MUN's budget changes could hurt course offerings and student life, say unions

Unions representing members of Memorial University are disappointed by the institution's recent announcement of restricted hiring programs and budget changes — but say it was inevitable after provincial government funding cuts.

The university spoke with reporters on Friday, and pointed to a 5.4 per cent drop in enrolment as the source of its financial problems.

Faculty and lecturer unions say there is more to the problem than just tuition fees.  

"To sort of roll out on a Friday afternoon that you're planning to drastically downsize the university and potentially let lots of staff go, and do that right before Christmas is pretty shocking," said Russell Williams, vice-president of MUN's faculty association. 

But, he says, the announcement was bound to happen.

"We've kind of known this is coming for quite a while," he said.

In an email to CBC News Tuesday, Chad Pelley, manager of communications and media relations at Memorial, countered Williams's claims. 

"There are no plans to 'let lots of staff go' as was speculated," Pelley said. 

"In the coming weeks and months, we will be looking to the university community for serious and bold ideas for Memorial's future. Focused discussions need to occur around the future direction of Memorial University, its strategic priorities and any structural changes required."

Williams said the university has been in a state of disarray for some time, adding there's a struggle to provide basic programs, staff cuts and crumbling infrastructure. 

For now, he said, it's unclear exactly who or what will face cuts coming out of Friday's announcement. He said many people are on year-to-year contracts, which means their jobs might be in jeopardy. 

"I don't know what the president's plan is because the president hasn't talked to anyone about what the plan is," Williams said. "So we don't know, going forward, what we're going to be cutting, what people we're going to be losing."

Williams said the university is deflecting by blaming the decline in enrolment on its budget constraints and is failing to mention the provincial government's $68.4 million cut to funding announced in 2021.

"I think the real purpose of the announcement on Friday was just to tell us all bad things are coming," he said. 

"We really need the premier to come back to the table and engage in a conversation about what the future of the university is."

Potentially more precarious positions

The university's lecturers union is now in a weird position, says Alison Coffin, who teaches economics and is part of the Lecturers' Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland (LUMUN).

Coffin says a hiring freeze may mean the union will actually gain more members because it represents per-course instructors. Meaning, if the university cuts down on full-time staff, a lot of courses could be taught by per-course instructors, she said.

Those jobs work on 16-week contracts, which Coffin says comes with lower pay, no benefits and very little job security.

"We are the most precariously employed people at the university," said Coffin. 

She also says that a decrease in enrolment shouldn't have been a surprise to the university that had already seen decreasing numbers before the federal government's changes to international student intake. 

"It must have been something like MUN's actions or policies or maybe it's tuition structure that caused that drop in enrolment," said Coffin.

Students also impacted

MUN's students' union says the province's funding cuts are at the core of the university's budget problems. 

"Now we're seeing the effects of that and we're seeing something really scary, which is what could be the deterioration of our only public university in the province," said Nicolas Keough, MUNSU's director of external affairs. 

Keough said the budget changes will impact students with the continued crumbling of infrastructure and a decrease in course offerings. 

Students are already concerned about continued cuts to programs and course offerings that have already prevented some from getting the required credits to finish their degrees on time, said Keough, adding he doesn't believe the university when it says tuition fees won't be impacted by further cuts.

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