the sheaf - january 17, 2013 - the money issue

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24 January, 2013 | The University of Saskatchewan student newspaper since 1912

| 24 January, 2013 | thesheaf.com | 2 InformUS

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.comSheafthe

Corrections• Last week, the Sheaf

referred to TransformUS as TransitionUS in a subhead for a story titled “University to lay off 40 staffers within next three week.” We regret the error.

• If you find any errors in this week’s paper, please let us know by emailing our copy editor ([email protected]). Or send us an angry, hand-written diatribe.

Last year the university requested a 5.8 per cent increase in its annual grant from the provincial government to cover growing operating costs. But when the provincial budget was tabled in March, the university received just a 2.1 per cent operating grant increase. This left the university with annual expenses

that surpassed annual revenue, resulting in a $15.5-million deficit for 2012-13 alone.

The provincial grant accounts for approximately 68 per cent of the university’s operating revenue, and since similar grant increases are expected in the coming years, that deficit is projected to compound and reach $44.5 million

by 2016. In its 2011-12 annual report, the

university writes: “On the expense side, we

continue to face the growing costs of employee pension plans, salaries and other benefits, the operating costs of new facilities, and a pressing backlog of maintenance and repair items. On

the revenue side, we see a trend across Canada of reduced post-secondary education funding, continued economic volatility, and increasing competition for donor contributions and research dollars.”

The EssentialsThe University of Saskatchewan projects that its operating budget deficit will reach $44.5 million by 2016.

The university announced two major initiatives earlier this month that aim to cut spending: TransformUS and workforce planning.

TransformUS TransformUS, which was

announced via email to all students, faculty and staff in early January, is a plan to review and prioritize all of the university’s academic and administrative programs.

Two task forces will be asked to examine and prioritize academic and non-academic programs and make recommendations to administrators on which programs should receive increased funding, which should merge with other programs, which should see reduced funding and which should be cut.

The plan is modeled after former University of Northern Colorado president Robert C. Dickeson’s program prioritization process. In his book Prioritizing Academic Programs and Services, Dickeson argues that universities should focus their resources on programs

they excel in as opposed to spreading resources inadequately throughout too many programs.

Brett Fairbairn, university provost and vice-president academic, said the task forces will base their recommendations on the university’s long-term vision, which is predominantly guided by the Third Integrated Plan.

The Third Integrated Plan, a four-year plan approved under Peter MacKinnon’s leadership, looks to increase the number of aboriginal students enrolling in and attaining degrees from the U of S, to increase scientific research on campus and to improve the university’s national and international image.

The task force recommendations will then undergo review from University Council and the Board of Governors before the Provost’s Committee on Integrated Planning goes forward with implementation plans.

Students will not be allowed to sit on the task forces.

Workforce planning

Employee salaries and benefits are easily the university’s largest expense, accounting for about 75 per cent of its operating budget. Therefore, to address the looming $44.5-million deficit, it’s obvious jobs are going to be lost.

Rather than making sweeping cuts, workforce planning is the university’s attempt at allowing colleges and administrative units to strategically rethink their own employee structure.

“Every college and administrative unit is participating and reviewing priorities and positions to find reductions and in some cases, to refocus their workforces within the context of current missions and priorities,” wrote top administrators in a campus-wide email Jan. 17.

On several occasions, administrators have said that “no stone will be left unturned” and that all jobs are on the chopping block. The first major round of job losses — about 40 positions — were announced in

early January, which reduced the projected operating budget deficit by approximately $2 million. The next wave of layoffs is expected in April and workforce planning, according to the university, will be ongoing for the next three years.

“Reductions are not based on any specific number of positions, nor are they based on bargaining unit or seniority. Decisions have been and will continue to be made to ensure a workforce that can deliver on the university’s strategic priorities,” the university’s website says.

There will not be a hiring or travel freeze and voluntary early retirement packages are not available, according to the plan.

“Job loss occurs as a normal part of the university’s business, what is unusual now is that our goals and our current financial situation require a new strategic long-term approach to our overall workforce complement,” the university’s website says.

Why?

How does the university plan to tackle the deficit?

| thesheaf.com | 24 January, 2013 | 3InformUS

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* The Money IssueThe current

fiscal landscape at the University of Saskatchewan — the projected budget

deficit, emails from the university president, layoffs and all-around concern from the campus community

— has prompted the Sheaf to halt its regular weekly coverage of campus news, sports and cultural events and to focus solely on university finances.

“The Money Issue” looks not only to inform the student body on the university’s financial situation, administrative initiatives to prevent the

projected $44.5-million deficit and the cuts made so far, but also to gauge student opinion on the plans.

This won’t directly affect your tuition

According to the university, “tuition increases have not and will not be used to deal with operating deficits.” Tuition at the U of S is set by the Board of Governors based on three principles: comparability, affordability and enabling quality.

“For over a decade now, the University of Saskatchewan has not balanced its budget on the basis of tuition increases,” the university’s website says.

The operating budget does not include capital expenditures

The operating budget covers the day-to-day expenses of the university, including salaries and services. The capital budget covers building and infrastructure costs.

A deficit is not a debt

Although related, debt and deficits are not the same thing. A deficit occurs when expenditures are higher than income over a certain stretch of time. Debt is the sum of all money owed. The university has a projected deficit of $44.5 million by 2016 but it has an overall debt of about $200 million as of 2013 (mostly due to construction on the health sciences building).

What you should know

Kenderdine campus temporarily closed

On Nov. 15, an email was sent out to the U of S community stating that activities at the Emma Lake Kenderdine campus are under immediate suspension until 2016. The four-year-long closure of the satellite campus will save the university roughly $500,000.

HumFA clerical staff layoffs in November

Five administrative staff members in the humanities and fine arts were laid off Nov. 27, affecting the art and art history, drama, religion and culture, philosophy and history departments.

40 more layoffs promised in January

In an email sent Jan. 14 to campus, the university announced that it will be cutting approximately 40 jobs within the next three weeks, with more to come in April.

What’s already gone down?

raisa pezderic/photo editor

4 InformUS | 24 January, 2013 | thesheaf.com |

ANNA-LILJA DAWSONAssociate News Editor

As the University of Saskatchewan prepares to make cuts to combat a projected deficit expected to reach $44.5-million by 2016, two former senior administrators remain on payroll.

Peter MacKinnon ended his term as president after serving 13 years last year but will be paid two more years of his $425,000 annual salary.

His contract included one year of paid administrative leave for every five years served. Over the two years of administrative leave, he will also receive $112,862 for compensations that include pension contributions and benefits.

Richard Florizone, former vice-

president of finance and resources at the U of S, is currently on administrative leave with pay, receiving his $349,827 annual salary until April this year and $31,413 for compensations such as pension contributions and benefits.

Florizone was on leave when he accepted the position of president at Dalhousie University in Halifax in early November.

Associate Vice-President of Human Resources Barb Daigle said that senior administrators across the country normally receive one year of leave to do research and to pursue other academic interests after serving a five-year term. She said that presidents, like MacKinnon, often take their leave at the end of their term.

Administrators on leave, much like professors on sabbatical, are expected to do scholarly work that will benefit their academic careers, the university or the community. Then they must give a report of their activities upon full return to their positions.

The president’s salary is negotiated every year by the university’s board of governors. The board compares the salaries of presidents at the leading 15 research-intensive universities in Canada to decide on a competitive salary that is feasible for the U of S.

Top presidential salaries are beginning to break the $500,000 mark. Daigle said that the U of S has yet to “hit the target.”

President Ilene Busch-Vishniac’s

starting salary is $400,000. MacKinnon’s salary when he began his term as president in 1999 was $200,000.

Jim Turk, president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, told the StarPhoenix that if an administrator at the University of Regina had accepted another position while on leave, their salary for that leave could be withdrawn, referencing Florizone accepting the position at Dalhousie University while on leave.

Turk said that senior university administrators’ salaries and contracts are “way out of line.”

About 10 to 20 years ago, university presidents and vice-presidents were often professors who went on leave from teaching,

whereas now these roles are filled by career administrators who negotiate with their governing boards for leaves to be included in their contract, Turk said.

Daigle said that contracts with paid leaves and competitive salaries are necessary to attract candidates for the hard-to-fill senior administration position.

“We need to be competitive for these senior leaders, especially in these hard-to-recruit areas like the president, the provost and the vice-president of research,” Daigle said.

The limited number of candidates for senior admistrative positions at universities has resulted in highly competitive and high salaries, Daigle said.

MacKinnon and Florizone still on payroll

university of saskatchewan/flickr raisa pezderic/photo editor

Richard Florizone continues to receive his U of S salary after accepting a position at Dalhousie University. As part of his contract, Peter MacKinnon receives his full salary while on two years of administrative leave.

DARYL HOFMANNSenior News Editor

A crush of students are set to pack University of Saskatchewan council chambers Jan. 24 as top administrators look to lock down approval for TransformUS, the massive program review that aims to permanently axe $25 million in spending.

Those savings will come from cut salaries and restructured or eliminated programs.

Student leaders say they want representation on the task forces that will examine and prioritize dozens of academic and administrative programs.

A Facebook event page set up by U of S Students’ Union executives and councilors calls on students to attend the council meeting and “voice their opinions about the composition of the task forces.” At the time of print, 140 guests are slated to attend and urge council to strike down the current plan.

University Council is made up of two elected faculty members from each college (one of whom is usually the dean), one student from each college, two librarians and 54 faculty members-at-large.

“Recognizing that cuts will have to be made, this will be a chance to express our discontent on the lack of student representation on these task forces,” the description of the event page reads.

“We, as students, are very large stakeholders in the success of the University of Saskatchewan and are able to provide a unique perspective that could otherwise be missed by

the proposed composition.”If TransformUS is given the go-

ahead by council, two separate task forces will be formed — one to rank academic departments and colleges and another to rank administrative divisions, like communications, facilities management and human resources. Once programs are prioritized, those that rank lower will be downsized or cut completely, while those that rank higher could see an increase in funding.

