An excerpt from the storm closing procedure:
The university will be "closed" for the day if the Waterloo County Board of Education officially closes its schools for the day. (This rule means closing of all the Board's schools; it does not mean the closing of rural schools only, and it does not mean cancellation of school buses if the schools themselves remain open.)So there you have it: another winter workday. There have been no reported traffic accidents on or near campus, says Wayne Shortt of the UW police: "We've been very fortunate." He advises that the ring road is "glossy but driveable", and urges people to take care.When the university is "closed" on this basis, the closing is for a day and a night, ending at 7 a.m. on the next day. (This rule means that staff who work business hours need not come to work on that day. Staff who begin work that evening, for example at 6 p.m. or 10 p.m., also need not come to work.)
"We're not completely out of the woods yet," said provost Jim Kalbfleisch, noting that the special early retirement program is "one tool to help reduce payroll costs" but "not a total solution" to UW's budget problems. The shortfall for 1996-97 (grant reduction, minus tuition fee increase) is around $11 million, he thinks, and the early retirement plan, if it's a success, could save the operating budget that much -- but at a cost of $10 million in cash payouts and other costs that would have to come from somewhere. One possibility is to pay off $2 million a year over five years, as long as there's some confidence that another huge cut won't hit the budget in 1996-97.
The "best case assumption", the provost said, would be that the government has now done all the dirty work. "The worst case that I would envision now is a repeat" of the current cuts.
The meeting spent some time talking about "horizontal" cuts, an attempt to let every part of the university suffer equally, versus "vertical" cuts, conscious decisions to eliminate activities or programs or departments altogether. "My sense is that there probably will be some program closures in the year ahead, although I don't think it has to be dictated from the top down," said Jeanne Kay, dean of environmental studies.
Kalbfleisch said there's no plan in place yet for deciding which vacant positions will have to be filled in 1996. He's estimating that it will be "essential" to replace about 30 per cent of faculty and staff who take early retirement, partly because some departments will be hit much harder than others.
At the University Club: roast turkey, beef and vegetable stroganoff, seafood of the day, vegetarian shepherd's pie, chicken of the day, two daily chef's specials, vegetarian chili, cold poached salmon fillets, salads, cold meats, cheese board and breads, Christmas pudding, other desserts. Price: $13.95 plus taxes. Reservations for the buffet (lunch 11:30 to 2, dinner 5 to 8 p.m., now through December 22): ext. 3801.
From the Club, Susan McGraw adds: "Could you please put a message out to the campus about donations to the Food Bank. Maybe when they come for lunch or dinner they could bring in a canned good of some sort. I am having a weekly draw for people donating items to the Food Bank (T-shirts, gift certificates, etc.)."
And condolences to Jeanne Kay, dean of environmental studies, who had her coat stolen from the third-floor corridor of Needles Hall while she was in a meeting yesterday morning. Crime in high places!
Chris Redmond
Information
and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca