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Pass the rock! The men’s basketball team improved from last year and their future looks bright. >> pg. 7
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CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906
VOLUME 107, ISSUE 89
Senate passes UWO budget London MPP fights Provincial cuts strain university operations for student co-ops Iain Boekhoff & Megan Devlin NEWS EDITORS Western’s senate approved the 2014–15 budget on Friday, which will see investment in increased study spaces on campus, a new vice-president student experience, renovations to Delaware Hall and University College and investment in IT infrastructure, including a new e-mail system. However, there is a projected $10-million deficit next year, due in part to the millions in provincial government funding cuts. The budget was presented by provost Janice Deakin, who cautioned that the next four years will not be as fortuitous as the last. “Part of this new cycle was a reality check,” Deakin said. “That over the next four year cycle, in the absence of continued incremental students, we’re going to have to constrain how we spend our dollars.” With the Ontario government “turning off the taps” and Western’s debt exceeding its own set maximum limit, several faculties are facing cuts. University Students’ Council president Pat Whelan was pleased to see student priorities among the top priorities of the budget, but warned the affordability of education could become a bigger problem. “I think what our biggest concern here needs to be is that we ensure that the money is following where students actually are and teaching quality will not be compromised [...] that the quality of our in the classroom experiences is not being impacted by the broader university politics of the budget,” he said. Something the USC has advocated for is a dean of students, and they got that wish with the splitting of the vice-provost students and academic programming portfolio into three different positions, including an associate vice-president student experience. This vicepresident will report to the provost and their only concern will be the out-of-classroom experience for students, covering mental health, among other things. Other student-focused investments include $1-million for student entrepreneurship, $2-million for e-learning, $8-million for increased study spaces and $10-million in IT improvements, including a replacement for the oft-criticized Convergence, the current e-mail system. Deakin said Western can’t keep
University Budget 2014/2015 $678m Total operating revenues
increase of 3.1% from 2013/14
$689m Total expenditures
increase of 3.9% from 2013/14
$51.7m One Time Allocations
$28.9m Total Scholarship and Bursaries
$57.8m Provincial grant reductions
$10.1m deficit
Tuition rising by 3 % for all undergrad faculties Tuition rising by 5 % for all second entry programs
Iain Boekhoff NEWS EDITOR A new bill in the Ontario legislature seeks to create an advisory council to increase the number of workintegrated learning opportunities, such as co-ops, internships and field placements. The Learning Through Workplace Experience Act was introduced by London West MPP Peggy Sattler last week and passed second reading, meaning it will move to the standing committee on social policy. Sattler explained that the research backs the need for work experience in the university experience for students. She said that London has been hit by a rise in youth unemployment, from 11 per cent in 2007 to 21 per cent in 2011, and having work-integrated learning in education means youth have a higher chance of getting employed after graduating. “It’s more important than ever that students gain work experience during their post-secondary study, to help them transition seamlessly into the workforce, get jobs that reflect the skills they gained during post-secondary study and help our economy grow and prosper,” Sattler said. Sattler received support and input on the bill from Amir Eftekarpour, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. He said he requested there
be a specific mention of paid positions within the bill so that students are protected from employers looking to take advantage of their skills. “We heard from many students that the work they are asked to perform as part of their college or university program ends up being unpaid, menial, routine tasks,” Sattler said. “Focusing on ‘workintegrated learning’ will ensure that the work done by students during their program addresses specific learning outcomes and actually contributes to their learning, and that students have opportunities to critically reflect on their experiences.” Eftekarpour said a work-integrated student typically makes $2–3 per hour at their first job and they have a much higher percentage of finding that first job. “Work-integrated learning is increasingly being understood as a solid way to give university students, who usually have […] less tangible skills, with the opportunity to connect their classroom experience with the workplace,” Eftekarpour said. Eftekarpour stressed the importance of work-integrated learning throughout many disciplines, giving as many students as possible the opportunity to have work experience in their education and, hopefully, get them employed in their subject area sooner after graduation.
Tuition rising by 12 % for international students in BMOS Mike Laine GAZETTE
growing at the rate it has in the last decade and must limit its reliance from the incremental revenue gained by increasing enrollment. Next year, regular undergraduate tuition will increase by three per cent, and professional undergraduate programs such as medicine, dentistry, law and engineering will see a five per cent increase. While the financial situation Deakin outlined seemed grim, she stressed that Western was in a stronger position relative to other Ontario universities. Alison Hearn, a professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and president of the UWO Faculty Association, was extremely worried about the quality of education at Western. Faculties such as Arts and Humanities, Social Science, FIMS
and even health sciences are the ones facing budget cuts of up to 30 per cent. Hearn demanded answers at senate as to why these faculties were the ones being punished. “The professional schools, who have de-regulated tuition and are able to charge a lot of money are doing fine,” Hearn said. Deakin spoke of a revenue model where “money follows students”— where each faculty sees a certain amount of dollars to account for each student it attracts. However, Hearn doesn’t think this model is working. “I think it pits faculties against each other for students,” she said. “Then it encourages a view of students like they’re just walking around with dollar signs on their heads.”
OntarioNDP.com
MORE WORK, MORE PAY. London West NDP MPP Peggy Sattler introduced the Learning through Workplace Experience Act in the Ontario legislature which aims to increase the amount of (paid) co-op opportunities for university students.