year alone. The VDP was open to staff, but not faculty. One particular segment of employees that eagerly accepted the offer was the library support staff.
“We’d heard from the community that there were a few people who were kind of on the fence, and keeping in mind this is a major life decision, we opened it up for a second week,” said Concordia President Alan Shepard on his decision to extend it by an extra week.
Most takers are expected to leave by Nov. 30, with the remainder leaving between then and the end of the fiscal year, depending on the nature of their positions.
“This tells me a couple of things. One is that people like working at Concordia; there’s no rush of people trying to escape. It tells me that this is a major life decision…What we’re going to do right now is that we’ve accepted those 90 people, and we’ve had a number of other positions become vacant by virtue of people resigning or having already retired. In the course of the year we’ll have several hundred positions become open, and we’ve frozen those for now while we figure out what our next steps are.” Shepard said it’s likely some vacancies would be closed, but the way forward would be carefully thought out.
“It’s not a great idea to try and shrink the staff. That being said, I have a lot of respect for my colleagues who devised the program,” he added, saying there hadn’t been any complaints in the offers. “It’s a complex balancing act.”
Shepard said 30 positions in the future might be re-hired because of the needed roles they play but wouldn’t say what the conditions and pay would be for returnees.
To cope with the new budget, and the estimated $1 million in additional cuts is predicted to come in the near future; the school is now looking for other avenues of cost-cutting.
“We have a fairly clear idea of where the cuts are coming from: they’re coming from the VDP, from the closed positions, some of them are coming from reductions in the contingency fund—every organization our size has a certain amount of money kept for unexpected costs.” Currently, he says that’s around $4 million, a number that will dip to around $1.5 and will have to be built back up in the future. He also says $2 million will be saved on deferred computer purchases or upgrades.
The austerity mindsets with the current government has hit not just Concordia, but all Quebec universities, and it’s provoked widespread criticism from both institutions, bystanders, and students.
“We’re going too far, too fast in terms of the compressions,” said Shephard. “These are extremely complex places to run and we care deeply about the quality and opportunities for students, staff, and faculty.”
“We’re taking a stance privately. You don’t see this, because it’s done by phone calls and face-to-face meetings. I’ve met with our minister and deputy ministers to say very clearly it’s not okay, [and] it’s having a very negative impact on the institution.”
Concordia to receive $13 million less from the government in 2014-2015
Just a few weeks ago, Concordia received word from the government concerning just how much less they would be receiving this year: $13 million for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
They also learnt that it would no longer be possible for the school to have a deficit this year. Since Concordia had one of $2.7 million – which was carried from last year’s compressions – this meant that the total amount that would need to be cut from this year’s budget would add up to $15.7 million.
Total compressions between 2013-2015 will therefore amount to a total of $29 million.
Coming up with a plan of action was quite a challenge for the school, especially since they found out they would need to make major cuts for a fiscal year that began last May.
“That’s the tricky part. It’s hard to change the tires of the car while you’re driving on the highway,” said Concordia President Dr. Alan Shepard.
In order to comply with the government’s new rules, Concordia announced a Voluntary Departure Program (VDP) on Wednesday Sept. 24, and hope that 180 administrative, support, and professional staff members will choose to opt for the package. Staff accepted into the program will begin leaving Concordia on Nov. 30.
“It’s important to me that we not move into the world of involuntary layoffs. I can’t imagine anything worse than coming into work and finding out that the job you love and the place that you’re loyal to has just laid you off,” Shepard said. “I know that happens in the private sector but it’s not something I am eager to do, so we worked really hard for the last several weeks trying to devise a program that would give opportunities to people who were prepared to take a package to leave Concordia.”
Members of staff who have worked a minimum of 10 years of service are eligible to take the package, including both full-time and part-time employees. It is important to note that this only includes administrative staff, and not professors.
Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose.
Employees who have worked over 10 years at Concordia would receive a severance package equal to 12 months of pay, while those who have been at the university for over 15 years would receive 18 months worth of salary. There are currently 900 staff members who are eligible for the package.
This program would allow the school to save up to $5 million this fiscal year, and $12 million per year starting in the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
In the 2012-2013 fiscal year, permanent and temporary administration and support staff accounted for 2,113 positions at Concordia. Reducing the staff by 180 would represent a reduction of about 8.5 per cent. These 180 positions represent 2 per cent of Concordia’s salary expenses.
