EDITOR,
While the Capilano University Faculty Association respects the board's view (articulated in the North Shore News article "Fire CapU President, letter says," Oct. 6, 2013) that faculty input was encouraged and considered during the university's budget crisis last spring, the Faculty Association executive is concerned that much creative input was largely ignored. In fact, with the president and VP finance as members of that committee, it is conceivable the agenda had been pre-determined and no solution short of the miraculous would have been implemented because of what the Senate Budget Advisory Committee itself described as "the short time constraints."
Certainly there are budget challenges. This administration is dealing with government funding formulas which short change Capilano students in comparison to other post-secondary students in the province: Parents may well ask their MLAs why Capilano students are "worth," on average, at least $3,000 less than post-secondary students attending other Lower Mainland institutions. But parents also may wonder why the cost of administration at Capilano has increased approximately 50 per cent in the last five years while faculty costs have remained constant in the same period, despite the addition of 1,000 students in the same time period.
We believe that a far more open and transparent budget process can and must be implemented, a process that would meet the needs of our North Shore, Sunshine Coast, and Sea to Sky Corridor communities. That process would involve input from many people and groups both on and off the campus and would restore the institution to the position of respect it has held for many decades.
Joanne Quirk
President, on behalf of the CFA executive team
North Vancouver
