Gazette, 1976-03-19, Special Issue

              MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF
NEWFOUNDLAND
Gazette
Vol. 8      St. John's, Newfoundland
March 19,1976
University Relations
Room A-14
Arts and Administration Building
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Newfoundland
SPECIAL
ISSUE
Task Force Study to be
launched at M.U.N.
President's Open Letter
to Faculty, Staff, Students
NOTE
This letter has been delayed because I had hoped that
we would, by now, have the
decision of the Government regarding next year's grant. The
plan was that there would be a
meeting with the Cabinet Committee on M.U.N. Financial
Affairs on February 26th., but
that meeting has been postponed
on several occasions. On March
17th., the Chairman of the
Board of Regents and I met with
the Premier, the President and
the Secretary of the Treasury
Board to discuss the operating
and capital budgets of the University for next year. We expect
to have the decision within a
week or so. I have decided to
delay this letter no longer since I
am anxious that the Task Forces
begin their assigned tasks. I shall
write again as soon as we are
officially informed of the decision of Government regarding
our operating and capital
budgets for next year.
"Nothing   will   ever   be   attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."
Samuel Johnson
In my open letter to you
dated January 28th, 1976, I
explained the financial situation
for the fiscal year 1975-76 and I
outlined our efforts to meet that
situation. I appealed to all of
you for help in effecting
economies and for your constructive suggestions regarding
how we might make additional
savings.
I need not repeat the
various measures that were
adopted to eliminate the potential deficit in excess of one
million dollars on our current
operating account. We shall have
to wait, however, until late
April, after the books have been
closed, before we will know to
what extent we have succeeded
in balancing the budget. In the
meantime, I express my gratitude for your understanding and
your cooperation.
At one of the Convocations last May, I stated that a
period of financial restraint was
a time for the reexamination of
our basic objectives, and for the
remustering of our financial resources for the better attainment
of these objectives. I view our
current situation as simply a
temporary phase. The important
thing is to ensure that no action
now taken as a short term
remedy will impair our future. If
we had listened to the prophets
of doom in the past, this University would never have been
established nor would it have
developed to its present stature.
I assure you I have no intention
of listening to them now. Indeed, now is the time for us,
having reexamined and reconfirmed our basic objectives, to
enquire into how we might
better serve society, and to plan
positively for the future in order
that we be prepared to act as
resources become available.
We are not caught unprepared. Several years ago, all
faculties, Departments and
Schools were asked to clarify
their basic objectives and their
perceived roles within the University. More than a year ago
they were asked more specifically to identify their essential
core programs and to establish
the minimum requirements to
sustain such programs. A great
deal of ground work has therefore been laid for the critical
reexamination that must now be
undertaken.
Presidential Task Force
In my previous letter, I
stated our intention to reexamine the entire spectrum of
our activities, to seek ways and
means to increase revenues and
to decrease costs and to clarify
our order of priorities, not only
within the University as a whole,
but within the various divisions
of the University. That intention, in my opinion, can not be
satisfied by the negative act of
establishing a Presidential Committee on Financial Restraint,
however broad the scope of consultation   undertaken   by   that
Committee,
decided   to
I have, therefore,
establish a Presi-
deptial Task Force on University
priorities under the chairmanship of the Pro Vice-Chancellor,
Dr. L. Harris. This Task Force
has been selected in consultation
with the Senate Committee on
Committees. The assignment of
the Task Force will be to
examine and to analyze all
operations of the University, to
draw up a suggested order of
priorities within the University
as a whole and within each
component of the University, to
enquire into how revenues may
be increased and how expenditures may be decreased within
these components and to make
suggestions and recommendations on the basis of its finding.
This Task Force will be a fact
finding and advisory body reporting to the President. Its suggestions and recommendations
pertaining to academic matters
will go to the appropriate academic council and/or committee
of the Senate and then to the
Senate. Those pertaining to non-
academic matters will go to the
appropriate Vice-President for
recommendation to the
President.
Sub-Task Forces
Supporting the Presidential Task Force on University
priorities and reporting to it,
there will be established the
following seven Sub-Task
Forces, whose members have
also been selected in consultation with the Senate Committee
on Committees:
1. Revenue. To examine
ways and means of increasing the revenues of the
University. This assignment will include a study
of: (a) the provincial grant
to the University as a percentage of the provincial
budget; (b) comparable
practices in other provinces; (c) the extent to
which Une departments in
the Provincial Government
pay for research and services compared with other
provinces; (d) student fees;
tfe) ancilliary services to
Students; (0 the overhead
/lost of supported research;
/(g) endowments; (h) any
other related matter.
2. Faculty. To investigate
how (a) the University
spends its money in respect of full-time, sessional, temporary and
part-time members of the
faculty; (b) how the Faculties and Schools use that
academic staff; (c) types
of programs and courses
offered; (d) size of classes;
(e) actual levels of staffing;
(f) effects of nonreplace-
ment of positions falling
vacant; and (g) any other
related matter.
I. Academic Support Services. To investigate how
the University spends its
money on support services
directly related to the academic programs such as
support staff in Faculty,
School and Department
workshops and laboratories, in the library,
Technical Services, E.T.V.,
Audio Visual, Computer
Services, and any other related matter.
k Services to Students. To
investigate all activities
and the use of all budgets
related directly to student
services whether or not
they are under the control
of the Vice-President (Student Affairs and Services),
e.g., Thomson Student
Centre, Breezeway, Residences, Dining Halls and
Cafeterias, Counselling
Services, Harlow Campus,
Athletics, Glee Club,
Office of Vice-President
(Student Affairs and Services), and any other related matter.
5. Administrative Support
Services. To investigate
how the University spends
its money on support services indirectly related to
academic programs such as
Office of the President,
Vice-Presidents not subject
to examination by other
Task Forces, Registrar,
Centre of Graduate
Studies, Comptroller,
Administrative Services,
University Relations and
Development, Personnel
Division, Physical Operations, Campus Services,
administrative support to
Deans, Academic Directors
and Heads of Departments, and any other related matter.
6. Research. To investigate
how the University spends
money on research within
Departments, Schools and
Faculties and in special
organizations such as Institutes,   Centres,  MSRL,
RUVP, Oxen Pond Botanical Park, and any other
related matter.
7.    Community   Services.   To
investigate how the University spends money on
community services within
Faculties, Schools and Departments as well as within
non-academic divisions of
the University such as Extension Service, Centre for
Development of Community Initiatives, Office
of Vice-President (Professional Schools and Community Services), use of
facilities, and any other
related matter.
In support of these Sub-
Task Forces, 1 am asking Deans,
and Directors of Schools to
appoint their own committees to
undertake a critical review of
their activities and expenditures
by discrete components and to
make a presentation to the
appropriate Sub-Task Force. The
Directors of non-academic
divisions of the University will
be asked to make similar presentations without delay.
Normal Budgetary Process
Concurrently with these
investigations there will, of
course, be ongoing discussions
with the senior officers of the
University with respect to the
1976-77 estimates and a normal
process will take place. With
regard to these estimates, I can
now advise you that the original
requests of the various components of the University came
to a total of $48,295,566. These
were reduced under the direction of my office to
$43,686,000, a cut of approximately 10 per cent. Our submission to Government for a grant
of $39,956,000 was based on
the assumption that there would
be approximately a 2 per cent
increase in our full-time equivalent enrolment and that
tuition fees would not be increased. The $39,956,000 was
an increase in the 1975-76 provincial grant of approximately
$6 million, representing an increase in our budget of 17 per
cent, even though there would
have been an increase in the
provincial grant of approximately 21 per cent. The reason
for this difference is that without an increase in fees, and with
no substantial increase in enrolment, there would be little increase in our revenues from
sources other than the provincial
government.
Our Case for the Increase
The case that we presented
for the increase of $6.5 million
was based on the fact that we
are faced with the following
increased expenditures of $5.1
million over which the University has Uttle control and practically no flexibiUty.
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