[Cornucopia]

Daily Bulletin

Friday, October 10, 1997


University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Yesterday's Bulletin | Previous days | UWevents | UWinfo home page

Departments face a budget cut

A "levy" of 1 per cent on most of UW's spending is required to make this year's budget balance, says provost Jim Kalbfleisch, who will present a financial update to the board of governors later this month.

He said he has told deans and associate provosts that departments need to give back 1 per cent of their 1997-98 budgets one a one-time basis, for a total saving of $1,339,000. The levy doesn't apply to certain budget items, such as scholarships, utility bills and library acquisitions.

"Many areas will be able to accommodate" the temporary cut, Kalbfleisch said on Wednesday, though he also conceded that any budget cuts are "painful" after the cutbacks of the past few years.

The budget update, being distributed to the board's executive committee on Tuesday, shows that salary increases to staff, faculty and teaching assistants cost $3.5 million this year. Annual spending on salaries and benefits is shown as $142.1 million. The university's total spending in 1997-98 is estimated at $177.6 million (after the temporary cut).

Revenue is up too, Kalbfleisch will tell the board of governors, thanks mostly to "higher enrolments than were projected". Tuition fees are bringing in $53.7 million this year, government grants $102.9 million and other sources of funds $20.9 million, for a total of $177.5 million.

"Full-time undergraduate enrolment is now expected to be nearly 2% higher than in 1996-97," the provost writes. "Part-time and graduate visa student enrolments are down."

A new minister of education

John Snobelen, who arrived as education minister promising to "manufacture a crisis", has been moved out of that job in the middle of his biggest crisis yet. Days before a threatened province-wide strike by teachers, Snobelen is being switched to the ministry of natural resources, as part of a major cabinet shuffle by Ontario premier Mike Harris.

[Johnson]
David J. Johnson
The new education minister is Dave Johnson, previously chair of the management board, whose reputation is being summed up by commentators this morning in words such as "calm" and "reasonable". He was the government's front man in settling its dispute with the public service, and now he can try his talents on teachers furious at the changes implied in Bill 160.

Johnson, a former systems analyst and then mayor of the Toronto borough of East York, is a graduate of Waterloo (MMath, 1968, after a science degree from McMaster).

UW president James Downey commented this morning on the skills Johnson will bring to bear on the triple problems of the school system -- "the financial side, the governance side, the curriculum side" -- but observed that he's not going to have much spare time to think about the equally pressing problems of universities and colleges. "We're just not on their radar screens," Downey said. He noted that this fall provides a golden opportunity for the province to act on post-secondary education funding, on the promised "partial deregulation" of tuition fees, and on student assistance programs, all in the context of last winter's Smith report. Ideally, Downey said, he'd like to see post-secondary education have a ministry of its own.

In other features of the Ontario cabinet shuffle:

Federal networks get funding

The federal government has announced that three of its Networks of Centres of Excellence are being dropped, while seven will get additional funding over the next several years. A further four Networks are up for review later.

The Networks of Centres of Excellence were described by industry minister John Manley as "a vital part of the federal government's science and technology strategy . . . this highly dynamic program". Each centre involves researchers from across Canada, in universities, government and industry, working on "problems of strategic importance to Canada".

The new funding amounts to "an investment of $94.3 million over four years", Manley said.

UW researchers are involved in nine of the 14 Networks, although none is based primarily at Waterloo. These are the 14, with their status following Manley's announcement (an asterisk* indicates a centre that involves UW researchers):

UW history nearly ready

The long-awaited history of the University of Waterloo, by designated historian Ken McLaughlin, is to be published on October 22. May Yan, director of retail services, said the bookstore will have the book on that date, with a $40 price tag to match the university's 40 years. Order forms will be available across campus.

Yan said the book's title is to be Waterloo: The Unconventional Founding of an Unconventional University. An earlier suggestion was that McLaughlin would recycle the title of lectures he has given about UW's history: "Dreaming in Technicolor".

Other notes, very briefly

Co-op interviews continue for students seeking winter term jobs. They'll go on all through October, except in the chartered accounting program, where today's the last interview day and ranking forms will be out on Wednesday.

The Graduate Student Association has a Thanksgiving potluck dinner at 6:30 tonight; there's a sign-up sheet in the Grad House.

The drama department's show "Female Parts" continues in the studio theatre, Humanities room 180, tonight and tomorrow night at 8; the show resumes October 15 through 18.

Sports this weekend include a Warrior football game at McMaster on Saturday afternoon. The field hockey Athenas host Guelph at University Stadium tonight at 6:00. The rugby Warriors, undefeated in spite of their difficulties, host Brock at 3:00 today at Columbia Field. Several teams are on the road, including the hockey Warriors, who are tuning up with two pre-season games in Ohio over the weekend.

A workshop on "Handling Problems in the Classroom: Crisis Management" is scheduled for Friday, October 17. Intended for both faculty members and teaching assistants, it's sponsored by the teaching resource office and runs from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. Information and registration: phone ext. 3132.

The Day of Atonement

For Jews around the world, tomorrow brings not festivity but solemnity. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins at sunset this evening with the Kol Nidre ("all vows") service and continuing with a liturgy of repentance tomorrow. The Jewish FAQ notes: "It is a day set aside to 'afflict the soul,' to atone for the sins of the past year. Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur."

So we come to Thanksgiving

All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin; and Monday, October 13, accordingly is the Thanksgiving Day holiday. UW offices and most services will be closed, and classes will not be held. Notes, so far as I have them, on specifics of what's in operation at Waterloo:
  • UW police: on duty 24 hours as always, 888-4911.
  • Student Life Centre: open 24 hours, turnkey desk 888-4434.
  • Library: closed Monday, usual hours Saturday and Sunday.
  • Maintenance emergencies: phone ext. 3793, 24 hours a day.
  • Computer networks: call helpdesk, 888-4357, to report major outages.
  • Computer Help and Information Place: open Saturday 9:00 to 7:45, closed Sunday and Monday.
  • Food services: Only the Village I servery and grill will be open.
  • Graphics Express: Open Saturday 12 to 4, closed Monday.
  • With the beginning of Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, may we celebrate with moderation and drive with care. The weather forecast is auspicious, at least for the next day or so, but it might be wise to dress rainproof for the Oktoberfest parade, which starts at 8:45 Monday morning on King Street. And may we be, as the old grace says, truly thankful; at Waterloo we have much to be thankful for.

    CAR


    TODAY IN UW HISTORY
    October 10, 1961: The university calls tenders for construction of the Arts building (later to be called Modern Languages).

    October 11, 1968: President Gerry Hagey issues a statement denying that the university has given in to the demands of student "activists" who have occupied the Campus Centre and ejected manager Paul Gerster.

    October 12, 1978: Malcolm Muggeridge fills the Humanities Theatre as he delivers the first Pascal Lecture.


    Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
    Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
    credmond@uwaterloo.ca -- (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
    Comments to the editor | About the Bulletin | Yesterday's Bulletin
    Copyright © 1997 University of Waterloo