A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor
As we approach next week's Budget Town Hall, I want to share important details we'll discuss at the event. Transparency is crucial as we address the significant operating budget challenges we face.
Despite decades of careful financial management, ongoing sector challenges continue to pressure our budget. This year, we've permanently reduced unit-level spending by $42 million. I'm grateful to everyone for their hard work as we met these reductions.
The remaining $33 million of our $75 million shortfall is being covered by additional in-year funds at the unit level and from our central reserves – money that we have set aside to invest in long-term capital requirements such as innovative technologies, addressing maintenance of our aging buildings, or new facilities. However, it is not sustainable to rely on such one-time funds to meet ongoing budget deficits. Furthermore, there are essential IT and capital projects for which we must continue to reserve funds.
The freeze on domestic tuition, years of limited government funding, lower international enrolment, inflation, and rising salary costs mean we expect another similar deficit in the next financial year.
The Ontario government has been clear that there will not be a change to the tuition framework or the structure of the operating grants for domestic students, including the corridor cap on funded enrolments, in the next few years. Similarly, the federal government has been clear that they will stand by their recent decisions on international student caps and changes to immigration targets.
While these factors will have a profound impact on our institution, we are well positioned to work together to address these challenges. Our Waterloo at 100 strategic plan lays the foundation for rediscovering unconventional approaches and prioritizing collaboration. The Provost’s Advisory Committee on Building a Resilient University offered constructive suggestions for long-term sustainability, emphasizing that resilience requires coherent "One Waterloo" structures.
The Employee Engagement Survey also indicated a strong desire to enhance collaboration and improve operational efficiencies. It's evident from the feedback that so many of you have provided to us recently that that everyone here is committed to working more efficiently while focusing on our mission to create a world-class educational experience for our students.
Continuing focus on reducing duplication and improving efficiency
Existing measures have helped to reduce expenses, including our limited hiring program that is managing salary expenses, and the voluntary retirement offer that has resulted in 70 people choosing to retire.
We have also recently completed or got underway with a series of organizational reviews to evaluate, reorganize, and improve collaboration of various units. This includes the recent review of the Vice-President, Research and International portfolio, and changes to enhance budgeting and planning support in the Provost’s office.
The appointment earlier this year of Dr. Jennifer Gillies to the position of Associate Provost, Campus Support and Accessibility is an example of the integrated planning that is underway, helping to reduce duplication and enhance the coordination of important campus services in wellbeing for both students and employees.
As part of this ongoing work to improve our operations, we have commissioned further reviews to evaluate the portfolios of the Associate Vice-President, Academic, and the Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. We're also launching an organizational review of our essential Plant Operations unit to ensure optimal delivery of the services we rely on to operate our campus.
In all cases, we're seeking recommendations on existing organizational structures and the alignment of work, staffing, processes, and practices.
But despite these efforts, we must do more to reduce expenditures.
Introducing new measures to reduce expenses and grow revenue
Approximately 80 per cent of our operating budget goes to employee salaries and benefits. Given inflationary forces, salary costs will almost certainly continue to rise; we will need to work even more effectively and efficiently to help reduce personnel expenses.
To begin, we will extend our limited hiring program to a hiring freeze for faculty and staff positions, effective November 18, 2024. Future hiring requests will undergo stringent review by a group that will recommend exceptions to the Provost and Vice-President, Administration and Finance. We will also work with unit leaders to assess whether currently approved but vacant positions should continue in their hiring processes.
To identify and implement further efficiencies and reduce duplication, we're initiating focused reviews of key units, portfolios, and functions. Based on our recent workforce planning, we'll start by evaluating the functions of Communications and Marketing, Finance, and IT across the University.
Our efforts to identify efficiencies and savings aren't limited to personnel practices. The Board of Governors recently approved changes to employee benefits that could save around $500,000 annually without reducing benefits. We're exploring other actions, such as reviewing our vehicle fleet across all functions of the University to realize savings and efficiencies while maintaining essential service levels.
We'll also continue focusing on activities that help maintain and grow our income streams and ensure that we operate as efficiently as possible. This will mean that there will continue to be decisions to invest resources in critical existing and new functions. Key to this is delivering a high-quality student experience to attract and retain students. The appointment of Professor Ian VanderBurgh as Special Advisor to the Provost on Strategic Enrolment Management is crucial for strategically aligning and coordinating efforts across faculties and academic support units to support the student lifecycle at Waterloo.
We remain committed to transparency and engagement
You can expect updates from leaders in the coming weeks with more information on the organizational and functional reviews that are commencing. Leaders will also provide detailed information on hiring exception processes during the freeze. More details on the budget forecast will be available in the new year.
Many of you will have questions, comments, and concerns arising from this message. The senior team and I will share more with you on Monday at the Budget Town Hall, where we'll speak to the challenges the University is experiencing and our plans to address them. Please continue to share your feedback and ideas on realizing efficiencies by emailing budget@uwaterloo.ca – your input has been very helpful so far.
Thank you for your commitment to the University and for thinking differently, acting with purpose, and working together as we navigate these budget challenges.
We recognize that the content of this email may be unsettling for some. If you are affected by this message, we have support available and encourage folks to use these services. Supports are available from the Employee and Family Assistance Program (for employees), Counselling Services (for students) and 211Ontario (for people with no affiliation to the University).