@"@ UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
_ of the FRASER VALLEY

reac

Volume 11, Number 8

March 14, 1997

UCEF'V faces major funding shortfall for coming year

The failure of the provincial government
to fulfill its commitment to the University
College of the Fraser Valley has resulted
in a budget shortfall of more that $1.2
million for the coming year.

“The government has given us the
same amount of dollars as last year.
However, they have also insisted on a
province-wide framework agreement with
our employees that includes a pay

increase of approximately 1.8%
without giving us any money to
implement it,” said UCFV
president Peter Jones. “They
have also funded a major new
building on the Abbotsford
campus without any new
funding to cover additional
operating costs.

“Finally, and most important
of all, we find ourselves without
the funding for 458 full-time
equivalent student spaces that
was committed to us when we
were turned into a four-year
institution. The fact is that if we
had the promised $4 million in
additional funding we wouldn’t
have this problem and we would
be able to offer students the
courses and services they need.”

The commitment was made
in 1991 when the government
transformed Fraser Valley
College into UCFV. The
funding commitment included
an increase of more than 1,200

for a basket.)

4583 for details and other game times.

B.C. champs! The women’s Cascades basketball
team. won its second consecutive provincial title
March 1 with a 60-47 victory over Malaspina.
(Pictured above: UCFV’s Nicole Schubert drives

The Cascades play in the nationals starting
Thursday, March 20, at Simon Fraser, with a 2 pm
game against Lethbridge. Call Jane Antil at local

FTE (full-time equivalent
student spaces) over a five-year
period. On this basis, UCFV
introduced nine new bachelor’s
degree programs, added several
other new programs, and
expanded its facilities and
services to serve approximately

1,500 new full- and part-time students.

Now at the end of the five-year start-up
period, UCFV has still not received
funding for 458 of the promised spaces,
which was expected to add approximately
$4 million to the annual budget. Three
other university colleges were created in
the province a few years before UCFV
was. They all received their full funding
commitment during the start-up period.

Another factor which compounds the
problem is that although UCFV has added
new programs, and some new funding has
been received, the population growth in
the Valley has continued to outstrip the
college’s ability to serve as many students
on a per capita basis as other college
regions in the province do. The population
of the Valley is growing faster than the
university college’s ability to provide the
education that the people of the region
need.

As a result of this combination of
insufficient funding and population
Please see page 2