As we enter the final leap leading to the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, it seems as though budget deficits and other financial ills have been a recurrent theme in news related to the university over the past season.

Adding to the fore is Vice-President of Administration Don O’Leary’s recent announcement that the university is facing yet another monetary shortfall. In this case, a $10.5 million deficit that has department heads crunching numbers as they assess their financial viability and prospects in light of what are perceived to be irrevocable cutbacks.

At present, appeals have been made to department heads that they make changes to their operating budgets in order to reflect fiscal shortages. While at this point, only an 11 per cent skim has been requested, O’Leary has identified the possibility of additional cuts in the future.

Perhaps most disconcerting is the looming possibility of layoffs. As has been cited by Mr. O’Leary, this is related to the fact that salaries absorb roughly 85 per cent of Trent’s operating budget, which for the 2007-2008 year, measured in at $85 million.

“When you make cuts as significant as these, there are going to be some staff reductions,” commented O’Leary in an interview with the Peterborough Examiner.

As many students are aware, earlier this year the administration was embroiled in disputes over wage increases with two of Trent’s labor unions - CUPE 3908, representing part-time contract faculty and OPSEU Local 365, which represents non-teaching support staff. While too early to speculate, it is worth considering whether layoffs could ignite the possibility of future turbulence within the enclaves of Trent’s unions.

Alex Atfield, vice president of CUPE 3908, identifies two possible repercussions for part-time faculty. First, there is a chance that part-timers will fill in the ranks of retiring full-time staff. On the other hand, positions amongst part-time contract faculty could ultimately face cuts.

“It could mean we’ll have more of our members filling those positions. But it could mean that we’re the first on the chopping block,” said Atfield.

Cited as causes for the budget are unexpectedly low rates of new student enrollment, inflated costs related to various expenses and lacking financial support from the government.

In a breakdown of the budgetary shortfall, $5 million accrues to the 400 less undergraduate students enrolled last September than in previous years; $3.5 million is attributed to a structural deficit; $1 million due to inflation and the rising costs of servicing the collective agreements of unionized employees, and an additional sum of $1 million associated with a decline in government funding for accessibility and quality.

The problem of low student enrollment is a curious issue when viewed through the lens of Trent’s history. Since roughly 2003, Trent has embarked on a new marketing strategy that was believed to attract a broader and more diverse composition of students. Among other things, a primary issue that came to the fore was Trent’s tag line, “Canada’s outstanding small University”. At the time, it was believed that this restricted the scope of Trent’s reputation, conveying a sense that, according to Don Cummings, Senior Director of Public Relations, “gave the impression that Trent was a small-town University, unable to fill classes.”

While it has been difficult to find a conclusive figure concerning the total cost of this new marketing strategy, it has been speculated as tallying within the millions. When the catchphrase, “The World Belongs to Those Who Understand It” generated widespread controversy over charges that it housed colonialist, classist and elitist undertones, the university shelved this motto in addition to numerous promotional materials (pamphlets, billboards, etc). Replacing this is our current slogan, “Learning to Make a World of Difference.”

Questions to consider now, then, are whether or not this strategy has been effective in attracting more students if indeed low student enrollment is a primary cause for low financial performance.

In 1998, Bonnie Patterson, Trent’s current Vice-Chancellor and President, was hired on under the rational that she would improve financial situations at Trent. Since that time, we have witnessed her salary rise exponentially to its current total at $309,000 per year. Accompanying such rises have been rising debts, student protests, the withdrawal of many invaluable faculty members and an across the board drop in Trent’s ratings in Maclean’s annual survey of Canadian universities.

While the administration has managed to reduce its current debt to around $7 million by drawing on other resources, the repetitious cycle of poor fiscal management over the last 10 years is a worthy cause for disillusionment.

Viewed in light of President Patterson’s recent announcement that she will step down as president in June of 2009, would it be too brash to ponder if Trent will ever balance its books?

Trent University's longest-serving president will not stay on for a third term.

Bonnie Patterson announced yesterday she will remain as president and vice-chancellor until June 2009, but will not seek another term. "I think that this is her individual decision," said Don Cumming, senior public affairs director at Trent. "She felt it was important to provide the board with as much lead time as possible."

Patterson was out of town on university business and unavailable for comment.

"She is the first president in the university's history to complete a full second term," Cumming said.

For the immediate future, Cumming says it will be business as usual. "She has a number of projects continuing into the next year and a half," he said.

Some of those projects will benefit the student population and others are important for the financial position of Trent in the future, Cummings said.

"There's still a lot of work she will pursue," he said.

No reason for Patterson's departure was given.

"She has taken the time to reflect on where she wants to go professionally," Cumming said. "She's considering the next stage of her professional career."

The search for Patterson's replacement will happen in two stages. First, Cumming said, the advisory committee will continue to define the mandate for the next president.

"That committee shall get input from the university community and the broader Peterborough community," he said.

This information will then go to the board of governors which will create a search committee.

Cumming said the search committee will consist of members from the board, Trent students, faculty and staff as well as representatives from the university's senate.

Cumming could not provide a timeline for selecting a new president. The advisory committee will take several months to determine the president's mandate, he said, and the search will be conducted over the next 18 months.

nriva@peterboroughexaminer.com