BU rejects BUSU’s proposal to limit tuition hikes to inflation rate

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This article was published 19/03/2018 (2737 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A proposal from the Brandon University Students’ Union to keep tuition increases to the rate of inflation was voted down by the school’s board of governors on Saturday.

BUSU president Nick Brown introduced the motion, which came days after the university announced it may raise tuition by as much as 6.6 per cent.

Brown showed the board a video made by BUSU and the Canadian Federation of Students about the passage of Bill 31, which allows universities to increase tuition by the rate of inflation plus five per cent, and said students are being “punched and kicked” as they attempt to survive through university.

The board eventually voted against the motion, but prior to the vote, Brown shot back at suggestions that the university needs to save money and raise revenue elsewhere in light of recent cuts from the province.

“I think the bigger consequence is students not getting an education at all,” he said.

Board member Grant Jackson said the costs are increasing at BU faster than the rate of inflation, meaning BU would run a net loss should Brown’s proposal pass.

“I’m just not seeing how we keep the lights on for the next year until the government decides to change its mind in the next budget,” he said.

Brown responded saying the university should push back against the government more, but interim BU president Steve Robinson said while the university may or may not like what the province is doing with respect to tuition, it would be unproductive for BU to take a stand against the government on how it should balance its own budget.

“I think it’s the government’s authority to decide that, it has the right to decide that,” he said.

Despite this, the move did receive support from Hamid Mumin, who called the motion a “generous offer” considering the amount of waste from government in recent years.

“The irresponsibility of us as adults is being downloaded onto the vulnerable people in society,” he said.

The tuition hike would amount to a $22.30-$24.65 increase for a three-credit hour course, depending on the faculty.

The university is also proposing the elimination of nine positions, including three vice-presidents, after the province reduced the operating grant to BU by approximately $340,000.

Cutting or merging these positions is expected to save BU $750,000. However, these savings won’t be realized for another two or three years.

Robinson pointed out that the university is expected to receive $330,000 more through the Manitoba Scholarships and Bursaries Initiative, one-third of which will go to graduate students.

And while the motion did not pass, earlier in the meeting, members voted in favour of keeping fee increases to the English for Academic Purposes Program at no more than 2.25 per cent annually for five years starting in 2019-20.

The program, which helps prospective students improve their English in order to be admitted into a post-secondary institution, saw a fee increase last November to $3,500 per term from $3,000 previously.

The fee is still the lowest in the province, but BUSU argued that if it is raised any higher, prospective students would move to larger centres such as Winnipeg instead.

A paragraph in the motion, which proposed that the fees be the lowest of all three Manitoba universities, was struck prior to the vote.

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