Representatives of students and staff at the University of Alberta are concerned about how funding will be found for the Peter Lougheed Leadership College (PLLC) following the government’s announcement that it will temporarily suspend funds for the program.

Early last year, the Alberta government decided to halt funding for the PLLC from 2018 to 2020, which will represent a $10.5 million shortage for the college. The decision relates to the province’s commitment of $70 million to the college over a ten-year period. However, the province said it will honour its agreement to the university by funding the college for three additional years once the pause is lifted. In the meantime, U of A president David Turpin said the university will look at restructuring the program’s finances to make ends meet.

“Government has approached us and asked us to take a funding holiday for three years, but they would continue to pay out the total amount,” Turpin said. “So what we’ve done is just restructure the cash flows within the program so during the duration, (the program’s finances) comes into balance.”

Turpin said he understands the province is facing significant financial challenges and that the university is trying to be supportive of government.

In a prepared statement, Minister of Advanced Education Marlin Schmidt said the suspension of funds to the leadership college will save the government $3.5 million a year.

“Our government’s priority is to ensure that the majority of government funding to institutions goes to support students and staff, and this funding suspension supports that goal,” he said.

Turpin said the funding for the PLLC will come from the revenues generated within the college, both from the program and from Peter Lougheed Hall. Currently, 107 of 143 spaces in the hall are occupied.

Concern over how funding will be found

News of the funding suspension comes at a time when the university is implementing a four per cent budget cut across all faculties, as well as a 2.5 percent cut in the following two years in order to address its $14 million deficit.

When the budget cut was passed, the university predicted it would see no increases in government funding. However, following the provincial budget announcement, the university learned it would be receiving more money than it expected.

A statement from Heather Bruce, the president of the Association of Academic Staff at the University of Alberta, expressed concern over how the university will find the funding in light of those cuts.

“It is quite simply unacceptable that president Turpin now proposes to take funds from the operating budget in 2018-19 to fund the activities of the Peter Lougheed Leadership College… which serves a very small percentage of our students with limited involvement of the academic staff and which was supposed to be self-sustaining,” Bruce said.

However, Turpin said the deficit created by the funding suspension can be resolved as long as the government follows through with its commitment to pay out the original agreement of $70 million.

“Provided the government continues the funding three years from now, over the ten year period it will all balance out,” Turpin said. “But if government shouldn’t, we will have a big hole to fill.”

Students’ Union vice-president (academic) Shane Scott said while it preferable that the university makes up the funding shortage by looking within the PLLC and not draw funds from other university revenues, he still questions how Turpin can be optimistic about the program’s finances.

“As the president has reminded us, there are so many unknowns in the provincial government’s fiscal situation, so for him to be so confident that the money is going to come back is concerning in itself,” Scott said.

Scott also referred to the report authored by Peter MacKinnon last year, which said the college is not financially sustainable once the Alberta government’s 10-year funding commitment expires.

“We already know the PLLC was so financially strained itself,” Scott said. “Part of the whole picture is not being displayed.”