Change is happening at Memorial, and in all Canadian universities. This is not news to those of us who have been on the scene for a while. Some of these changes are involuntary and unfortunate. In response to budgetary shortfalls, we've seen the Faculty of Science lay off a number of staff and some sessional faculty, and Technical Services has also laid off some employees. Over the past five years almost every other faculty, school, department, division and unit has been changed C through lost positions, attrition, alterations to services, etc. C because of declining financial resources.
Since 1994 the level of government grant to Memorial has decreased by some $19.6 million. Over the same time we have increased tuition by $8.4 million. That leaves about $11 million in a budgetary gap that we have had to accommodate. Add to this the increased costs of running the university resulting from such items as inflation, utilities, the GST/HST, salary step increases and the like, and you start to see the dilemma facing us.
Balancing Memorial.s budget has never been more difficult. What kind of university we can have, and what kind of university this province needs are among the questions that require debate. In fact, that debate has been ongoing for some time in various places within the institution, and just recently we had the opportunity to discuss these questions and the issues surrounding them as a larger community. The open forum for faculty and librarians that was held in late June provided an excellent starting point for a closer examination of the future of Memorial University.
One thing was very clear to me as I listened to the discussion that afternoon. There is a great deal of positive feeling that we all share for this institution and its role within this province and elsewhere. From time to time we will disagree on the means of achieving our goals. Would you expect any less in a university? But seldom do we disagree on the goals themselves. We share a faith in Memorial and the power of this university to effect change in our society C and change for the better.
Despite the ongoing fiscal crunch, I am inclined to see the glass as Ahalf-full,@ so to speak. As an institution, we continue to enjoy a great deal of public support. This support is currently best manifested by the success of The Opportunity Fund, funding as it does the enhancement of our scholarship offerings, new teaching and research initiatives, and the various capital projects C the new student centre at Grenfell College, the University Centre presently under construction in St. John's, and the to-be-developed Field House. These are all symbols of the new Memorial University C an institution that will inevitably change, but whose change will be shaped through co-operative and collegial processes into an institution that maintains its importance and relevance to Newfoundland and Labrador society.
I am confident that the public faith Memorial is fortunate enough to enjoy will also translate into ongoing government support for those initiatives that we define as central to our mission of teaching, research and community service.
We will be following up on the issues raised in the forum discussion, attempting to engage every academic and administrative unit in planning its own future, as well as our collective future. More about that in September.
Until then, I wish you and your families an enjoyable summer vacation.
A. W. May, O.C.
PRESIDENT AND VICE-CHANCELLOR