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June 23, 2014: Budget Update

On Tuesday, June 10, the Board of Directors of Capilano University adopted the 2014-15 Budget. Additionally, they confirmed the discontinuance of the programs and courses suspended in the 2013-14 Budget.

The Board, the Senate and the Executive would like to thank the university community for their support and contributions to the 2014-15 Budget process through the 5% budget reduction initiative conducted in February. This has been another challenging budget year, one that every department had to make difficult decisions to help achieve a balanced budget for the university. This campus-wide process, while difficult, was integral to ensuring Capilano meets its requirement for a balanced budget, while maintaining our focus on positive outcomes for Cap students.

Sincerely,
Kris Bulcroft

March 28, 2014: Budget Process Overview

Development of the 2014/15 Budget has been underway since the fall. The entire campus community has had an opportunity to participate in the process through a variety of means, including information forums, the Senate Budget Advisory Committee’s Budget Input on-line form, as well as the recently completed 5% budget reduction process. A recommended budget will be submitted to the Board of Governors for adoption in May.

This has been a tremendous opportunity for the campus community to come together and share our best thinking to address the budget challenges we face. Thank you for your participation and ongoing commitment to Capilano University.

February 24, 2014: Budget 5% Reductions Process

I wish to thank everyone who submitted their proposal for budget reductions by Friday's deadline. I know it is a difficult process to identify savings to equal 5% of the 2014/15 operating budget. Your input in this campus-wide process is integral to ensuring Capilano meets its requirement for a balanced budget, while maintaining our focus on positive outcomes for Cap students.

The next step is for all the proposals submitted to the VP Finance and Admin, to be reviewed in detail by Executive and the Senate Budget Advisory Committee (SBAC). Once this review is complete, areas may be asked for clarification and revision if necessary. Summaries will be posted on the SBAC budget website.

Beginning in March, SBAC will host forums to review the summaries and provide updates on the process and next steps. During this time, Executive will begin deliberations to prioritize the ideas based on the feedback from the SBAC Forums. Later in March, Executive will propose a balanced budget recommendation for consideration by SBAC. SBAC will host additional forums in April to share proposed budget reduction strategies. Please follow this link for forum dates.

Thank you again for your ongoing contribution to the process. We will continue to communicate as the process unfolds.

Sincerely,
Kris Bulcroft


January 23, 2014: 2013/2014 Input to the Budget Process

I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what we could have done differently in Capilano University’s past budget deliberations. As a learning organization, we always try to take the lessons we have learned and apply those to future deliberations and processes. I believe one of the things we have all learned is that we must harness the campus community’s best thinking in order to move forward together. That is especially true when thinking about how to find greater efficiencies, reduce costs, and increase revenues.

As one way of facilitating new thinking and shared efforts, we are asking for everyone’s participation in a campus-wide process to identify budget reduction ideas for 2014/15. Each of you has a stake in this process, a profound understanding of your areas of responsibility and a deep awareness of the resource implications associated with another year of reduced funding and greater demands.

I know this is a difficult request. It requires faith in the process, and the leadership to guide us through these challenging times. I ask everyone to bring their expertise to bear on this problem, and keep our commitment to maintain quality and serve the needs of our learners.

I cannot promise that each idea will be implemented in the final phase of the budget process, but I can promise that each suggestion will be given full consideration. This is our opportunity to come together to bring our best thinking to the table. This will take courage and trust and hope. This is the stuff that has made Capilano the great place it is today and will continue to be in the future.

Sincerely,
Kris Bulcroft

January 9, 2014: 2013/2014 Budget Announcement

Budget management is an ongoing process throughout the post-secondary sector. The status of the current year’s revenue and expenses is reviewed regularly to ensure that year-to-date results do not yield a deficit. This is necessary because BC universities are required by the Ministry to not run a deficit.

As a result of this ongoing review, it is now anticipated that the current 2013/2014 fiscal year (ending March 31, 2014) will have a projected shortfall of approximately $350,000. This shortfall is a result of a number of expenses, including: estimated actuarial costs arising from benefits for existing faculty retirees and legal costs related to a CFA lawsuit against the University.

With fewer than three months remaining in this fiscal year, the University must cover costs and prevent a deficit. Therefore, effective immediately, a 3% cut will be implemented across all operating budget expenses in order to achieve a balance in 2013/2014. Each unit will manage this reduction within their area to ensure, as much as possible, that students are not negatively impacted.

In addition, wherever feasible, hiring will be suspended until the next fiscal year.

These strategies will assist Capilano University in balancing its budget for 2013/2014 in accordance with current projections.

This shortfall is separate from the forecasted budget shortfall for the 2014/2015 fiscal year. The comprehensive budget planning process for next fiscal, 2014/2015, continues as scheduled.

December 10, 2013: The Federal Government is cancelling the Canada-B.C. Immigration Agreement, effective April 2014. This will result in more than $20 million in reduced funding to the Ministry of Advanced Education for English as a Second Language (ESL) programming. Capilano University was informed last week that as a consequence, the Ministry of Advanced Education will be cutting our base funding by $565,000. Capilano is one of 17 institutions to be affected by the cancellation of the agreement. We currently provide ESL programming for domestic, immigrant and new Canadians.

It is significant to note that this funding reduction is in addition to the estimated $2.5 - 3 million in reductions needed to balance the budget for 2014-15. Therefore, our current estimated shortfall for the 2014-15 budget is $3-$3.5 million. More information about this issue will be forthcoming as soon as it becomes available from the Ministry.

November 21, 2013: Draft Annual Strategic Priorities

The student experience is Capilano University's core business. Maintaining curricular and co-curricular offerings for students, and the associated support services and infrastructure, will be the central focus of strategic budget decisions. However, we also need to consider changes in the delivery of services or curriculum in order to better meet the needs of our learners while remaining cost effective and sustainable.

Due to government reductions in funding across the B.C. post-secondary sector, Capilano University is facing another fiscal challenge: balancing our 2014-15 budget. We are committed to providing a transparent and collaborative budget process, and detailed information has been made available and is updated regularly on Cap's website. This year's budget decisions will seek to:

  1. Maximize the opportunities for students and augment the student experience,
  2. Minimize the impact on faculty and staff, and
  3. Enhance university programs.

The Board of Governors is required to submit a balanced budget to the government each year. Government funding and rules, the university collective agreements of faculty and staff, cost increases, enrolment trends and a host of other factors are all taken into consideration when balancing the budget. At the same time we will be looking at new sources of revenue to help achieve a provincially-mandated balanced budget in 2014-15 and continued fiscal sustainability. This may require investment in the form of one-time or ongoing funding in order to accomplish our goal of adding revenue streams. The impact on faculty and staff will also be taken into account. If efficiencies, revenues or cost savings can alleviate the budget shortfall, these solutions will be pursued as preferable to layoffs and staff reductions.

Strategic priorities for the 2014-15 budget require creative thinking, collaboration and an open-mindedness that looks to Capilano University's future and the needs of not only today's learners but also the learners of tomorrow.

Additional information