CAFA

Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations

11043-90 Avenue University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1 (780) 492-5630 (780) 436-0516 (fax)

Provincial funding cuts and Letters of Expectation will reduce access, quality and independence at Alberta universities, say academic staff associations
[For immediate release] Edmonton, April 2, 2013 Academic staff associations at Albertas four research-intensive universities are speaking out against the massive cuts in funding for post-secondary education announced in the March 7 provincial budget, warning that the cuts will have a dramatic, negative impact on the quality and accessibility of programs across the provinces post-secondary system. The academic staff associations are also raising concerns about the recently released Letters of Expectation that will require each post-secondary institution to sign on to the governments vision of a Campus Alberta more closely aligned with its own short-term agenda. Dr. Rob Sutherland, the President of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA), which represents the academic staff associations at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, and Athabasca University, expressed the shock and dismay of his membership at the major reduction in provincial funding for post-secondary institutions for 2013-14. The government has reneged on its commitment last year to provide increases of 2% per annum for three years to the operating grants to Alberta post-secondary institutions, said Sutherland. Institutions planning their own budgets on the basis of these increases must now absorb an unexpected and massive cut in provincial funding, amounting to upwards of 9% from what was promised for the coming year. The fact is that, on the heels of two years of flat-lined operating grants, even a 2% increase would have been insufficient to counteract the combined effects of cost inflation and enrolment growth in our sector. The deep cuts in operating funding to our public universities, colleges and technical institutes represent a huge step backward for post-secondary education in Alberta. It will have a major effect on our ability to provide the kind of top-quality post-secondary opportunities Albertans want and deserve. The cuts also run directly counter to the Premiers stated intention of making post-secondary education one of her governments priorities. Dr. Sutherland, who is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, also expressed CAFAs concern at the governments plans to re-purpose and re-structure the Alberta post-secondary education system by forcing each institution to conform to the terms of a ministerial Letter of Expectation. This attempt to dictate a solution to what Minister Lukaszuk claims is the duplication of academic programs and shortage of transfer opportunities in the system constitutes a blatant violation of the autonomy of our institutions, which has served the public interest well over the years, Sutherland said. Clearly, fiscal pressures are shaping the governments agenda with respect to advanced education. Such a hasty and ill- considered downsizing exercise, with the Minister attempting to interfere in setting the academic and research priorities of our institutions, and to determine outcomes for us, can only endanger the gains our sector has made in the last decade through sustained public investment across the system. No one questions the need to find efficiencies and seize opportunities for collaboration within the post-secondary system; but the model of Campus Alberta that the

Representing Academic Staff at Albertas Universities

CAFA

Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations

11043-90 Avenue University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1 (780) 492-5630 (780) 436-0516 (fax)

government is proposing, with the focus on its own agenda, constitutes a full-on attack on the independence and integrity of our institutions. Freedom from this kind of interference is not simply a theoretical question, it is fundamental to the work of the universities, which includes the creation of new knowledge and the education of future generations of critical thinkers. Sutherland also raised doubts about the Redford governments plans for a new umbrella organization or institute, through which it intends to strategically focus its research agenda and financial resources, by tying the post-secondary education system more closely to the governments research, innovation, and technology commercialization agenda. Diversifying and strengthening the economy is undoubtedly an urgent priority for Alberta, and the research universities are making a significant contribution in this regard, but the provincial governments ongoing attempt to remake the universities in its own image, and more tightly control the research that we do, is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what the universities are for, and what they can achieve, noted Sutherland. Research in our universities is not, and should not be, solely about producing immediate benefit to the Alberta economy; our universities were not set up for this purpose, and to insist that they align themselves more closely with the governments short-term economic agenda is simply misguided. The current emphasis on commercialization and applied research in a few areas with the prospect of an immediate economic return, to the exclusion of b asic research across the widest range of disciplines, risks killing the golden goose. The b enefits to Albertans of a balanced research portfolio in our post-secondary institutions are long-term and compounding. We need to be supporting both applied research and basic, curiosity-driven research, from which Albertans will benefit in years to come. Media Contact: Robert Sutherland, Ph.D. President, Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA) Alberta Heritage Medical Scientist Professor & Chair, Department of Neuroscience University of Lethbridge Telephone: 403-394-3987 E-mail: robert.sutherland@uleth.ca ******************************************** The Faculty Association of the University of Calgary, Association of Academic Staff University of Alberta, Paul Rogers, President Donna W ilson, President University of Lethbridge Faculty Association, Athabasca University Faculty Association, John Usher, President Mark McCutcheon, President