A common criterion for program prioritization at other universities has been profitability, along with factors such as aboriginal engagement and research outputs.

According to a campus-wide email from President Ilene Busch-Vishniac, the task forces will consist of high-ranking faculty members and administrative managers. No students will be directly involved.

“Students will not be included as members of the task forces because of the amount of work entailed and the significant impact this activity

would have on their studies, both task forces will be charged with devising appropriate and effective mechanisms for student input and participation in the prioritization process,” Busch-Vishniac wrote.

But Jared Brown, president of the U of S students’ union, says students need a direct line into decisions that impinge on their education.

“We don’t know what’s coming. We are left in the dark.... It would be nice to know what is going on,” he said in an interview with the StarPhoenix. “Yes it’s not going to be easy, it’s not something that we are going to take lightly, but we know that our perspectives can help.”

Provost and Vice-President Academic Brett Fairbairn, however, argues that students will be fully consulted despite not having a place on the task forces.

“The task forces will solicit input, operate transparently and share their analysis, but without interest-based representation,” Fairbairn said in a

written statement to the StarPhoenix. “Students can certainly be involved by providing input to the task force.”

The Canadian Federation of Students, one of the largest student groups in Canada, has requested that the university extend the TransformUS timeline by at least one year to ensure students are properly represented and engaged in the review process.

“The recently-announced austerity program at the University of Saskatchewan intentionally leaves students on the sidelines,” CFS Saskatchewan representative Kent Peterson said in a news release.

“The task forces being proposed do not allow enough time for student consultation, especially since four months are lost due to the summer months. Extending the TransformUS deadline and adding student representation to the task forces will not only add much needed legitimacy to the process, but it will signal that President Busch-Vishniac takes this process seriously.”

In a letter published in the StarPhoenix Jan. 15, Peterson, a former president of the University of Regina Students’ Union wrote, “The U of S now joins the University of Regina in systematically dismantling the academic structures of the two universities.”

Peterson called TranformUS “undemocratic” and said “ultimately, it will be the students who — through higher tuition fees, increased debt and limited academic options — will shoulder the burden of cost-cutting and offloading.” He concluded by urging the U of S to “learn from the mistakes of the U of R and include student representation and consultation in every aspect of the two task forces.”

Four days later, on Jan. 19, U of R Provost and Vice-President Academic Thomas Chase shot back with his own letter published in the StarPhoenix.

“As a former president of the students’ union and former member of the university’s board of governors, Peterson well knows that U of R students have been, and continue to be, involved through voice and vote at multiple stages of program reviews,” Chase wrote.

Chase pointed to Regina students’ ongoing involvement in a handful of committees and advisory groups that direct much of the cost-cutting plans. He called Peterson’s claims “misleading rhetoric” and “nonsense.”

“To suggest that students [at the U of R] are excluded from institutional review processes is, at best, disingenuous,” he said.

Students left out of TransformUS task forces, plan to storm council meeting


The barren seats of the Neatby-Timlin Theatre in the Arts Building, where University Council holds their monthly meetings, are expected to fill up with guests by 6 p.m. Jan. 24, as council is scheduled to vote on TransformUS.

| thesheaf.com | 24 January, 2013 | 5HearUS

The Sheaf spoke to several students following the announcement of the university’s impending budget cuts. We met some students who didn’t understand the issue, plenty of students who were angry and many who felt that the university was ignoring their voices. What follows is a section devoted to student voices.

We hope to see this conversation continue and become more nuanced as students become more educated about the university’s deficit and the restructuring the school requires.Please send us your thoughts, opinions and reactions

to pieces published in our paper and to the university’s initiatives. We want to hear you.

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| 24 January, 2013 | thesheaf.com | 6 HearUS

The following is a letter from the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union.

There is no doubt the U of S faces significant financial challenges, as highlighted by the recent budgetary forecast, which predicts a financial shortfall of $44.5 million by 2016.

University administrators have dealt with the shortfall by creating a prioritization process now known as TransformUS. This process aims to cut $25 million in university spending by 2016.

In order for the university to make “strategic” cuts, TransformUS calls for two task forces to be established. President Ilene Busch-Vishniac’s Jan. 11 letter to the campus community explains that the first such task force will examine academic programs while the other will be responsible for the administrative and academic support programs.

The Academic Program Transformation task force comprises esteemed faculty chosen from University Council, committees associated with council and faculty at large while the Support Service Transformation task force will find membership from faculty, administrative managers and staff.

The USSU urges the U of S to include students in the composition of the two TransformUS task forces.

From Busch-Vischniac’s Jan.

11 letter: “students will not be included as members of the task forces because of the amount of work entailed and the significant impact this activity would have on their studies.”

Students will instead be engaged through consultation mechanisms so that we can offer comments on the criteria that will prioritize the various programs and services at the U of S. Not having students directly involved in the discussions about the criteria is extremely problematic.

The university has held maintained student representation in important decision-making bodies and processes for many years. The U of S Students’ Union president is trusted to sit on the Board of Governors on behalf of students; the USSU has represented students on pivotal presidential and vice-presidential search committees; and students played a major role in steering the university through stages of strategic planning.