“I don’t think that you can make 180 reductions and positions and pretend that it’s just like it was yesterday, because that’s not true,” Shepard said. “At the same time, what we’re going to do is that we planned for 180 departures, and we know that some number of those, maybe 20, 25, 30 we’re not sure, will be in positions that are critical, you can’t do without that so we’ll have to rehire those roles, and when you make a voluntary program you can’t pick. I can’t say ‘I want you to depart, you can’t depart,’ so what we’re going to do is we are going to invite people who are eligible under the terms of the program to make a decision. Once we know their decisions, we’ll see what rebalancing needs to be done.”
Another 3 per cent will be cut in operating expenses. For example, Concordia will put off replacing some computers in offices, which will save $1 million. Concordia’s Vice Presidents are still hard at work, trying to find just where they can spare some money.
Concordia has also reduced the Chief Financial Officer’s reserve—which is an amount built into the budget for the unexpected which usually represents one per cent of the budget—by $1 million.
Other public institutions have used similar programs, and they have been quite popular within the staff. McGill, for example, used a voluntary departure program last year when they had to cut $43 million, according to Doug Sweet, director of Internal Communications at McGill. In this instance, 250 employees opted to take the package.
“You have a year’s pay, so you have the time to look around for something else. It depends on your personal circumstances, maybe you have kids at home, or you have a second career, maybe you want to go back to school, there’s as many circumstances as their are people.”
Paul Eifert, an IT technician for IITS who is eligible to take the package, agrees.
“Personally, I think that a lot of people here will take a buyout and maybe retire a little earlier,” he said.
Eifert explained that many would also consider taking the severance and seeking employment elsewhere, or maybe even use the time to travel.
A maximum of 180 employees will be able to take the package. It is a one-time deal, and will not be offered again in the next few years.
Concordia took special care in deciding where to make cuts in order to make sure that the student experience and quality of education would not be affected.
Concordia’s budget compressions are a part a total of $172 million reclaimed from universities in the province for this year, according to Le Soleil.
“I think that what the message is that no matter which government is in power, there are constraints on all our resources, and we are trying in the most respectful way we can to respond to the restraints that were given,” Shepard said. “And we’ve experienced it under both governments actually. It’s not about the government of the day, it’s about the economic reality were in.”
The McGill University Health Centre’s implementation of cost-cutting measures in order to reign in a growing budget deficit has led to the layoffs of nine trauma and orthopedic nurses working at the Montreal General Hospital.
After government auditors came to the conclusion last December that the MUHC network was looking at a projected deficit of $115 million, the network came up with a series of cost effective strategies.
The cuts planned by MUHC Chief Executive Officer Normand Rinfret for the 2013-2014 year include: 65 per cent reduction of manpower hours, 16.4 per cent related to contracts and other non-salary expense reductions, seven per cent from standardization of practices, 5.6 per cent related to team consolidation/work redesign, 3.5 per cent from capping clinical volumes based on budget and 2.5 per cent from unspecified application of the Quebec Health Department policies.
As reported by The Gazette last week, it appears as though employees are now part of the cuts the MUHC will be establishing as part of the budget deficit plan. About one quarter of the Montreal General’s 12th floor trauma recovery nurses have been notified that their positions in the hospital have been cut and closed.
Montreal Children’s Hospital nurse, Nathan Friedland, worries that the cuts will affect aspiring nursing students as well.
“When new nurses join the profession they’re already somewhat discouraged because they know they’ll get burned out because of the long hours and so on, so when they read about cutbacks and layoffs, they realize it’ll likely be them, the young new ones being laid off,” Friedland said. “Two new nurses, who were grads, had 90 per cent of their hours cut, because they don’t have a specialized position. They’re mostly filling in for someone on a leave of absence.”
Not only will these cuts be affecting MUHC employees but with fewer nurses in each ward of the hospital, nurse-to-patient ratios will be significantly altered.
Where originally there was one nurse with four or five patients, each nurse will now have up to eight patients, essentially doubling the workload. This will add more responsibility and more pressure to nurses to make sure that they perform up to par.
The MUHC network controls six of Montreal’s major hospitals including the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Montreal General Hospital, the Royal Victoria Hospital, the Montreal Neurological Hospital, the Montreal Chest Institute and the Lachine Hospital.
