GFC discusses funding cuts to university-affiliated daycares

At the May 26 meeting of the University of Alberta’s General Faculties Council (GFC), the motions to recommend the Accommodation Policy and the Discrimination and Harassment Policy to the Board of Governors (BoG) both passed. Additionally, question period included discussion on the university’s decision to withdraw funding from all six university-affiliated daycares, effective January 2026.

In his opening comments, President and Vice-chancellor Bill Flanagan said he looks forward to meeting with the new Minister of Advanced Education Myles McDougall. Flanagan also expressed his appreciation for the former Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney.

Accommodation Policy and the Discrimination and Harassment Policy to be recommended to BoG

The motions to recommend the Accommodation Policy and the Discrimination and Harassment Policy to the BoG both passed. Carrie Smith, vice-provost (access, community and belonging) (ACB), explained that the two separate policies originate from the Discrimination, Harassment, and Duty to Accommodate policy.

“The changes to the policy suite enabled more detail, transparency, and clarity for each audience to better assist our campus community in making informed decisions and providing access to relevant resources,” Smith said.

Vice-president (academic) of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) Chen Okafor raised concerns with the “vague language” in the policies. Smith said that these concerns will be addressed in ongoing collaboration with undergraduate and graduate students.

Vivian Mushahwar, faculty of medicine and dentistry representative, asked for an explanation of what safety means within these policies. Mushahwar also asked if the policies define issues of safety properly.

Smith said many discussions have been had about “the importance of nuance and complexity when it comes to talking about safety.”

“We have a number of action plans … that are very clear about the importance of embracing many viewpoints and ensuring that work and learning environments are safe from discrimination and harassment as well as are psychologically, culturally, and physically safe.

Funding cuts to university-affiliated daycare discussed during question period

Fiona Kelly, dean of the faculty of law, asked a question on behalf of Lise Gotell, faculty of arts representative. Gotell submitted a written question to GFC regarding the university’s decision to withdraw funding to university-affiliated daycares.

In her question, Gotell asked “how can a university that claims to champion access, community, and belonging justify eliminating child care subsidies, especially when the cost is modest, yet the benefits are transformative?”

The university’s written response said that “this funding was not a subsidy for daycare fees for students, faculty, and staff.”

“The funds ensured that a certain number of spaces in each of the affiliated centres were reserved for university-affiliated families. Members of the university community have children enrolled in daycare centres across the Edmonton region and in other communities where our university operates, and we cannot continue to provide funding only to these six affiliated centres near North Campus that benefit a small portion of the university community,” the response read.

On behalf of Gotell, Kelly said “the question of equity isn’t explicitly addressed, though it is raised in the question.”

Provost and Vice-president (academic) Verna Yiu emphasized that this decision was not an easy decision but one necessary in the face of ongoing financial pressures, including a deficit.

“You may think $300,000 is not a lot of money, but at the same time, when you’re running that type of deficit situation, $300,000 does equate to jobs,” Yiu said. “So we’re quite concerned about that, and quite concerned about ensuring that we deliver on our core mission of the university.”

“We do want to make it really clear that this is not a subsidy for the daycare centers,” Yiu added.

“This is a tragic error of the senior leadership,” AASUA President says

Marcie Chisholm, associate vice-president, human resources, health, safety, and environment, mentioned that the university provides support for child care expenses through the GSA’s childcare grant and the university’s child care benefit.

“The number of folks that were provided with front of the line access in exchange for the funding that we were providing to the daycare centres was less than 300 and not all of those spots were being used.”

“We also provided a year’s notice, recognizing that this would be a challenge for the daycare centres,” Chisholm added.

The Association of Academic Staff U of A (AASUA) President Gordon Swaters raised issue with the reasoning that finds the cuts justified because a small portion of the university community is impacted. According to Swaters, this decision is “tone deaf and out of touch with the realties of young parents with young children doing their best to contribute to this institution.”

“We are a diminished community for not allocating 300,000 lousy dollars out of an operating budget of $1.4 billion,” Swaters said. “This is a tragic error of the senior leadership.”

U of A Students’ Union (UASU) Vice-president (operations and finance) Nathan Thiessen sits on the board of a university child care centre. According to Thiessen, the board is having “difficult conversations when it comes to the operational and programming capacity of the child care centre.”

“I just ask that in financial decisions made by the university administration, [they are] internalized with the human impact that [they] have,” he said.

Thiessen also emphasized the need and demand for these child care centres.

“Amongst the six formerly affiliated child care centres, there were 331 spots that were taken up, 70-90 per cent of them being from the university community, with over 200 families on the wait list,” Thiessen said.

Funding cuts are a “really difficult [decision]” the university has had to make, Yiu says

Quinn Benders, president of the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA), emphasized the impact that these cuts have had on NASA’s membership, “two thirds of whom are women, and many who are on the poverty line.” Benders emphasized that this “a huge equity consideration.”

David Lachance Donald, Faculté Saint-Jean representative, discussed the challenges students face when balancing parenting with their education. Lachance Donald said that this decision should be re-discussed by university administration.

In response, Yiu said that the personal stories shared by GFC members are “very powerful.”

She said the amount parents are paying for child care at university child care centres is not changing because of the university’s funding. The funding was to reserve spots for university affiliated staff, students, and families.

“We’ve had to make some really difficult decisions, and this is a heart-wrenching one for us for sure,” Yiu added.

Additionally, Yiu presented a progress report on the U of A’s development of organizational values. This process is being overseen by the People Strategy steering committee. A proposed list of values is expected to be presented by the steering committee to GFC and BoG in fall 2025.

Yiu also presented the SHAPE implementation plan progress report. SHAPE is the U of A’s 10-year strategic plan. The majority of the plan’s deliverables are on track, Yiu said.