It is evident that in the past

the students of the U of S and university officials have taken on many difficult decisions together, and the composition of the TransformUS task forces should be no different.

These task forces will have a major effect on this university and on post-secondary education in Saskatchewan. As current students, our perspectives on these task forces will contribute to a thorough analysis.

Students’ opinions matter, and they are especially important at a time when the university’s future is being decided on. There is a multitude of very intelligent and engaged students who would proudly lend their time to the production and development of TransformUS criteria.

We can help. Students share a unique perspective. When an individual’s time as a student concludes and he or she moves into the workforce, their priorities and mindset begin to change.

While people maintain some opinion on education after graduating, they can not know what it is like to be a student at this precise moment. That understanding is intimately bound to the current state of student affairs and should be a valued and sought-after aspect for the TransformUS task forces.

Student input necessary in decision-making

university of saskatchewan students union 2012

USSU executive members Ruvimbo Kanyemba, Jared Brown, Steven Heidel and Alex Werenka.

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Students will not be included as members of the task forces because of the amount of work entailed and the significant impact this activity would have on their studies.

Ilene Busch-VishniacJanuary 11 email


PRESENTED BY

LEON THOMPSONOpinions Writer

The university’s president and other top executives should take a modest pay cut as a gesture of good faith to the rest of the campus community, even if the money saved would be just a drop in the $44.5-million deficit bucket.

The university president and vice-presidents accepting a voluntary pay cut would help the administration regain student trust, which has been eroded by the recent financial troubles at the University of Saskatchewan. (A summary of what we’ve heard so far regarding TransformUS and the university cuts: There are no sacred cows, but please ignore the cow on the chaise lounge.)

Executive compensation packages, including both pay and benefits, are now standard in universities across North America. The idea is to run the university as if it were a business. Accordingly, administrators’ high salaries and benefits are justified as a way to keep the university “competitive” in attracting high-talent people.

If our administrators are of such high quality, why weren’t they prepared for a smaller operating grant increase from the provincial

government? Why is the Emma Lake campus suddenly closing? Why do we have a giant deferred maintenance budget?

The Kenderdine campus has been closed to save $500,000 over three years and plans for the Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Student Centre are on hold. Yet former president Peter MacKinnon and vice-president Richard Florizone are receiving payments in the hundreds of thousands of dollars on their way out.

Why should we pay thousands of dollars in tuition each year to receive an ever-decreasing quality of education?

The largest college at the university is arts and science, which 8,700 students are enrolled in. The university has decided not to prioritize this college and, by extension, this block of students. This leads to a simple question: why should any of these students bother paying tuition here when their education is not a priority?

If students can only expect higher tuition and degraded services, what is the point of staying? Proximity is all that matters for some, but the lure of quality programming is strong as well. In the wake of these cuts, the U of S is probably not going to

provide better programs any time soon.

When our programs receive repeated cuts, our class sizes increase and our choice of classes decreases; our education is suffering and will continue to do so.

The spirit of the College of Arts and Science is on the chopping block, and it appears the only value the administration sees in it is in extracting as much currency from its students as possible while minimizing the costs of delivering an education.

When students hear of upcoming cuts, there is concern — and with good reason. When the university says executive compensation is not on the table, concern can take a backseat to frustration.

The university administration needs to show the campus community that it actually has our best interests at heart. A cut in administrative pay, allowing funds to be redirected to retain jobs on campus can do that. Gaining the status of a world-class institution is not determined by administrative salaries, but by innovations and quality of education. Bring that, and the students will come.

Top university administrators should take voluntary pay cut


As happy as it makes them, these two do not need to rake in $400,000 per year.


Campus ChatHow do you feel about the university’s deficit and related spending cuts?

I haven’t come across much information on this.

There clearly hasn’t been enough planning. They’re spending money on expansions and construction that they don’t have. There are also so many tenured professors who seem to stop trying, they don’t keep up their office hours. Sessional lecturers don’t do that. The bureaucracy on campus is monumental and it’s also taking up so much money. Is it a necessity? Ever since I started school here, I feel like I’m paying more for less, and I now just want to finish before I start to resent the school. There’s a very narrow view of how to get a degree that doesn’t work for a lot of people, unlike the direction many other schools are moving in.

Edward’s School of Business hasn’t been affected yet as far as I know. Gabriel Irinci, ESB, first year Kate Rawlyk, ESB, second year

It sounds to me like the upper-level administrators are getting paid a lot while lower-level people aren’t getting paid very much at all.

Phil Molden, Engineering, first year

It makes sense and it’s understandable to be cutting spending, but I think there’s a chance of losing a lot. There were probably other ways to deal with things like the biology field school at Kenderdine — students could tent or pay more rather than have the whole thing shut down. There are options for some things, and I think there are compromises that can be made. Stephanie Boulanger, Geology, second year

I feel like I don’t know enough to be mad at one specific person, but I want to be mad at the government.

James Pepler, graduate student, Writing

I would like some more concrete information. A breakdown of all the numbers that actually tells us what’s happening and how decisions are being made would be great. Leif Carlson, Philosophy, first year

I don’t understand how the university could have planned so poorly that when they received a smaller funding increase than they expected it created this mess. It makes no sense to plan an entire budget around the money you want, rather than than the money you can realistically expect.

Ishmael Daro, Political Studies, fourth year

I’ve heard either education or engineering might be cut completely. I don’t know if that’s true, but if it is, it’s major. Kara Kindrachuk, Nursing, second year

Jared Berry, Psych/Drama, fourth year


Campus ChatHow do you feel about the university’s deficit and related spending cuts?

I don’t really know or care that much.

I haven’t heard much about this.

We’re not getting enough information to have informed opinions on what’s happening.

It would be really nice if students had a voice on the council that’s making these decisions. Cuts have to made, but students should be able to participate.

Wyatt Berlinic, Engineering, fourth year

Spencer Kaip, ESB, third year

Brad Tomtene, Agronomy/Agriculture, first year

Morteza Amini, graduate student,Mechanical Engineering

I’m a student and employee. I think some job cuts have been legitimate, but where do we draw the line between quality education and deficit reduction? The Kenderdine campus’ closing frustrated a lot of biology students especially; there has to be balance, but where do we find it? Meagan Gilbert, graduate student, Geology

What are the criteria being used in “Program Prioritization?”

Maggie Stowe, Archaeology, first year

I hate the cuts to the libraries. We’re losing a lot of great people who have been here a long time.Rebecca Zimmer, English/Political Studies, fourth year

I find it highly amusing our school is schilling out millions of dollars while we need to fire secretaries and shut down library wings. I understand the need to rebuild, but there’s no point in having fancy buildings if there are no students to sit in them.

The arts illustrate unfortunate prioritization of various programs. There’s an emphasis on employability, I think, where we’re letting the job market dictate funding to programs. The very programs that can best fight that thinking — that are critical — are the first to be silenced. “Program Prioritization” is as explicit as you can get that some programs matter more here than others. Our med school is consistently awful and yet it gets exponentially more funding than various humanities programs.

Tomas Borsa, Psych/Political Studies, fourth year

Bryony Griffiths, Biology, fourth year


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TANNARA YELLAND Opinions Editor

In late 2011 and early 2012, student unrest in Quebec grew from individual frustration at proposed exponential tuition increases to a cohesive movement with a clear goal: to stop the Liberal government’s planned tuition increases. Hundreds of thousands of students filled the streets of Montreal for months, strikes shut down most Quebec schools and the Parti Québécois won the September provincial election, partly with the help of the student movement.

There will still be some form of tuition increase in Quebec, and

the more radical students’ desire for free post-secondary education remains unrealized. Yet the extreme increases proposed by the now-toppled Liberal Party have been dropped.

What this should show students here at the University of Saskatchewan is that with an uncompromising dedication to seeing our demands realized we can, in fact, steer the fate of our school. Students have been denied involvement in the process euphemistically known as “TransformUS.” Clearly, the university’s administration is uninterested in hearing students’ thoughts on the upcoming budget cuts.

There is a widespread but entirely misguided assumption on campus that the university must make drastic cuts right now, so it is our duty as students to accept what administrators decide. After all, don’t they know better?

No. They don’t.To be more accurate, I should

say that it is possible they do know better than us what needs to be done and how to achieve it. But that doesn’t mean students can’t register discontent, make demands and, above all, make this process of “transformation” and “prioritization” as uncomfortable as possible for the administrators who so blithely decided to exclude us from the important decisions that will impact us as much as any other group on campus.

I may sound bitter. This is because I am. The U of S is the only university I ever wanted to attend, and it’s the only school I applied to. My father and uncle both taught here, in sociology and psychology, respectively.

As a child my highest aspiration was to attend this school. And now, finally here and paying thousands of dollars each year for the honour, I constantly receive the message that I don’t matter as much as students in more marketable programs. It’s hardly surprising that I would be upset. In

fact, it’s a feeling most people in the arts and sciences should have.

We don’t need to nurse these frustrations alone. There is no reason for us to accept the changes being unilaterally imposed on our school as if we are no more part of the university community than the stairs in Place Riel.

Even though top U of S administrators want us to think otherwise, we have voices and, even more importantly, we have a collective voice. Speak loudly enough, and we would be all but impossible for the administration to ignore.

As students we are also in a unique position in relation to the budgetary and staff cuts that will be taking place. The lecturers, administrative assistants and other staff who are at risk of losing their livelihoods are understandably scared of raising the ire of their superiors. We don’t need to fear job cuts in the same way. No matter how loudly we express our dissatisfaction, we won’t be expelled or suspended (unless we do so violently, which is another matter).

We can take up not only our own cause but the cause of the people who work for us on campus and now have no way to fight for themselves.

I doubt this cry for protest

will create a student movement where none has existed in recent years. Saskatchewan is worlds away from Quebec, where protest culture has a much more vibrant history.

But this is not student politics as usual, to quote a professor of mine. This budgetary situation and the resulting spending cuts will affect both the U of S and post-secondary education in Saskatchewan for years to come. And students have been wilfully excluded from the process.

