University of Waterloo
Daily Bulletin
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Wednesday, July 19, 1995
Waiting for the government
Bring on the haruspices -- the ancient Roman seers who told the future
based on their observations in the livers of sacrificial animals. Let
the auspices (a rival college of fortune-tellers, specializing in the
flight of birds)
loose on the Columbia Lake geese. Ask the clairvoyants: what's the
Ontario government going to announce on Friday?
The planned statement about government spending may or may not be
specific enough that we'll know immediately about any effects on the
universities. The central question is whether, and just how, the province
will carry out its promise to cut $400 million from annual spending on
higher education, a promise made by the Progressive Conservatives in
the campaign that led to their election sweep last month.
The government is definitely in slashing mode, and Dave Johnson, chairman of
the management board, said on Monday that cuts are planned to every part
of government expenditure except health care, law enforcement and
"classroom education". It's not clear how "classroom education" can be
separated from the rest of education spending, though, in a system of
block transfers to boards of education, universities, and colleges.
UW president James Downey sounds moderately confident when he says
he thinks universities, and Waterloo in particular, will come through
the current uncertainties. After all, he says, there have been plenty of
funding crises in the past. And he says the long-term prospects are for
"more stable" funding of higher education, with less of the burden
carried by government and more by private sources (students, parents,
alumni and corporations).
Some questions as we wait for Friday:
- How much of the $400 million is to come from the annual grants of
$1,800 million ($1.8 billion) on universities, and how much from
colleges, job training and the JobsOntario program?
- If JobsOntario is hit, or completely cancelled, what does that do
to the $31 million in JO funding that had been promised for UW's
Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering?
- Will any of the budget cutting apply to the 1995-96 year, which is
already under way?
(Downey said this morning he's guessing that there
won't be any rollbacks to funding for the current year, although he
admits "there are no guarantees.")
- If grants are to be cut for 1996-97 and later years,
what increases in tuition fees will be allowed, to let universities
make up some or all of what's lost in government funding?
The president commented, "I hope people have some trust in this
administration by now, to know that we won't act precipitately, that
we'll reflect and consult" -- and that sudden layoffs aren't the way
to deal with problems.
Human resources open meeting
The
working group on human resources set up by the Commission on
Institutional Planning is holding an open meeting today, from 11:30 to
1:30 in the "multi-purpose room" of the Student Life Centre. A similar
meeting will be held Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. in Davis Centre room 1302.
Among the questions on which the working group wants comments from
staff, faculty and students:
- "How can the University adapt to changing societal needs and
funding levels? How can we share human resources more effectively
across units>"
- "Can/should we define 'equitable workloads'? How would these
be monitored? What portion of faculty resources should be in tenure
stream appointments?"
- "Salary and benefit packages: Are they right for the times?"
- "How should the University ensure that performance evaluations lead
to rewarding good performance and identifying areas for improvement?"
Power shutoff in Married Students
Electrical power, heating, cooling and ventilation will be turned off
in the Married Student Apartment complex tomorrow morning, from
8:30 to 12:30, for maintenance on the electrical substation. "Some
emergency power will be available," the plant operations department says.
Notes from here and there
Birthday greetings to Ginny Polai of telephone services, who's
marking her 50th at the switchboard today.
Damp spirits are the order of the day in the plant operations
offices. Repair work is underway on the roof of the General Services
Complex, and the heavy rain over the weekend has led to serious leaking
into the area where the department's design section works. "We're
kind of learning how the other half lives," says Dave Churchill,
director of technical operations, from somewhere under the plastic sheeting.
Quote drawn to our attention from a book list
supplied by the
UW bookstore:
"PSYCH 101 Myers: Psychology shrink wrapped w.st.gd.(Worth) $63.65".
Chris Redmond
Information
and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca
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