UPEI Board of Governors approves balanced budget

The University of Prince Edward Island released its 2015-16 Operating Budget today after it was approved at a meeting of the Board of Governors last night. The balanced budget, which is just under $107 million, includes a tuition increase of three per cent, keeping it among the lowest in the Maritimes, and sustains core program and services as well as UPEI's workforce.

'UPEI is so proud of the role we play in supporting student, faculty, and research success, and in contributing to the Prince Edward Island economy,' says President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. 'This budget strikes a balance between our University priorities and strategic investments for the future as outlined in our UPEI Strategic Plan.'

The budget plan was approved under the assumption that the provincial government's core operating grant, UPEI's single largest source of revenue, will increase by 1.6 per cent over last year's funding as the Government of PEI has not yet tabled its budget.

'We appreciate that post-secondary education continues to be a priority for the Government of PEI,' adds President Abd-El-Aziz. 'We arrived at this scenario after months of preparing for a number of possible situations, and working closely with senior government officials.'

Throughout the budget process, administrators across campus worked to minimize the impact on UPEI's most valuable resource-people-by continuing to reduce non-salary expenditures as much as possible. While the proportion of the operating budget allocated to salaries and benefits remains high at 72%, UPEI was able to sustain the workforce through vacancy management and attrition.

Anticipated flat enrolment numbers, normal inflationary effects, salary increments, pension commitments, benefit costs, heat, electricity, and deferred maintenance continue to be other cost drivers. University revenues are used to cover core-operating costs including wages, utilities, equipment replacement and supply cost increases. The principal sources of funding are the provincial government operating grant and student tuition.

Vice-President Administration and Finance Jackie Podger says, 'Though we recognize the rising costs of post-secondary education and do not want to overburden students, we did need to increase tuition rates to help counteract our significant budget pressures.'

The undergraduate tuition increase of 3 per cent represents $17 per course or $170 per year for a student taking a full course load. International student fees will also increase by 3 per cent.

UPEI Student Union President Dana Kenny says, 'While we cannot endorse a tuition increase of 3 per cent, we understand the challenges that the University faces when trying to balance the budget. We do appreciate the University putting the interests of students first and keeping fee increases to a minimum, but it is the continued opinion of the UPEI Student Union that annual increases to tuition be indexed to the Consumer Price Index.'

The operating budget does not include research funds, which are budgeted separately on a project-by-project basis but does include the budget of departments that provide support to research. Capital projects, such as the construction of the new School of Sustainable Design Engineering, are also budgeted on a project-by-project basis and reported within the capital assets fund.

UPEI's 2015-16 Operating Budget is posted online at upei.ca/publications.