We need to make it clear that “TransformUS” is not okay and that we are not going to sit by quietly while our degrees and our time are devalued, de-prioritized and “transformed” into something we no longer recognize. We don’t need to accept what university administrators tell us about this process, and indeed we should not.

The first step to fighting the administation’s attempts to unilaterally remake this university is to reject their spin on this issue. Rather than accepting the term “TransformUS” and allowing ourselves to forget how much damage it encapsulates, we need to call this process what it is: a dangerous program of austerity.

With information and action, students can force change on campus — and should

jenna mann/culture editor


KIMBERLEY HARTWIGOpinions Writer

What worries me the most about TransformUS is Program Prioritization. This process will rank academic disciplines based on their contribution to the university’s success. Highly ranked programs will receive increased resources while those with lower rankings will see reduced resources or be cut entirely.

Students don’t have the option to participate in determining program grading. Instead, the judgments will be made by an academic task force composed entirely of faculty. As publicly outlined thus far, Program Prioritization leads to two main questions — how will students have their opinions heard, and what criteria will be used to grade programs?

It isn’t hard to identify which programs and departments the university has favoured in the recent past. Classes and programs were cut in the language department late last year and the first round of staff layoffs this year occurred in the arts.

Humanities, the social sciences and fine arts are often the easiest areas for universities to de-prioritze and criticize as their benefits are often less immediately apparent than the economic benefits professional programs bring to both graduates and the university. In reality, the contribution that these programs make to society are as important as the contributions that come from the sciences, business or any professional programs.

Each of the humanities and arts programs are so varied that it seems almost impossible to create a ranking system to accurately reflect the non-financial contributions they make to the campus community.

As the university attempts to make itself more marketable to students and more competitive with other universities, those making decisions about what programs should receive more funding and which will be cut or combined should look at what makes the university stand out — its diversity.

I worry that the university will

follow the lead of other schools. The U of S is not and should not be like any other school in Canada. The greatness of this school is due in large part to the professors and students who teach and study a

wide variety of programs. Every program is important to

those who teach it and to those who study it, and importance is more than strictly financial.

Don’t rank programs by their financial benefits to the university


This is a valuable activity even if PotashCorp doesn’t want to sponsor it.

KATLYNN BALDERSTONE and NICOLE BARRINGTONOpinions Writers

Belt-tightening as a response to spending cuts is already being felt in the fine arts and humanities departments. The loss of administrative assistants and high pressure on teachers to compensate for reduced budgets has put an unfair level of stress on administrators, professors and students alike.

Some fine arts students began feeling the effects of a reduced department budget at the beginning of the school year. For example, when printmaking professor Charles Ringness retired, the university did not hire anyone to replace him. Because the university was unwilling to reduce the number of first-year printmaking classes, since that would affect how many students could enter the discipline, all senior-level classes were merged into one.

With only one teacher and one class time for all senior classes, most in-class time was spent instructing second-year students. More advanced students had to wait until after class hours for help and advice.

The situation has improved since then, with a new professor hired to help ease the workload, but cuts to the fine arts are still a concern for many students in studio art. The pressure is especially heightened in the wake of layoffs

to the department’s administrative assistants.

Last November, five secretarial staff were laid off from the humanities and fine arts departments. Rather than having an administrative assistant working in each department, there is now a collective office in the Arts Tower shared by secretarial staff for all the departments affected. Clerical staff were laid off with no notice and the bulk of the student body was not contacted about these events until afterward.

Unsurprisingly, confusion quickly arose in the departments as these secretaries acted as liaisons, facilitating communication between professors and students. With no warning, the very people tasked with communicating with students were removed and no one remained to explain the situation.

This is only one example of how cuts to the fine arts and humanities have negatively impacted the university — so far — and it leads to more questions.

We know for certain that 40 people will be laid off in the near future to help deal with the university’s deficit, projected to be $44.5-million by 2016.

Although departments in the fine arts and humanities are relatively inexpensive to operate, there is widespread worry that these programs are not a top priority in the university’s long-term plan. TransformUS appears to favour commercial research-intensive programs and devalue

programs that promote creative, critical thinking and artistic self-expression, programs that make society culturally rich.

In a province with a booming resource-based economy, it seems that a distinct ideology is shaping the post-secondary education system here in Saskatchewan, one that values commerce-friendly education over more abstract knowledge.

Yes, the university has found itself between a rock and a hard place, but the TransformUS plan appears to rob the most vulnerable at the university.

To date, the divisions receiving the brunt of the cuts are in the fine arts and humanities. These programs cannot sustain themselves by bringing in private sources of income, whereas other colleges such as business and engineering frequently garner private-sector support. Should this lead us to believe that these programs aren’t beneficial to the U of S, to the province or to the world?

What will be prioritized as the university evaluates and cuts various programs? Are the current cuts for arts and humanities truly the end for those areas?

Is this it for cuts to the arts?

jenna mann/culture editor

Constant funding cuts endanger the structural foundations of the arts.

22%15%

49%4%

10%

4% A

B

CD

E 10%

14%

87% A

B

| 24 January, 2013 | thesheaf.com | 12 HearUs

20%

81% A

B

Do you think university administration has been transparent enough with

the financial plans?

