Rosty SorokaThe bodies representing undergraduate and graduate students, academic and non-academic staff, and post-doctoral fellows have come together to jointly host tomorrow’s protest against the University of Alberta budget.
The protest, scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. in Quad, will see students, faculty, and staff urging the university to amend their budget, which includes a four per cent across the board cut, 3.14 per cent increase to international tuition, four per cent increase to residence rent, and more expensive meal plan in Lister. In a joint statement, the bodies said the budget needs to be amended in light of the Campus Alberta Grant for post-secondary institutions receiving a two per cent increase to funding and backfill funding to cover the domestic tuition freeze.
“The University of Alberta senior administration has not adequately responded to concerns from the campus community, and must amend the budget to take the university’s increased revenue into account,” the statement said.
University President David Turpin said in a statement that the university has been assured by the Ministry of Advanced Education that they will receive the full two per cent increase to their Campus Alberta Grant and their full share of the backfill funding. Given this, Turpin said the university administration will “further develop the budget options we had been exploring to determine how additional funding could best be used.”
Once the university receives a formal letter from the government outlining the funding it will receive, Turpin said the university “will be in a position to have more concrete discussions with the Board.”
