Suspend the budget cuts at Queen's University!
The Provost, Principal and Board of Trustees of Queen's University
We are a coalition of staff, faculty, and students at Queen’s University who are opposed to the recent budget cuts mandated by the Board of Trustees and the Provost. These cuts will compromise the academic mission of Queen’s. They will lead to job losses that will hurt those instructors and staff members who are already most precarious, and they will diminish the quality of education that students receive. While all Ontario universities receive inadequate funding from the provincial government, Queen’s employees and students are being asked to shoulder the burden of what has been presented as a particularly drastic financial situation.
Please sign this petition calling for the suspension of the cuts and greater transparency about the actual financial situation of the university and about any proposed future cuts.
Petition by
To:
The Provost, Principal and Board of Trustees of Queen's University
From:
[Your Name]
We are Queen’s students, faculty, staff and alumni who are gravely concerned that the Board of Trustees and the Provost are mandating operational changes that will lead to fewer instructors, fewer classes, larger class sizes, fewer mental health and academic supports for students, and reputational decline for our institution.
Given that:
-The labour of university staff and instructors is essential to the provision of high-quality education;
-Credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar stated in Spring 2023 that Queen’s University has “one of the strongest liquidity positions” of any university it rates, including “financial flexibility to endure a difficult operating environment without the need to make drastic cuts that could affect its core academic mission”;
-Queen’s accumulated more than $600 million in surpluses between 2013-2021;
-Queen’s has over-projected deficits by an average of $44 million over the past six years;
-Queen’s has a low interest-burden ratio and a high credit rating and is able to borrow if needed to fund capital expenditures rather than relying on the operating budget;
-The University is placing pressure on the operating budget by prioritizing the preservation of its investments over the resources needed by students, staff, and faculty to maintain the academic mission of the University.
We call on the administration to suspend the budget cuts until such time as there is greater clarity around the true nature of the university’s financial position and the different options available to address the budget situation.
To that end, we ask the administration to provide a public statement describing their proposed cuts and the projected impact they will have on academic programs and student services, the number of staff and faculty positions, and funding for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
We want to ensure Queen’s University remains a rigorous, dynamic, inclusive and essential member of the U15, a goal that is incompatible with austerity measures.