Should top university administrators take pay

cuts?

SurveyUS: the results are in

BRYN BECKER

Worried discussions about the university’s financial situation have been swirling around campus and on the web since the university laid off five fine arts and humanities administrative staff members in November.

With the recent announcement of more substantial cost-cutting plans in the form of TransformUS, feedback from students has

been dominated by concerns about the nature of these measures and the role that students will play in reshaping the university’s academic and administrative landscape.

Since the university’s money issues have recently flared up to become a widely and hotly debated topic, this past week was the ideal time to gauge the campus community’s

initial reaction to the situation. We conducted an online survey to gauge

where students stood on the university’s cost-cutting measures, what students perceived the financial problems to be and how the university should go about solving its money issues.

Over a span of only four days, we

received over 290 responses from a wide range of U of S community members. What follows is a breakdown of some of those responses.

People may have chosen more than one answer on the survey, therefore some percentages may add up to more than 100 per cent.

92%

B

A

8%

Should students be allowed to sit on the TransformUS task forces?

How do you expect TransformUS will affect your academics or job, if at all?

samantha braun/graphics editor

a) Positively.b) Negatively.c) I don’t think it will affect me at all.d) I don’t know how it will affect me.e) No answer.

a) Yes.b) No.

a) No, the university needs to do more to explain the situation

and their actions. b) Yes, the university has done

a good job keeping us in the loop.

a) Yes, by taking cuts, administrators would show

solidarity towards other areas that are being cut.

b) No, the university needs to remain competitive in its hiring

practices.


Selected Survey Responses:We are a university. The only way

the U of S will continue to survive is if we can draw students in the future with programs and services that appeal to them. For that exact reason, students need to be front and centre in the decision making process of TransformUS.-1st year graduate student, Arts and Science

Is part of the financial problem at the university due to government cutbacks? I’m from northern Saskatchewan where many of our municipal governments are expressing concern at the level of government cutbacks resulting in discontinued programs in health, housing, education, etc., but then the nuclear industry steps in and says they’ll match any fundraising done dollar for dollar. It’s like the government creates the financial vacuum of dependency for industry to fill.

I’m concerned about the increasing corporatization of our university and I’d like to know if the same pattern is happening here, because if so, it’s no longer a centre of free thinking and higher learning. I got my two degrees

from the University of Saskatchewan, not the University of Cameco.-Alumnus

Although those in charge have begun to communicate more about the roots of this shortfall, the terms need to be more clear and transparent. The cuts to government funding play a role, to be sure, but when I look at the expansion of administrative activity (while academics are being called upon to justify their existence), I think more needs to be done to diagnose and explicitly identify the causes of the current situation.-Faculty member

I think there has to be a much larger degree of accountability and transparency throughout this process. The university has yet to show its students and employees that it is willing to do what is necessary to make this a fair process.-5th year undergraduate student, Political Science

With the amount of cuts that have already happened to my program and that might happen in the future, I have

already started considering my options for finishing my degree elsewhere. -5th year undergraduate student, Studio Art

Stop building new and expensive buildings if you have no money to do so. Seems simple to me. This has become a sad institution.-4th year undergraduate student, Agriculture

Don’t spend money on a new Aboriginal Students’ Centre, we have one in place. If we really needed that space why not put it in the new Place Riel and not continue with societal dualism?-5th year undergraduate student, Biology

The president of the university sent out an email the other day in which she stated, “my purpose here is to clarify what seems to be both misinformation and a lack of understanding of some of our initiatives as we work toward a position of long-term financial sustainability.” And then she did absolutely nothing in the remainder of the email to actually clarify anything.

I am both a grad student and a sessional instructor at the university, and if the president turned in that email as an essay, she would get pretty horrible marks from me for not actually arguing her thesis statement. It’s insulting to receive an email like that, because it serves to amplify the disconnect between the president and her cadre, and the rest of the university community. -5th year graduate student & staff, History

I understand that the university needs to make cuts. At the end of the day it is a business. But as a business, the clients needs should be prioritized, and yet there is very little acknowledgement of the university’s clients: the students. If there is going to be a positive outcome from this process, the administration needs to be much more willing to actually hear what the students are saying. Or else there may not be any “clients” left...-4th year undergraduate student, Religion and Culture

For more in-depth analysis please visit thesheaf.com/surveyus


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KASIA MAJEWSKIOpinions Writer

Paying more money for a lower-quality education with fewer resources is ridiculous.

I’ll admit I found the last few increases in student tuition rates perplexing, but I (naively) believed that I would be getting more because of them. I thought that my education would now be worth more because it was more expensive.

With the closure of the Emma Lake campus facility, however, came the rude awakening that I am paying more for my education but have fewer resources at my disposal. In fact, an integral part of the biology program had recently been eliminated with no advance notice.

I puzzled over how it was possible for administration to expect future biology students, who want to pursue careers in fieldwork, to apply for such work without having any field research experience.

Where does administration think field data comes from? A stork doesn’t deliver it to our labs. Someone has to collect information, and to do that, they need knowledge and practice.

