It’s been no secret the past few years that Athabasca University (AU) has been suffering financially.
However, a spat of rumours resurfaced last week that forced AU president Peter McKinnon to issue an open letter to students and staff last Tuesday in an attempt reassure everyone that nothing has changed, yet.
In the letter, McKinnon quelled the closure or takeover rumours, but acknowledged the fiscal crisis they face given the provincial government’s current financial situation.
In an interview last Thursday, McKinnon explained AU gets 30 per cent of its budget from the province and the rest from tuition.
“If the government controls both, it makes it pretty difficult for us,” he stated, adding AU’s government grant is the lowest of all Alberta’s universities.
“Our argument is they should withdraw from regulating tuition. It would allow more flexibility and would be held in check by market discipline. We need that to keep us competitive because we are no longer just competing with other Alberta institutions, but worldwide.”
The other thing McKinnon would like to see the government do is treat AU’s information technology delivery the same as capital projects.
As AU isn’t strictly a ‘bricks and mortar’ institution, McKinnon said they don’t get the same capital investment as other institutions.
“We need to have our IT to allow us to work at a high level, but that isn’t treated the same way,” he said.
McKinnon added they are continuing to look at ways to collaborate with other institutions and cut costs in other ways in preparation for the looming provincial budget.
Campus Alberta and E-Campus Alberta partnerships were mentioned as ways of talking about reaching common goals in post-secondary education in Alberta.
Once the specifics come out, AU will have a better sense of what it will have to achieve to survive.
The president of the Athabasca University Students’ Association (AUSA) Jason Nixon was surprised by the letter, but not by its content.
“We’ve been working with them for some time on a new model, as the current one is not sustainable,” he stated.
“Sure students are nervous about what will come out in the budget, those at AU particularly, but there isn’t a need to panic. We have been at the board of governors table working with them and I’m confident work on a solution will be done.”
Nixon added this isn’t the first time where calm and reason has had to be used to squelch a rumour.
“The big thing for AU is not to stick on another band aid solution,” Nixon stated.
“We need to work on a plan that will be sustainable and permanent, and end the current cycle that has put the university in this financial situation for several years.”
Calls to the Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA) for comment were not returned by press time.
