2014-15 budget conversations offer the opportunity to discuss Concordia’s financial situation
This month, for the second consecutive year, Concordia concluded a round of 11 participatory presentations and four public information sessions about the upcoming annual operating budget.
The 2014-15 budget presentations directly reached more than 400 representatives from all sectors of the university, including the Faculty Councils.
Patrick Kelley, chief financial officer, and Benoit-Antoine Bacon, provost and vice-president of Academic Affairs, hosted the presentations on both the Sir George Williams and Loyola campuses.
Bacon said it’s important to keep in mind that, although the university is coping with fiscal constraints, the situation is stable.
“We are doing well, even in this tight fiscal context, because we are a large urban institution and because we offer a wide array of programs that are popular with students locally, nationally and internationally. That being said, we need to keep our eye on a certain number of potential threats, including our cost structure, rising costs of pension and uncertain government funding.”
For 2014-15, Concordia is projecting total revenues of $394.8 million and total expenditures of $397.6 million, resulting in a deficit of $2.8 million.
Universities are allowed to run a small deficit, in light of recent compressions. In fact, the 2014-15 budget takes into account annual cuts of $13.2 million to Concordia’s operating grant. The cuts were initially a temporary measure announced by the Government of Quebec in 2012; they were made permanent in 2013-14.
As a result, the university’s academic sector reduced costs by 2.5 per cent and all other sectors reduced spending by 6.6 per cent, beginning in 2013-14.
At its April 16 meeting, the university’s Board of Governors approved the 2014-15 budget and forecasts for 2015-16 and 2016-17.
The newly elected Government of Quebec is expected to release its first budget in June. Kelley doesn’t expect it to stray far from the previous administration’s plan to reinvest in post-secondary education in the next few years.
“The government has an understanding of the importance of universities, and the engagement with the minister has been excellent,” he said.
The four public information sessions involved a detailed presentation of the current budget situation, followed by a question period.
“The attendees’ concerns mostly centred on recruitment and retention, programs, the pension plan and cost structures,” Bacon said. “These are our concerns, too.”
Melina Ghio, a Concordia undergraduate student and vice-president of finance of the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA), attended the May 15 information session.
“I like to see that the administration is very focused on keeping a strong academic side,” she said.
Learn more about Concordia’s 2014-15 operating budget.