The University of Calgary has cut a projected $47.5-million deficit by more than half and set aside a contingency fund of $30 million in passing a balanced budget for 2011-12.
The university's board of governors passed a $1.09-billion budget Monday that also includes increases in tuition and previously approved fees that kick in this fall.
The university carried a $21.1-million deficit last year and had projected a $21.7-million shortfall for the new budget, but has instead managed to balance it.
The school is now projecting a deficit of $6.6 million next year and $21.3 million in 2013-14, less than half what was forecast a year ago.
"The ability to balance the budget and to be able to reduce the forecast has really been working with faculty, staff and the students," said Jake Gebert, vice-president of finance and services.
"It's a juggling act, but we are positioned way better since I've been here, probably in the last 10 years."
The budget includes a 0.35 per cent tuition increase, which will amount to an average $18 extra per semester, which students' union president Lauren Webber voted against to protest two other previously approved fees that will cost students much more.
"I do realize that 0.35 per cent isn't that much but, all in all, tuition and fees that students are paying are above inflation next year," said Webber. "That includes the mandatory non-instructional fee and the phase in of the market modifiers."
The 0.35 per cent is a provincially mandated increase tied to inflation, but starting in September students in the bachelor of commerce and master of business administration programs will face a market modifier fee on each business course they take.
Undergraduate students in the Haskayne School of Business will pay $233.06 per course and those in the MBA program will pay $313.09 per course.
Undergraduate commerce students typically take one business course in their first year, which will now cost $758, up from $525. The cost of a four-year degree will increase by about 20 per cent, based on current course costs.
These fees were approved last year by the province.
James Lange, president of the Graduate Students Association, said his membership supports the additional fee.
"For us, it only affected MBA students who are actually willing and almost happy to pay for the program because they think it'll increase its profile and be a good investment," said Lange, who noted that the money raised by the fee will go directly to the faculty to market programs and attract better professors and more resources.
"Like any responsible citizens, we're willing to pay more if we're getting value out of it," he said.
For the second year, starting in September, students will also pay a non-academic fee at a reduced rate. For the 2011-12 students will pay $150 per semester, which should generate $4 million during the year, but in 2012-13, that rises to $450 per student for $12 million in additional revenue.
These fees, along with an increased enrollment of nearly 1,000 full-time equivalent positions in September, have led to more money in the school's coffers.
The U of C's endowment fund also hit record high value of $422 million in the fall after recovering from the recession. An administrative review begun in early 2009 has generated $10 million in annual savings.
This has all helped the university build up a $30-million contingency fund that the school hopes to increase to $50 million, or five per cent of the total budget, by March 2012.
"We started this two or three years ago," said Gebert.
"We said we'd balance our budgets, we'd fund our commitments and we'd set up a contingency fund.
All three of those were done to give us financial sustainability. We now have some, what I call, degrees of freedom."
Negotiations for a new collective agreement for the Faculty Association that represents professors and instructional staff will begin in the coming weeks as the current contract expires on June 30.
Gebert said a three per cent increase has been factored into the budget as an estimate.
"We're always making assumptions as to what the future is," said Gebert. "We've used a three per cent inflation adjustment for all salaries."
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