This is when I realized that perhaps administration doesn’t actually understand how students learn or what they need to find work.

That would explain how the university is able to look at an integral resource for biology and fine art students alike and see only outdated equipment and cabins with unsanitary, unattached bathrooms. A money sink.

Administrators fail to see the immense historic value the Kenderdine campus holds for both artists and scientists. They

don’t see the rare opportunity the facility offers to study boreal forest diversity or the value of the tranquility and beauty of the setting.

The disconnect between administration and the student body is immense and students are paying the price.

The biology faculty is working hard to restore order to undergraduate degree requirements, which previously included a period of field study at Kenderdine campus. A new location for the 2013 summer field course has been tentatively established — still located at Emma Lake, but using the nearby Camp Okema facilities.

In addition, a committee comprising biology faculty, fine arts faculty, high-profile community artists and land use and environmental studies faculty has been established to improve the Kenderdine facility. The campus is scheduled to reopen in three years’ time.

Where financial backing for improvements to the facility will come from is still unclear.

The great debate lies in whether the university should accept corporate sponsorship, should it be offered, as financial aid. But as tempting as it is, corporate sponsorship may fall into direct conflict with the purposes of the campus. Is it possible for biology students to learn about the ecology of natural systems under the watchful eye of a campus sponsored by an oil or mining company?

There are no plans to sell the property but there is also yet to be a clear vision for which parts of the facility will be refurbished or what will be newly built on the site, save for the $33-million project by the Facilities Management Division. This project includes the installation of a zip line and jungle gym; it’s hardly what biology and arts students need, but is perhaps

a first step toward revitalizing the campus.

Personally, as much as I appreciate foresight into a potentially improved field site (this is a highly optimistic viewpoint), the timeline students operate on is much shorter than that of tenured faculty and administration. We, the students, need to demand more educational value for our money now.

The disconnect between administration and the student body is immense and students are paying the price.

Emma Lake campus loss a blow to arts and science

u of s archives

Kenderdine campus was a rare opportunity for fine arts and pure science students to mingle and find common ground.

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sheaf jan 24, 2013.indd 1 1/14/2013 10:47:09 AM


Dear University of Saskatchewan,

I vividly remember the day when I first laid eyes on you. An early summer morning, the sun shining across your sensuous body. Your figure etched dramatically against the prairie landscape. I knew instantly that there was something special about you.

I still remember the precise moment when, my entire body quivering with anticipation, I entered you for the first time. Through the airplane room. For a chemistry class.

I thought it could be that forever kind of love you usually only read about.

As the years passed, we grew

together, and so did our relationship. It was no longer just about the fun or the drinking, or how in debt we both were. It was about what we could learn, how we could change the world and ourselves. In the years that followed you taught me so much about the nature of life, the universe and everything.

I was ready to make a lifelong commitment.

But as we approached our four-year anniversary, my feelings toward you started to change. I started to see a side of you I had never noticed before. And it hurt me. You see, in my mind you had always stood up to the storm of ignorance and hate in the world around us. With you,

I felt safe expressing my opinions and to explore whatever piqued my interests. I felt I could experience the true spectrum of the arts and sciences, with your glowing support. With you by my side I felt I could be myself, no matter who that was.

I felt in my heart that it would be like this forever.

I now realize that I was the ignorant one. I ignored the fact that you, like everything else in the world, are not perfect. For a long time I blocked that fact out. When you made decisions I didn’t agree with, I would listen to your justification and accept it. But what I’ve started to realize is that we simply aren’t all that similar in our beliefs.

I want to be clear: we still share our passion. I mean, you probably like health sciences even more than I do, and it’s my major. But it’s the way you treat my friends that hurts

me. It’s like you don’t even really care about them and what they do. It seems like you couldn’t care less about our English, history and art friends. Frankly, more than a few of them feel like you’re always talking and scheming behind their backs. I think they are starting to resent me for sticking by you despite the things you’re saying.

To be fair, I know it isn’t all your fault. There has been a lot of pressure from the outside and I know you aren’t getting the same funds you’re used to. I guess people just don’t care as much about what you do anymore, especially when it has nothing to do with industry. But it’s how you’re dealing with this stress that’s showing your true character.

You may disguise your intents through “task forces” and “TransformUS,” but we all know your true intentions: to get rid of the

people who don’t make money.... And I’m sorry, but I can’t be a part of that.

We had some great times together and I’ll never forget all you taught me, but I guess this is it. Things between us are coming to an end. I can no longer be involved with someone who could marginalize such valuable parts of their community. So I’ll be moving on, exploring the world and maybe, if I’m lucky, finding a partner who shares my ideologies. And you, I’m sure you will find a path that works for you. You certainly have a bright future ahead of you as a technical institute.

Thanks for the good times. I wish you the best.

Maybe we can get a coffee sometime.

With love,

Andrew John Roebuck

9-5

9-7

Place Riel

Upper Mall

Jan 30 - Feb 1

I’m breaking up with you...

dan smolinski

| 24 January, 2013 | thesheaf.com | 16

the sheaf - january 17, 2013 - the money issue

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