Commerce proposes tuition increase
UMSU president Shawn Alwis expresses concerns about plan
Concerned for future students?
"Knowledge is power," said the philosopher Francis Bacon in the 17th century, but it might not come cheap to U of M business students beginning next year.
The I.H. Asper School of Business has released a financing plan that would have tuition fees for courses in the faculty raised from $134 per credit hour to $284 per credit hour, an increase of 112 per cent. However, because not all courses taken for a business degree are from within the faculty, the proposal states that the average cost of a business degree will increase from $17,427 to $26,760, an increase of 54 per cent.
When fully implemented after a five-year period, the plan would provide an additional $3.4 million to the school's annual budget. The plan would begin in September 2004, and would take five years to fully develop. The fee increases would apply only to future students in the faculty, with present students exempt.
The revenues from the tuition fee increase would go primarily to hiring 20 new faculty members and to the salaries of existing faculty. The school has had severe troubles hiring and maintaining faculty members in recent years.
According to Jerry Gray, dean of the Asper School of Business, the plan is necessary to attract and maintain high quality professors at a time when they are becoming increasingly more valuable in the marketplace.
"It's going to what we call a primary recruitment and retention strategy. We're short in numbers," said Gray. "We have to pay market salaries. We're losing people and we just can't hire people because we just can't pay the going rate. We've hired some great [professors] in the last 10 years. They stay until they prove they're good enough and someone else comes along and buys them out."
Gray is also quick to point out that the tuition increase will eliminate the current $500 per year surcharge that commerce students pay, increase funding for scholarships and bursaries from $50,000 to $480,000 annually, and raise annual funding for student groups and activities by $100,000.
"This is a huge increase in the amount of student aid available," said Gray. "We have no interest in turning away students who can't afford [tuition]; that's the last thing I want to do."
Shawn Alwis, the president of the University of Manitoba Students' Union is not pleased with the proposal. Alwis suggests that the proposal is a transfer of wealth from students to faculty members and administration.
"It puts 100 per cent of the financial burden for administering salaries on the backs of students and not in administration budgets where it belongs," said Alwis. "In fact, students will not get a single benefit from this proposal since 90 per cent of the revenue from the proposed student fee increases will go to professor salaries, many of which already exceed $100,000 per year."
Alwis is troubled by the idea that current students will vote over the financial fate of those who come after them and is worried that that a proper student debate over the issue will not occur. According to Alwis, the proposal should be brought to UMSU council to discuss whether it is acceptable for future students.
"It is completely unbelievable to ask students to vote for an increase that won't even apply to them. Existing students are being asked to vote for an increase that will apply [to] new students from 2004 to 2008 and beyond," he said. "UMSU council has to debate the merits of this increase. UMSU is the only legally and legislatively recognized student association on campus. To properly determine student support, it must come to UMSU council."
Gray insists that the faculty is between a rock and a hard place and that he does not think the government or any other source can come up with the money to keep Asper School on par with its national competitors.
"The costs of running a top-ranked business school is just getting higher and higher. That's true of every university business school in North America," he said. "If I thought the government was going to give us $3.5 million every year, I'd be the first one in the door. But I just don't think it's realistic."
Currently, the Manitoba government has a tuition freeze in place. In order to be eligible for exception, institutions must meet five criteria: the higher tuition does not adversely affect accessibility; the higher tuition does not have adverse effects on the labour market; the increase is in a field of study with a high graduation rate; the program has especially high costs and quality requirements; and there is clear support from students regarding the implementation of the fees.
Alwis thinks that the proposal from the Asper School of Business violates these criteria and expects that the Manitoba government will stay true to its promise of a tuition freeze.
"Thankfully, the proposal fails every criteria set by government to increase tuition. I trust the minister of advanced education will turn this down," he said. "If [the government] is saying that we're having a tuition freeze, then a tuition freeze should be in place."