Financial Sustainability in Ontario Universities Trudy Pound-Curtis CAUBO Conference, Saskatoon SK June 14, 2004

1 Current Environment in Ontario  No Inflationary Grant Funding.  Unfunded student spaces.  Tuition freeze.  Large growth in capacity due to double cohort.  Growth to continue in GTA due to demographics.

3 Current Environment in Ontario  Increasing pressures on Quality and Accountability.  No plan for growth in graduate enrolment.

4 Financial sustainability can only be achieved by: Financial Sustainability – A Balancing Act   Decreasing base expenditures   Increasing base revenues   Managing cost pressures While maintaining a high quality institution.

5 Increasing Base Revenues 1.Increase Government Grants   Funding Formula Review to ensure Equal and Full Average Funding for all students.   Lobby Government for Inflationary Grant Funding to ensure that Quality can be maintained.   Work with Government to maintain/grow Capital Funding for New Buildings and Facilities Renewal.   Increase in Indirect Cost of Research Funding.

6 Increasing Base Revenues 2.Tuition – in the face of a tuition freeze?   Regulated vs Deregulated.   Increase Visa fees, which are not covered by the freeze?   Increase offerings of Professional Development or Full Cost Recovery programs?   Use the increased fee revenues to cross-subsidize the programs whose fees are frozen.

7 Increasing Base Revenues 3.Fundraising   Undertake a comprehensive fundraising program to offset the increasing cost of scholarships/bursaries, faculty, research, etc.

8 Reducing Base Expenditures  Explore different program delivery methods; i.e. Distance Learning.  Adjust program array to reflect the new funding reality.  Renegotiate collective agreement clauses that restrict course delivery methodology or that create other inefficiencies.  Outsource some non-core services; i.e. Janitorial/Maintenance, Postal, and Food Services.  Utilization of Technology – Ontario buys Program.  Horizontal vs Vertical cuts.

9 Managing Cost Pressures   Normal inflationary increases.   Compensation costs.   Benefits and pension costs.   Impact of poor investment returns and lower projected spending rates on endowments.   Proposed elimination of mandatory retirement.

10 Real Risks   Deterioration of institutional quality.   Deterioration of faculty complement.   Deferred maintenance.   Deterioration of administrative staff complement.

11 Constraints 1.Speed of Change in Universities. 2.Gaining Consensus in a Collegial Environment. 3.Creating Attitudinal Change. 4.Strength of Collective Agreements.

12 Summary In order to be sustainable, Universities must: 1. 1.Get a commitment from the government on sustained full funding for all students Negotiate Capital Funding in order to sustain and renew facilities Reduce expenditures through changing the way that courses are offered and reducing the array of programs to reflect the funding environment Renegotiate collective agreements to gain the flexibility required to create efficiencies through outsourcing or other means.

13 Questions